BREWSTER, Massachusetts – It was a three-horse race in the final group on a resplendent second day at the 73rd Massachusetts Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. After 36 holes, Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club) and Pam Kuong (Charles River Country Club) were dead even, while defending champion Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club) had locked up solo 3rd place with rounds of 78-76 (+10).
Johnson prevailed with a par on the first playoff hole, notching her fifth Mass Women’s Mid-Am title, which complement her 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur title quite nicely. Meanwhile, Cheryl Krueger (Orchards Golf Club) won the Tournament Division title by one stroke over Barb Hecimovich (The Tour).
Though she went birdie-less in her final round, Johnson looked to be in control for much of the day, methodically plotting her way around the lush, rolling terrain of Cape Cod National.
She leaned on her metronomic swing to breeze around the course, carding just one bogey on her first 14 holes. She safely skirted National’s myriad hazards off the tee and neatly dotted the center of the rain-softened greens with her approach shots. Coronation seemed a certainty.
Alas, the game can speed up on even the steadiest of players. Holding a two-shot lead with just four holes to play, Johnson proceeded to bogey 15 and 16, then double 17, while Kuong played the same stretch in two-over, meaning the two were tied heading to the 18th.
Even after her win, Johnson was disappointed in her closing stretch: “You know, I kind of had a bitter taste in my mouth the last few holes. Just kind of a bad, quick swing on the 15th hole led to a bogey and then three putted the next hole.”
As was the case all day, Johnson was a good forty yards farther up the fairway with her tee ball. But Kuong, ever the cagey competitor, knocked her long approach shot to about seven feet, flipping the pressure onto Johnson.
“All day long it was like, okay, they’re 70 yards past me, but I just found something. I just found something on that shot and I just, this is what I have to do, because it’s this or nothing. And then I hit probably the best shot, I feel that I’ve hit this year,” said Kuong.
For her part, Johnson was unsurprised by Kuong’s excellent approach, “I watched her hit it tight almost every day, so you just kind of know that she’s going to hit good shots, even though she’s hitting fairway wood in and I’m hitting iron. That’s kind of her game.”
Johnson’s approach landed fairly close to Kuong’s, but spun back another four feet outside of Kuong. Both competitors left their left-to-right breakers begging on the low side, necessitating a playoff.
The playoff began on the par-5 10th. Both players left themselves inside of 100 yards for their third shots. Kuong’s approach came in low, catching a ridge in front of the green which sent it bounding over the back. Johnson’s trickled into the fringe on the back edge.
From there, she turned to competitor-turned-playoff-caddie Megan Buck for some advice, “It was nice to have her on the bag. We were kind of talking about you know, putt or chip on that playoff hole. She’s like, ‘well I would putt it’ and I was like, ‘well, I probably should too.’ So then that was probably the best lag putt I hit all day.”
Kuong’s chip left her with a tricky six-footer down the hill to extend the tournament, which she was unable to convert.
Cheryl Krueger (Orchards GC) entered the day with a three-shot lead in the Tournament Division over Barb Hecimovich (The Tour). Starting on the back nine, Hecimovich shot 38 on her first nine-holes, which left her and Krueger tied entering the final nine hole stretch. “I knew we were close all day long. I knew we were actually tied after nine, so the back was kind of back and forth, back and forth,” said Krueger.
Despite the surging Hecimovich, Krueger managed to stay within herself, “I didn’t really know where I was, so I didn’t have really highs or lows. I just kept playing and kept focusing on what I was trying to accomplish today and just played the best I could.”
Though she made five bogeys on her final nine holes, she was able to avoid any serious trouble on a course where trouble lurks everywhere. She posted 82, good for a two-day score of +18, 162, and a one-shot victory.
“I feel fortunate to have won. Barb was having a better day than I was, so I just didn’t know how things were going to shake out. Barb played really well, I played just a little bit better,” said Krueger.
Year after year, the Flighted Division brings the women’s golfing community together for a day of late summer fun. This year was no different on the Cape, as 17 players teed it up. While they were forced to battle the rain on Monday, they did so with smiles on their faces.
Cathy Burgess (Indian Ridge CC) made a pair of pars to start and close her opening nine, shooting an impressive 42. Burgess started play on the back nine the same way, with another couple of pars. After battling the difficult stretch of holes 12-15, she steadied the ship closing with two more pars and a final bogey.
With a score of 89, Burgess easily captured the Gross Division of the Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, edging out Kate Collins (LPGA Amateurs Boston) and Christine Veator (Ferncroft CC).
“It feels amazing. I’m shocked!” Burgess said. “I had a really good front nine. I felt good with a 42 and ran into some trouble on the back nine. I don’t know what happened. I had four really bad holes and then I felt better about the fact that I was able to get a couple of pars before I finished.”
In the Flighted Division (Net) competition, this year’s winner is Vicki Malatesta (Sagamore Spring GC), who shot a net score of 78.
Now celebrating its 25th year, Cape Cod National is an 18-hole championship golf course located in Brewster, Massachusetts. The club retained the services of the well known New England-based architectural firm of Cornish, Silva, & Mungeam with Brian Silva being the lead designer and opened for play in 1998.
Some notable events previously held at Cape Cod National include:
2021 Tri-State Matches – Won by Massachusetts
2018 U.S. Women’s Open Qualifying – Celeste Dao* (Canada) & Celine Herbin (France)
2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying – Qualifiers included Matt Parziale
2013 U.S. Amateur Qualifying – Qualifiers included Richy Werenski
*Of note – In 2018, Celeste Dao was 1 of just 15 amateurs to tee it up in the U.S. Women’s Open that year.
Dao has found success qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open in Massachusetts. Earlier this year at Duxbury Yacht Club, she advanced to the National Championship through Massachusetts for a third time. She also advanced via the TPC Boston Qualifier in 2019.
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