KINGSTON — A pair of local golfers nearly made it all the way to the finish line at the 103rd Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship this week, but in the end, Kernwood Country Club members Sean Dully and Aidan Emmerich both fell in the match play portion of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
Dully won his first match of the day before falling in the quarterfinal round, while Emmerich came up short in the Round of 16.
Dully fell behind in his Round of 16 matchup against David Cammarata-Green of Pine Brook Country Club, but he quickly recovered to win two straight holes and take a 1-up lead. Cammarata-Green tied things up again on the fifth hole, but Dully won the seventh and ninth holes to take a 2-up lead into the back nine. Cammarata-Green rallied with wins on the 10th and 12th holes to tie things up, but Dully answered back with wins on the 13th and 14th holes to return to his 2-up lead. He managed to hold on through the final four holes, winning 1-up to move on.
The quarterfinal match for Dully was against Colin Spencer of Cummaquid Golf Club. Despite a back-and-forth battle for most of the day, Dully ended up falling short in a 3-and-1 loss. After Spencer won the first two holes, Dully battled back to tie the match up through five. The score remained tied through nine holes, but Spencer got hot and won five of the final eight holes to hand Dully the loss.
Emmerich trailed for almost the entire match in his Round of 16 loss to Pleasant Valley Country Club’s Jack Moy, eventually falling 5-and-4. After a tie on the opening hole, Moy won two straight holes and never gave up the lead. Emmerich only won one hole on the day — the fourth — and tied seven holes.
Both young golfers will now turn their attention to their respective senior seasons at the high school level. Emmerich is set to be the No. 1 golfer on the St. Mary’s squad once again, while Dully is set to return to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — where the Dullys make their official residence — for his senior year at Palm Beach Gardens High.