Francis Ouimet Memorial winners (Mass Golf Photo)
Woodland Golf Club, with its classic colonial style clubhouse, lush green terrain, and subway line passing through, always beckons on the final Friday of July each year to showcase some of the state’s men’s and women’s amateur golfers in the Ouimet Memorial Tournament.
After two overcast days of play at Indian Pond Country Club, the skies finally parted, and the sun splashed upon Francis Ouimet’s home course, as it has for the past seven years. While this historic course has hosted the final day of the Ouimet Memorial Tournament for 57 years running, this Friday capped off one of the most historic and dramatic weeks this championship has ever seen.
Both Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Country Club) and Jack O’Donnell (Boston Golf Club) set new high marks through the first 36 holes of this tournament, taking sizable leads entering the final round. While there were some nervy moments, each held their lead to capture the Women’s Division and Championship Division, respectively, for their first title.
For Hall of Famer Frank Vana Jr. (Marlborough Country Club), title No. 8 was a bit more involved…make that a lot more. After Vana stumbled on the back nine, he caught up with a pair of birdies on holes 16 and 17 and finished tied with Doug Clapp. Six playoff holes later, and after several close calls for each competitor, we finally had a champion.
Championship Division
If Jack O’Donnell has learned anything in the past four years since his last Mass Golf victory (the 2020 Mass Junior Amateur), it’s how to stay in the moment and not be overwhelmed by it. Even when the walls were closing in with a bevy of skilled golfers at his heels, he found a way to secure his first Ouimet Memorial title.
O’Donnell shot 2-over 73 at Woodland, but by making par on the entire back nine to wrap up a 3-stroke win, he can now head back to Ann Arbor for his fifth year on the University of Michigan men’s golf team, knowing his game is in the best place it’s been in years.
“Between this and the Mass Amateur are two of the tournaments in Mass Golf everybody wants to win, so it’s nice to get this one,” O’Donnell said after his victory. “I’ve been playing well all summer, but to actually close out a tournament is not easy.”
O’Donnell definitely didn’t make it easy on himself from the jump. Despite a birdie on the opening hole, he pushed his shot on the second to the right and made double bogey. Consecutive bogeys on holes 7 and 8 didn’t help things either, but O’Donnell didn’t shy away from his plan, keeping it out of trouble spots and not focusing on what the rest of the field was doing.
“I didn’t know at all what was going on until the last hole,” O’Donnell said. “I kind of had an idea, but I think that just helped us play one shot at a time. We did a good job of that the last three days now, just focusing on one shot, whether we were going super low or today when we weren’t playing as well, just being able to say at the moment.”
Georgetown University’s Conner Willett (Charles River Country Club) has played in this event since he was a teenager and, on Friday, earned his best finish in the Mass Golf championship since his 2022 Mass Amateur victory. Willett made birdie on holes 12 and 13 to move into solo second place and got the lead down to three strokes, but after both crossed the street to play the final four holes, neither could shift the lead.
Woodland member Cooper Griffin also slid into the conversation after his historic round in the morning. Though he was teeing off in the second group of the Championship Division, Griffin shot a remarkable 6-under 65 on his home course, the lowest score ever recorded in the final round of the Ouimet tournament since it began in 1968, to finish T3 with Patrick Frodigh (Dedham Country and Polo Club) and Raymond Dennehy (Oak Hill Country Club). With his father, longtime Woodland pro Ted Griffin, on the bag, Cooper made eight birdies and lipped out a few more that could’ve led to a new course record.
“I was putting really well. My speed was great, my reads were great, my start lines were awesome, and I didn’t hit the driver well but made up for it,” Griffin said. “It’s my home course, so there are a lot of good people to support me. I didn’t think I’d make the cut, but I birdied three of my last four yesterday to make it. Always coming in here on the last day of the Ouimet is a blast.”
A 2020 Weston High School graduate, Griffin said he plans to attend college this fall, with hopes to transfer into a top DI college golf program and eventually turn pro. For now, he can smile at the fact that he has a piece of Ouimet Tournament lore.
Women’s Division
Last year, Isabel Brozena made the cut for Woodland but had to withdraw from the final day. A year later, she was standing in the winner’s circle for the first time with one of the best overall scores ever recorded in the event.
