It ended up taking all 36 holes, but when it was all said and done Nashawtuc Country Club’s Matthew Organisak made a par on the final hole to defeat Bradford Country Club’s Nick Maccario and win the 112th Massachusetts Amateur Championship at The Kittansett Club on Friday.
Organisak defeated Maccario — who is a graduate of St. John’s Prep — by a score of 2-up. This is the first state amateur win for Organisak, who represents Nashawtuc in Concord and recently graduated from Emory University in Atlanta. Organisak also won the 2019 Francis Ouimet Memorial Tournament. He joins Patrick Frodigh (2018) and Ben Spitz (2006) as the only left-handed golfers to win the Amateur since 2000.
“It’s truly special to be able to say that my name will be on this trophy pretty soon,” said Organisak, a Sudbury native. “Something that I feel even better about and even more proud and happy about is that Nashawtuc Country’s Club’s name will be on this trophy. Every member over there has always been so supportive and they have been all week. Just to be able to put my name on this is an amazing feeling.”
“Playing and keeping the adrenaline and the energy up for 36 holes is tough,” said Maccario, who lives in Manchester. “I’ve never had to do it while playing the same person. It was tough and the weather today felt like we were not in the U.S., we had a little bit of everything. I think that’s probably the toughest thing was just keeping your head in it for eight hours.”
The first 18 holes were evenly-matched, with both players battling the rainy, windy conditions for the first few hours. Organisak jumped out to an early 2-up lead after two holes, but Maccario quickly fought back and had a 2-up lead of his own after eight holes. Organisak made a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole to cut Maccario’s lead to just 1-up at the turn. The score remained there until the 13th hole, when Organisak made a birdie on the 375-yard par 4 to tie the score up. A par on the 16th hole gave Organisak a 1-up lead, but Maccario was able to take the 18th hole to keep things all even at the halfway point.
The second 18 got off to a rough start for Maccario, allowing Organisak to rush ahead to a big lead. After earning points on the first, second, fifth and sixth holes, Organisak took a 4-up lead and looked to potentially run away with the tournament.
But Maccario wouldn’t back down. A par on the seventh and an eagle on the eighth for Maccario cut the deficit in half before Organisak made a birdie on the ninth to take a 3-up lead to the back nine. Another birdie on the 10th gave Organisak a 4-up lead once again.
Maccario fought back with back-to-back pars on the 12th and 13th holes to cut the deficit in half and gain some momentum. But Organisak wouldn’t back down either, making huge par saves on both the 15th and 16th holes to keep Maccario from getting any closer.
On the 17th hole — which played directly into the wind — Maccario flighted a low shot onto the green from nearly 160 yards out and made a clutch birdie to keep himself alive in the tournament. Only 1-down, Maccario missed the fairway on the par-5 18th and struggled to advance his second shot more than 100 yards. Meanwhile, Organisak striped a driver right down the middle of the fairway and was just short and left of the green with his second shot. Maccario’s third shot ended up over the green, and he missed both his birdie and par attempt to settle for a bogey. Organisak chipped up onto the green and took his two putts to make par and win the championship.