Swampscott native and former St. Mary’s star Christian Emmerich earned an exemption into next week’s playing of the 112th Massachusetts Amateur Championship thanks to his strong summer in 2019, and he’s been putting that time usually spent playing in qualifiers to good use on the practice tee.
“I’ve really been focused in practice, especially on ball striking with my irons,” said Emmerich, a member at Kernwood Country Club. “I also picked up a lot of yardage over the past year, so I’ve been working on dialing in my yardages and making sure I’m hitting it consistently.”
Emmerich is coming off of his freshman year at Division I Holy Cross, where he had to make the adjustment to the college game. He adjusted pretty well, finishing the season with the lowest stroke average of anyone on his team (74.2).
“It was definitely a lot different from what I was used to in high school, where it was all match play and team golf,” said Emmerich. “The college game is all stroke play and individual golf with most of the tournaments coming across multiple days, so it was an adjustment.”
Coming into this summer, Emmerich is looking forward to competing in local amateur tournaments again. He’s hoping that his busy summer back in 2019 — when he played in the Massachusetts Junior Amateur, Massachusetts Amateur, Massachusetts Open, New England Amateur and US Amateur — will provide him with the experience he needs to play well this time around.
“I think hopefully all of that experience will just help me settle the nerves a little bit,” Emmerich said.
This will also be a special tournament for Emmerich because his younger brother, St. Mary’s star incoming junior Aidan Emmerich, will also be playing after qualifying for the Amateur for the first time.
“I was pretty amped when I found out he qualified,” said Christian Emmerich, who was teammates on the Spartans with Aidan for three years before graduating. “He’s been working hard and I know he really wanted to get in, so it’s great to see his hard work paying off like that.”
The 112th edition of the Massachusetts Amateur will be hosted at both The Kittansett Club and The Bay Club at Mattapoisett from July 13-17. The Kittansett Club was set to be the lone host initially, but The Bay Club stepped in at the last minute to help alleviate the crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second site was added to accommodate the 144-player field, as each player must start from the first tee. After the first round, the players will swap courses for the second and final round of stroke play. Any playoff needed to determine the final match play spots will take place Wednesday, July 15 at Kittansett, which will host all the match play from July 15-17 to determine a winner.
Emmerich is looking forward to playing both courses in the championship, and he thinks that he might have a little bit of an advantage when he tees it up at Kittansett — where he played a practice round with his brother on Tuesday.
“I think it kind of plays a little similar to Kernwood, it’s got tight fairways and there’s always wind,” Emmerich said of Kittansett. “I think in that sense I might be in good shape because I’m used to that kind of golf. I’ve never played The Bay Club, but from what I’ve heard the course is all out in front of you. I’m looking forward to playing both places.”
As for the state of his game, Emmerich is feeling confident following a string of great play recently.
“Things are feeling good,” said Emmerich. “I’ve been playing well recently and one of the big things for me is that my putting has improved a lot, so I’m looking forward to getting out there and competing.”
Emmerich will tee off in the first round of the 112th Massachusetts Amateur Championship on Monday (9:54 a.m.) at The Bay Club at Mattapoisett.
