By Richard Rapp
rrapp@massgolf.org
HINGHAM, Massachusetts (August 18, 2025) – Boston Golf Club deftly dances along the wobbly line between spontaneous walk in the woods and meticulously crafted golf course. There are plenty of overgrown edges to make you feel an immersion into nature, but there’s also just enough curation and craftsmanship to remind you that someone–namely, Gil Hanse–took great pains to make you feel that immersion.
Winding through the dense Hingham woods, many holes feel quite separate from each other, lending an air of quiet and calm. It’s the perfect place to escape to. It’s no wonder that so many Mid-Ams, both men and women, were eager to set an out-of-office message and play hooky on a summer Monday. A chance to gain entry into the U.S. Mid-Am or U.S. Women’s Mid-Am was on the line, but on a 70 degree, sunny day in August, even without a qualifying ticket in hand, it’d be hard to walk away from this golf course feeling unfulfilled.
Peaceful as the surroundings are, it should be said that Boston Golf Club is a bruiser: firm, fast, and undulating. There were no red figures on this day. In the morning, 19 women vied for 3 qualifying spots in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Mackenzie Tyler (Hampton Bays, NY) took medalist honors with a 2-over round of 73, Alexis Florio (Boston, MA) followed up a strong run at the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur with a 5-over 76, and Mass Golf board member Chelsea Curtis (Boston, MA) defeated Sue Curtin (Westwood, MA) in a one hole playoff to nab the final spot.
There were also 3 spots on offer for the 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Troon Country Club. Jake Ratti (Plymouth, MA), who caddies at BGC, utilized course knowledge to take co-medalist honors with Arthur Zelmati (France). The pair matched even par rounds of 70. Kyle Heenan (Boston, MA) and Cody Paladino (West Hartford, CT) battled it out in a playoff after they each finished with a 1-over 72. Paladino prevailed with a lengthy two-putt par on the second playoff hole.
Online: U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying Results | U.S. Mid-Amateur Homepage | U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Qualifying Results | U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Homepage
U.S. MID-AMATEUR QUALIFYING RECAP
Jake Ratti has a knack for big moments on the 18th hole. At the 2024 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur, Ratti holed out a long bunker shot to finish off his victory and a course record 64. Today, he stepped up on the par-3 18th, which had yielded just four birdies on the day, and made a two to lock up his spot in this year’s U.S. Mid-Am.
“Shot into 18 was definitely the best swing of the day. Hit a six iron to like three and a half feet, and knew the break. Yeah, that was kind of it just, that was the best shot of the day. Couldn’t ask for anything better,” said Ratti.
Ratti, who has caddied at Boston Golf Club for ten years, had plenty of home course support to go along with the home course knowledge. When his shot into 18 settled in tight, there were plenty of chirping patio perchers there to let him know just how good it was. “I knew that that birdie on 18 was to not have to be in the playoffs. So once I hit the shot, and everybody was yelling, I knew it was close, and I knew I had a good chance to make it, it was pretty cool to walk up and see it only three and a half feet away.”
You couldn’t put place too much faith in the leaderboard throughout the day, as big numbers seem to come after anyone who peaked their head under par. Ratti was well aware that the key to getting through would be steady play and safe targets. He only surrendered two bogeys on a day that the field combined for 516 bogeys or worse. “I’ve seen the course probably over 1000 times. I’ve seen any shot you can imagine around here,” said Ratti. “So I really just came in today thinking that I wanted to hit it in the safest spots as possible and just really play for par. And my scorecard kind of reflects that, making like think I made 15, pars today, so just really not trying to get in any trouble, because usually you can get out of position here real fast.”
This will mark Ratti’s first appearance in a USGA event, after years of close calls in qualifiers. He estimated that’s he’s missed out by one or two shots over 10 times. Not this time.
Cody Paladino prevailed in a playoff as the sun set on BGC (Mass Golf)
One man who has seen his fair share of USGA events is Cody Paladino. The Connecticut native finds his way through qualifying with impressive regularity, but this year was a little bit harder than most. Paladino was tied with Kyle Heenan for the last spot at the end of regulation, and knowing that the first playoff would be the par-3 18th, he went over to the range to groove a couple of 5 irons. But when he stood on the tee, whatever happened at the dress rehearsal didn’t translate to the stage.
“That was, you know, who knows, a horrible swing at the wrong time. And I almost caught myself saying, well, you know at worst I get first alternate, maybe get in.” His tee shot was a low pull, a good 30 yards off-line. Heenan had stepped up and hit an excellent shot to 15 feet. With Paladino seemingly stymied behind a tree, it looked to be a quick playoff. But Paladino regained his composure as he walked up towards his ball.
