Shannon Johnson is one of the country's top female mid-ams (USGA photo)

Johnson, of Norton, Mass., posted the lowest round of any competitor during each of three rounds at The Woodlands Club. That included a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Tuesday. In the end, Johnson, at 2-under 214, built a five-shot gap between herself and runner-up Hannah Ghelfi.

Over the past few years, Johnson has established herself as one of the most competitive mid-amateurs in the game, too. She was a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and was runner-up the year before that. Johnson also works in the golf industry as a field representative for Ping. She graduated from the University of Indiana in 2006.

Earlier this summer, she was invited to play in the prestigious Hornblower Memorial Amateur at Plymouth (Mass.) Country Club. Tournament organizers were looking to encourage women to enter the field and chose Johnson as a worthy representative for that.

Ghelfi, who plays college golf for Michigan, is a Falmouth resident who was recognized earlier this year as the Massachusetts Player of the Year. She opened the New England Amateur with rounds of 73-71 to stay close on Johnson’s heels, but struggled in the final round. She had a stretch of three bogeys from Nos. 7-9, then added a double-bogey at the par-5 15th which left her at 3 over for the tournament.

Ghelfi’s struggles are similar to what many players experienced Wednesday as scores generally rose across the board. Only three players broke 80. In addition to Johnson and Ghelfi accomplishing that, Sophie DiPetrillo posted 6-over 78 to finished third at 13 over.

DiPetrillo will be a senior at the University of Richmond in the fall. She was part of the Spider squad that went undefeated in its first three events this past season and shattered program scoring records. DiPetrillo won the Virginia Stroke Play Championship earlier this month and also qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Megan Buck, who partnered with Johnson at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball earlier this year (they failed to advance to match play), posted rounds of 79-82-87 to finish 13th.