​The state’s rising stars and top amateur golfers are gearing up for the 118th Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship, which kicks off Monday. The 144-player, five-day event will be held at Winchester Country Club for the first time since 2002, marking a long-awaited return to a course that has hosted the championship seven times before. Located north of Boston with views of the city skyline, the hillside layout will challenge this year’s entrants and has produced memorable moments throughout its history. The Massachusetts Amateur first came to Winchester in 1919 after a two-year World War I hiatus and was won by Francis Ouimet. In 1931, Fred Wright captured his fourth consecutive title and sixth overall. Other Winchester champions include Dave Whiteside (1937), Tom Mahan Jr. (1952), Bruce Douglass (1975), Fran Quinn (1986), and most recently Rob Oppenheim (2002), who sealed his victory with a 39-foot downhill birdie putt on the 18th hole.
This year’s field features state qualifiers, current and former college players, past champions, and Winchester members who will aim to join the list of Massachusetts Amateur winners. The championship runs from Monday through Friday, with 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday. The low 32 players will advance to match play, beginning with the Round of 32 and Round of 16 on Wednesday, leaving eight competitors. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Thursday, followed by the 36-hole final on Friday. The winner will earn a spot in the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, from August 10–16.
The course measures roughly 6,886 yards with a par of 71, featuring a front nine at 35 and a back nine at 36. The longest hole is the 530-yard par-5 13th, the second of the course’s back-to-back par-5s, after which players confront the short 149-yard par-3 14th.
Defending champion Ryan Downes of Longmeadow will not be competing this year. A two-time Massachusetts Amateur winner, Downes made history in 2023 as the youngest champion at 17 and reclaimed the title in 2025 at his home club, GreatHorse, in Hampden. With Downes out, the field is wide open for another player to join the list of 117 previous champions. Joey Lenane, a recent North Carolina State graduate and member of George Wright Golf Course, will pursue redemption after losing to Downes in last year’s semifinals. Also returning is Aidan Emmerich of Kernwood Country Club, who reached last year’s semifinals and comes into the championship on the heels of winning the 2026 Hornblower Memorial Tournament. A former champion could also re-emerge as a contender.