“I said, well, see what kind of lie you’ve got first before you totally throw in the towel here. And I had kind of a decent lie, like half on the cart path,” said Paladino. “There was a very small window to hit the green basically.” Not only did he hit the green, but he utilized a backstop behind the pin, running it up into the fringe, then letting it trickle all the way back down to within five feet. He credited watching the rest of the field use that slope from the patio after he’d finished his round. After walking up to the green and spotting how close Heenan’s ball was, he knew he had to make something happen.
“I said, just hammer it through the branches, basically try to get it onto the slope, and if you’re lucky, it’ll roll back down and give yourself something within 15 feet.” The result surpassed his expectations. Heenan hit an excellent putt on his birdie attempt, but it just slid by on the edge, and the seasoned veteran Paladino cleaned up his remarkable par.
On the second playoff hole, the par-4 14th, both players hit their approaches to the back of the green, a good 40 feet from the hole. Paladino went first and ran it up to within three feet. Heenan came up well short and failed to make par, sending Paladino back to yet another U.S. Mid-Am.
“These are, you know, they’re so hard to make, but they’re so amazing, the experience of going to USGA events. So, to have an opportunity to go to one is something I’m very grateful for and they’re the highlight of my year,” said Paladino.
He’ll be joined at Troon Country Club by Ratti and Arthur Zelmati, who quickly fled the scene of his four birdie, even par round of 71.
COMPLETE LIST OF U.S. MID-AMATEUR QUALIFIERS AND ALTERNATES FROM BOSTON GOLF CLUB:
QUALIFIERS (Names; Cities); Score
Arthur Zelmati, France; 71 (E)
Jake Ratti, Plymouth, MA; 71 (E)
Cody Paladino, West Hartford, CT; 72 (+1)*
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Kyle Heenan, Boston, MA; 72 (+1)
Pete McCracken, Medfield, MA; 73 (+2)
*Earned spot with a par on the second playoff hole (No .14)
About The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
The Championship will be contested at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, September 13th-18th.
5,942 entries were accepted, for a field of 264 competitors
Eligibility: Open to any amateur golfer who has reached their 25th birthday as of Sept. 13 and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 2.4
Already Qualified from Massachusetts: Matt Parziale (Brockton, MA), exempt as 2017 U.S. Mid-Am Champion, Conor O’Brien (Boston, MA), Benjamin Spitz (Milton, MA), Sam Russell (Boston, MA), Maxwell Campion (Boston, MA), Damon Lusk (Reading, MA), John Lazor (Boston, MA).
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Qualifying RECAP
By Tori Schuller
tschuller@massgolf.org
Mackenzie Tyler (Hampton Bays, NY) and Alexis Florio (Boston) both spent their collegiate years not only playing a sport, but did so at the Ivy level. Florio graduated from Columbia University in 2022 in the history books for their women’s golf team, while Tyler walked on to the softball team at Harvard University her freshman year.
“I played travel softball in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, but stopped because I wanted to golf more in high school,” Tyler said.
With no girl’s golf team at her local high school, Tyler opted to join the boys. While receiving offers to play golf in college at smaller schools, Tyler realized she wanted to continue her athletic career in a team sport, and reached out to the Harvard softball coach and walked on. With her debut in the golf world starting at age 12, and a decade of caddying experience at Sebonack Golf Course on Long Island, playing softball in college was no deficit to Tyler.
Mackenzie Tyler earned medalist honors (Mass Golf)
After graduating Harvard in 2023, Tyler has decided to trade out a softball bat for a golf bag, for the second time. Tyler earned medalist honors at the qualifier, with a bogey-free 2-under-par back nine to push her to the finish line.
Florio is a familiar and recent face to the Mass Golf world, having competed against Shannon Johnson (Thorny Lea Golf Club) in the semifinals of the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur just last week.
“I really wanted to play in the Mass Amateur as kind of prep for this Mid-Am qualifier,” Florio said. “I think the level of competition last week really helped me feel like my game was in a good spot and was competitive against anybody. “So I felt good coming into today, and I knew it was going to be all about my mindset and being creative with shots and being patient, because you never know what’s going to happen on this course.”
Ending her front nine 5-over-par, Florio found her rhythm on the back nine, carding two birdies and two bogeys to finish with an even par 36.
“I really enjoy whenever I get a chance to play Boston Golf Club,” Florio said. “The front I got into some trouble, but I was able to recover, I think patience is key, because you never know when you can get a birdie.”
