Matt Naumec wins the Massachusetts Amateur

Home Club Hero: Matt Naumec wins the Massachusetts Amateur

Throughout the day, the crowd grew. The heat rose. Sweat poured down their foreheads and torsos. And each well-executed shot drew an increasingly exuberant reaction from the throngs of spectators lining the grounds of the Framingham Country Club.

Although the club has long hosted champions of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship, Framingham has never before hosted the state’s largest amateur golf tournament. A sweltering week ended Friday with a spectacular 36-hole, full-distance championship match, and the club was able to add one of its own champions to its legendary list.

Matthew Naumec, the former pro who rediscovered his passion after a short-lived career in golf, was doubled over with relief and joy when the 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole left his Scotty Cameron and fell into the hole, eliciting thunderous cheers and collective applause from the crowd.

“It feels great. I feel like I’ve been so close for so long, and to do it in Framingham is special,” said 27-year-old Matthew Naumec after his 1-up win over Ricky Stimets (Worcester Country Club), another standout ex-pro who lived in Osterville on Cape Cod. “This is a family, and I’m proud to be a part of it. It just makes me really happy and is a great way to end the week.”

Naumec is the first player since Gary Burnett (1972-Longmeadow Country Club) to win the Mass Amateur on his home course. Like Burnett, a member of the Western Mass Golf Hall of Fame, Naumec overcame a three-point deficit in the championship match to take the win. He also joins the Framingham champion fraternity that includes Clark Hodder (1936), Bill Mallon (1972, 1973), Ray Wright (1990) and John Salamone (1991).

What the champion receives

Matt Naumec will receive the Massachusetts Cup, a 10-year exemption from the Mass Amateur, and for the first time this year, a berth in the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. All semifinalists – Naumec, Stimets, Matt Parziale and Ethan Whitney – will be exempt from qualifying for the final of the 2025 U.S. Amateur.

What happened

Ricky Stimets, the 2023 Mass Golf Player of the Year, was in control for most of the morning and never trailed in the first half of play. Stimets picked up a birdie on the par-4 4th hole despite coming up short in the left rough after pulling his tee shot left of the fairway.

After a walk-in putt on the 8th hole and a birdie on the turn, Stimets took a three-stroke lead that he held until the 45-minute lunch break. During that period, he made several crucial saves, including on the 14th hole when he hit the ball over the green and still got up and down to maintain his lead.

But sometimes all it takes is one hole, one shot in fact, to completely flip the script. As Stimets approached the second part of the tee shot on hole 1, he hit his tee shot out of bounds to the left, opening the door for Naumec, who wasted no time in taking control of the game. After winning the first hole, Naumec made two birdie putts on holes 2 and 3 to pull even. Previously, Naumec was visibly frustrated, raising his arms when his putts landed off the line, but that soon subsided as he began winning holes.

“I think it honestly started with my putter,” Naumec said as he reflected on his game after lunch. “When I saw the golf ball go in the hole, I definitely felt more comfortable with my whole bag. You get in the hole pretty quickly, and that builds confidence, it builds momentum, and the swing feels a little smoother.”

It turned out that Naumec was just getting started, and he had a feeling this might be his day after all. Trailing again by a point, Naumec pulled his tee shot left on the 7th hole, along the stone wall that borders the ornate backyards along the course. After a few left-handed practice shots, and seeing Stimets miss the green far left on his approach shot, Naumec declared his ball unplayable, but also sent it wide of the green. Hitting a chip back uphill from the back of the putting surface, the ball drifted on a perfect line, eliciting cries of “Go In,” followed by a squeal of joy as it dropped into the hole.

“I knew it was going to be a tough foursome, so I was actually playing on five when it went over,” Naumec described. “I just knew the contour of the green and said get it up there, let it hit a really good shot, and the ball just fell in. It shouldn’t have gone in, but sometimes that happens.”

Stimets, determined to catch up, made a crucial two-putt on the 8th hole after landing short of the green. But Naumec’s precision with his 9th tee shot to the 1st fairway, followed by his approach shot to 6 feet and his birdie putt, put him in the lead with nine holes to go. Stimets, needing an answer, unfortunately ended up in the fairway bunker on the 10th hole and lost the hole. Stimets managed to close the gap twice after Naumec three-putted on holes 13 and 17.

Going into the par-5 18th hole trailing by one shot, Stimets played his ball high and hit his driver without hesitation, putting him within striking distance of the green. Naumec also took the driver, but hit it much more nervously and hit it into the left rough. After Naumec hit his second shot, Stimets landed his second shot on the hill just short of the green. Naumec played his third shot high on the pin, and after Stimets missed his eagle attempt that would have sent it to overtime, he couldn’t help but take off his hat and smile as Naumec holed the winning putt.

“It was a tough battle,” Stimets said, reflecting on the match. “I played great in the morning. I lost a couple of shots and then he got off to a hot start and the crowd was supporting him. It’s hard to keep your composure when everyone’s yelling in your favor. But I had a blast. I just thought, ‘Get me to 18,’ and when I got to 18 I felt pretty good. I played great, but he made a heck of a birdie from where he was, so hats off to him. He played great.”

Naumec’s victory and success over the past two years are no surprise, although there has been a recent trend of junior golfers getting the upper hand over the mid-amateurs in open state amateur championships. Friday not only saw all the mid-amateurs meet, but it was a demonstration of two men who truly play for the love of the sport and the pride that comes from playing among their fellow countrymen.

Earlier this week, Naumec raved about his weekend golf experiences, saying he wanted to limit himself to the way he would play on the course on relaxed weekends. As much as the members of Framingham love him, what means the most to Naumec is that over the past three years he has rekindled his love for the game and plays with more purpose and conviction than ever before in his life.

“I loved BC. I loved the balance between being able to play great golf and have a great academic education, and then I decided to play professionally for a couple of years,” Naumec said, reflecting on his golf career. “COVID came along and changed a few things, but I decided to turn golf back from my job to my passion. I started to fall in love with the game again just because of what it does for me and how much fun I have out there on Saturday mornings and Sundays with the guys. That’s what I enjoy about golf; it’s being out there with good friends and good family and then getting back to competitive golf in the mornings.

“I was excited to be able to play because I knew I had good friends like Matt Parziale who had a lot of success with it,” he continued. “So I knew golf would always be a part of my life. It just didn’t have to define me. So I really liked being able to use golf as an outlet rather than a job.”

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