In her maiden voyage around Woodland, the Xavier University incoming first-year shot an even-par 71 to pad her comfortable six-stroke lead entering the day. Though Woodland’s greens were rolling quicker than Indian Pond’s, Brozena adjusted well and was still able to play at her preferred quick tempo. She carded 1-under on the front nine, made birdie on the 10th, and finished with seven consecutive 4s on the scorecard to march into the closing hole with victory well in hand.
“This is a really great event to win, it being an amateur event and having so many talented players in the field,” said Brozena, a two-time MIAA Girls’ Golf state champion. “To know that I came out on top, just let alone be in contention, is really great.”
Brozena has had several close finishes, but she has taken off in 2024. After winning her second state title for the spring season, she qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur again and made match play for the first time, and she placed in the top 10 in the New England Women’s Amateur. She also set a new course record (64) in the Girls High School Golf National Invitational down in Frisco, Texas, to finish top 10.
“I think I’ve been more focused out there, and I have more confidence,” Brozena said. “I’ve always known that I was capable of doing it, but I feel like this year I actually put it into action.”
Defending champion Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club) also shot 71 to finish third. Meanwhile, 2022 Mass Women’s Amateur winner Morgan Smith (Vesper Country Club) carded a 73 to hang on to second for her second consecutive top-3 finish. Smith will compete in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from August 5-11. All three will compete in the 121st Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship the week after at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown.
Lowery Division
Francis Ouimet won the 1913 U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff just down the road at The Country Club in Brookline. For a moment, Frank Vana Jr. and Doug Clapp were heading in that direction, as neither could seem to put the other way the other in a battle between longtime event competitors. If there was ever a harbinger of what to come, their approach shots into the first playoff hole (No. 1) rested side-by-side, and both of their putts kissed the edges and rolled out.
The rest went something like this: Vana got up-and-down from the greenside bunker to save par, Vana and Clapp missed birdie bids inside 10 feet on holes 3 and 4, respectively, and Clapp got up-and-down from the front of the 5th green to extend the match. Finally, on the 6th hole, a victor emerged. Clapp, hitting first, pushed his driver near the trees in the left rough and fescue and had to hit a draw short of the green. Vana was right down the middle and two-putted his way to par. Clapp hit an excellent pitch just above the hole, but his par save rolled past the cup, ending things once and for all.
“Doug’s a good friend of mine, and we hit some good shots and some not-so-good shots,” Vana said. “Unfortunately, we had a lot of good putts that didn’t want to go in. I was lucky enough to win, and I always say it’s hard to win; it just doesn’t happen.”
All this time, Frank Vana Sr., who used to caddy for his son in this tournament, was waiting (a while) a phone call to find out what happened in the playoff. On the cart ride back, Vana Jr. called his folks to tell him he added a Lowery Division title to his Hall of Fame resume. “They didn’t know what was going on and why it took so long,” Vana said, chuckling.
“He caddied for me for 20 years,” Vana said of his father. “We have a lot of great memories at this place. Every time I’m here, I think about him. It’s always special.”
Despite making all pars on the front nine, Vana had an uncharacteristic stumble on the back nine. He has shot even par or better here each of the past four years, but Friday was a battle for survival. With bogeys on holes 10 and 11, including a drop on the 11th, Vana’s lead shrunk. And after crossing to the clubhouse side, it disappeared with a triple bogey on the 15th. Vana, leaning on past knowledge of Woodland, steadied the ship with birdies on the next two holes, and though his Matt Fitzpatrick-like fairway bunker shot that landed above the hole on the 18th green set up a two-putt for the win, he ended up three-putting to bring it to a sudden-death playoff.
“I was lucky that I could forget about it quickly and get right back in the saddle,” Vana said after making the triple bogey on 15. “Golf’s crazy. You just have to never let your guard down because it’ll bite you.”
Clapp deserves kudos as well. Despite battling debilitating injuries throughout the year, to the point where he couldn’t swing a club, he has climbed his way back into the competitive mix. He played in the R&A Senior Amateur in England and, earlier this week, qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur. On Friday, he shot an even-par 71, with a late bogey on 17, moving him one back of Vana going to the final hole.
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