While Florio ended her round with a square around her last hole, her up-and-down bogey save was nothing short of incredible.
“I took more of an aggressive line off the tee, just wanting to make birdie or par to finish,” Florio said. With her tee shot on a good line, the ball found the wrong part of the green to get a tough bounce, and put her above the hole, between bunkers, in thick rough. After a well-played chip that released too late, Florio’s ball rolled past the pin, past the front of the green, and into the front rough.
“I knew if I could hit a good recovery chip and give myself a chance to one-putt, it would be ok,” Florio said. With a clutch read from her caddie, the 15-foot downhill breaker for bogey seemed nothing more than a tap in for par, and Florio walked off the 18th green even on her back.
Coming into the clubhouse at 5-over-par 76, Florio earned the second qualifying spot for the 2025 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and will be joining Tyler in Monterey in October.
Alexis Florio takes stock of Boston Golf Club (Mass Golf)
The third qualifying spot was earned with 19 holes, as Chelsea Curtis (Boston) defeated Boston Golf Club member Sue Curtin, in a playoff hole after both shot a 9-over-par 80 on the day.
“Based off of the live scoring, I thought I’d get first alternate, so I was a little surprised to make it into a playoff,” Curtis said.
Off the tee, Curtis unfortunately did not “learn from her mistakes”, and repeated the same tee shot she had this morning, hitting her ball into the left hazard area. With solid recovery shots, Curtis was able to earn herself an up-and-down from about 50 feet, giving her a tap-in for par and the third qualifying spot. Missing the practice round this year, Curtis made sure to have someone on the bag that knew the course better than she did.
“I had to rely on my caddie Pat, but I knew that I had to stay patient and trust my aiming points, because this place can really tear you up,” Curtis said.
Pat Loper, Curtis’s caddie for the day, is a longtime friend, and a former caddie at Boston Golf Club. Even with the extra help, the course played tough, but Curtis stayed with an optimistic attitude.
“Yeah, we had trouble reading the greens too, because there’s a lot of double or triple breaking, it’s not very straightforward,” Curtis said. “You’ll see one break from the ball side and then on the opposite side, it’s completely different. So it’s definitely a tough track, but I love playing here.”
COMPLETE LIST OF U.S. WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR QUALIFIERS AND ALTERNATES FROM BOSTON GOLF CLUB:
QUALIFIERS (Names; Cities); Score
Mackenzie Tyler, Hampton Bays, NY; 73 (+2)
Alexis Florio, Boston, MA; 75 (+5)
Chelsea Curtis, Boston, MA; 80 (+9)*
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Susan Curtin, Westwood, MA; 80 (+9)
Mary Chamberlain, Dennis, MA; 81 (+10)
*Earned spot with a par on the first playoff hole (No .1)
About The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship
The Championship will be contested at Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Dunes Course) in Pebble Beach, California, October 4th-9th.
The course was designed by the great Seth Raynor in 1924, though he died before construction was completed in 1926. Robert Hunter, a partner of Alister MacKenzie, was hired to finish the job.
A record 611 entries were accepted for a field of 132 competitors
Eligibility: Open to any female amateur golfer who has reached her 25th birthday as of Oct. 4 and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 9.4
The 2024 Championship was held at Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, MA. Check out a photo essay from that week, which was featured in Volume III of The Massachusetts Golfer.
Already Qualified from Massachusetts: Shannon Johnson (North Easton, MA), exempt as 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am Champion, Tara Joy-Connelly (Middleborough, MA), exempt as Top 30 age-eligible points leader in Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.
About Boston Golf Club
The Gil Hanse designed Boston Golf Club opened in 2005 to immediate acclaim. Hanse has been a key figure in the so-called “minimalist” era of golf architecture, which seeks to blend the course into the natural landscape–refined design with purposefully rugged edges, built to be explored on foot. Between the simple red and white striped banner and the lack of signage along the woodsy entrance way, the club is under-stated, but in a rather conspicuous way. Of course, the minimalism tag applies to manicuring and the extent to which the land was altered when Hanse laid out the golf course. BGC, as it is commonly referred to, is audacious in many ways, with massive bunkers, severely sloping greens, and substantial elevation changes.
Comparisons to Pine Valley are often irresponsible, but you’d have to believe Hanse had that legendary course in mind as he brought Boston Golf Club to life. The short par-5 5th, “Shipwreck,” with its ruthless bunkering and demanding green, is particularly evocative of Pine Valley.
The 5th is only 315 yards, but it is 315 yards of trouble (Mass Golf)
The radical 15th green at Boston Golf Club (Mass Golf)
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