The 108th champion of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship will be crowned today at Taconic Golf Club.
Over the past four days in Williamstown, a total of 36 holes of stroke play and four rounds of matches were held.
In the end, only two competitors remain standing.
John Kelly (Twin Hills CC) and Brendan Hunter (Red Tail GC) have earned the right to face off in the 36-hole final match which will be held on Friday.
For Kelly tomorrow represents a chance to regain a title that he first won in 2014, while Hunter is enjoying what has been a memorable first-ever career appearance in MGA Amateur match play.
Hunter defeated Alex Jeffers (Woodland GC)to earn his spot in the 36-hole final set to begin Friday morning.
After Hunter and Jeffers each made par on the first two holes, the younger Hunter took his first lead on the par-4 4th hole by hitting his tee shot above the bunker that borders the left side. With Jeffer’s tee shot in the along a tree on the right side of the rough, Hunter was able to push his second shot up onto the green and two-putted for par, whereas the 30-year old Jeffers needed an extra putt.
After Hunter lost the next hole to push the match back to all square, the two would bounce back and forth until the 6th hole, where Hunter navigated his second shot uphill to within inches of the hole. With Jeffers hitting from the rough beyond the green, Hunter, who advanced to the semifinals after defeating Jackson Lang (Nashawtuc CC)in the morning’s quarterfinal round regained his lead.
On the subsequent 7th hole, a 402-yard par-4, both opponents buried difficult putts on the green to keep the score within one.
Jeffers made par on the 8th hole to send the match to all square, and the score would remain that way until the 12th hole, when Hunter’s second shot bounced onto the green to the right of the cup. He sunk his putt for par and Jeffers was forced to three putt, allowing the match to head back to 1 up in favor of Hunter.
On the following hole, Hunter took advantage of a rare second mistake by his opponent, and despite a Hunter bogey, he went to 2 up in the match, a lead that would remain the rest of the round.
The two made par on Holes 14 and 15, and Hunter pulled away when Jeffers bogeyed 16 to win the match 3 and 2.
After not trailing for a single hole during his morning quarterfinal match against Thomas Henderson (Sterling National), Kelly found himself in a true battle to the end with Dan Cappucci (Boston GC) during the afternoon semifinal.
It was a match that was all square for 10 holes and didn’t come to a close until the final shot on the 18th hole.
With the match all square through 17 holes, Kelly sent his tee shot to the back of the perched green. Cappucci was in perfect shape for a two-putt par. Kelly could only make the best of his situation and let his putter do the rest.
The second shot was nothing short of awesome. Kelly hit a 3 wood from 270 yards in the right rough into the left greenside bunker. The minute the ball left the clubface, Kelly let out an emotional “come on”.
As it turned out, Cappucci left his second shot well short of the 18th green and then watched his third shot sail over the green. Kelly knocked his bunker shot to four feet and it wasn’t long after that he accepted a congratulatory handshake from Cappucci.
Perseverance and patience for Kelly began on Monday when he posted a 7-over par 78 and was well outside the cutline. He then began the difficult road back which included surviving a nine-for-six playoff on Tuesday to advance to match play and then four rounds of match play beginning on Wednesday morning.
