Matthew Naumec wins the 116th Mass Am at Framingham Country Club
Matthew Naumec looks back on winning his 116th Mass Am championship
After finishing second in last year’s Massachusetts Amateur, Matthew Naumec reflected on what it means to finally lift the trophy on his home course.
FRAMINGHAM – Matthew Naumec doubled over after hitting the final putt of the 116th Massachusetts Amateur Championship.
After 36 back-and-forth holes in the final, he was 1 up on the 18th green ahead of Ricky Stimets of Worcester Country Club. Stimets let his birdie putt slip to the right of the hole, allowing Naumec to finish the match with a par.
Naumec stopped just above the putt and hit it hard, then stopped the attempt because he knew the putt could stray off line.
“When I saw it going right down the middle, I knew it was going in,” Naumec said.
The putt fell, ending years of close victories for Naumec, a member of Framingham CC. He was runner-up last year and played in the quarterfinals in 2022. About 500 of his fellow members followed him twice around their familiar course on Friday in heat, humidity and light rain. His family rushed to greet him after he shook hands with Stimets and his caddie Kevin Hatton. Naumec became the first player since Gary Burnett at Longmeadow Country Club in 1972 to win the Mass Am on his home course.
“I felt a sense of relief,” Naumec said.
He avoided greeting members or saying hello to friends during the game so he wouldn’t get caught up in something that would affect his concentration. Naumec lost one of his best friends, Dylan Pariseau, in late June after a shooting at his Wilbraham home.
“Knowing he was up there looking down, that was part of bending down and knowing he was up there kicking some balls out of the woods for me,” Naumec said. “All those emotions kind of rushed together a little bit.”
He qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club outside Minneapolis from August 12 to 18. It will be his second participation in this stage.
On the bag: Lucas Levasseur of Hopedale asks a T&G sports reporter to caddy for him at a golf tournament
Naumec, seeded 32nd in the tournament and only making it into match play after a playoff on the second day, struggled in the morning and was 3 strokes behind after 18 holes.
“I played great in the morning but dropped a few points,” said Stimets. “He had a good start and the crowd was behind him. It’s hard to keep your composure when everyone is shouting in your favor.”
Naumec won the first three holes after lunch but trailed by one point after six holes before the match turned in his favor in an improbable way.
His tee shot on hole 7 landed near a stone wall to the left of the fairway. A normal right-hand shot was impossible. Naumec considered hitting the ball left-handed to a better position and took a few practice swings. Instead, he declared the shot unplayable and received a penalty stroke and a drop. His approach shot sailed far into the fringe. His chip was an attempt to find a good position on the green – but instead rolled into the hole to thunderous applause and a tie game.
A long-time member in the stands remarked in amazement, “I’ve been here 36 years and I’ve never seen anyone make that throw.”
Home advantage: Members of the Framingham Country Club provide a piece of paradise on the 7th fairway at the 116th Mass Am
“I didn’t want him to go in. He shouldn’t have gone in, but sometimes that happens,” Naumec said.
And so it continued. Naumec took the lead with a birdie on hole 9 and was between 1 and 2 up for the rest of the match. He could have closed on hole 17, but Stimets won the hole.
“When I knew I was going to the 18th tee, I thought, ‘Let’s just go and get a shot,'” Stimets said.
His approach shots gave him a chance, and Naumec rounded the green and happily walked into the clubhouse, greeted with hugs and handshakes at nearly every step. Naumec has been a member of Framingham CC for three years and plays the course most Saturdays and Sundays.
It is the latest development in a golf career that began at the junior level in his hometown of Wilbraham, then took him to Boston College, the professional league, the U.S. Open and back to amateur status after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I decided to turn golf from my job into my passion. I fell in love with the game again because of the value it brings me and the fun I have with the guys on Saturday and Sunday mornings,” said Naumec. “That’s what I enjoy about golf: being with good friends and good family. I knew golf would always be a part of my life, it just didn’t have to define me.”
Contact Kyle Grabowski at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
LGBTQ community in Doylestown undeterred by theft of the Pride flag: “We love them more than they hate us”
Book launch “Rigidity” this Saturday
User has his tattoo painfully removed out of love for Apple Watch
About The Author
