Two straight 68s gives Matthew Johnson medalist honors at 117th Massachusetts Amateur at GreatHorse
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Defending champion Matthew Naumec of GreatHorse and Joey Lenane of George Wright Golf Course and a rising senior at North Carolina State were tied with Johnson for the lead after the first day, but each carded 72s and will be the second and third seeds, respectively.
A 10-for-8 playoff to fill out the 32-man match play bracket was suspended by weather shortly after it began. GreatHorse owner Guy Antonacci birdied the first hole to claim the first of those spots just before the horn sounded.
The playoff will resume at 7 a.m. with the first round scheduled to start at 8 a.m. The round of 16 is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon with the quarterfinals and semifinals on Thursday before Friday's 36-hole final.
The winner will receive an exemption to the US Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco next month.
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Among the former champions to advance to match play was Ryan Downes, a rising sophomore at Vanderbilt whose father Billy is the head pro at GreatHorse, fired a 70 to finish stroke-play qualifying at 3 over.
The Longmeadow High grad won the 2023 Mass Am at Essex County Club and then won the 2023 MIAA Division 1 title at GreatHorse on his 18th birthday.
Downes's Vanderbilt teammate, John Broderick of Wellesley and Dedham Country & Polo Club, will be the fourth seed after a 73-69.
Matt Parziale, the 2017 US Mid-Amateur and Mass Am champion, qualified for match play for a 13th straight year and is seeded 10th.
Keith Pearson can be reached at
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