Women: Shannon Johnson into quarterfinals

There is still a strong Mass Golf presence at the U.S. Mid-Amateur championships in South Carolina and on Nantucket.

But the weather has been gentler and more consistent at Berkeley Hall CC in Bluffton, S.C., so the women are further along and have played with fewer stops. The quarterfinals will be played Wednesday, and they will do so with Shannon Johnson of Thorny Lea GC in Brockton, who has come to enjoy this competition very much.

A runner-up in 2016 and champion in 2018, Johnson will play Lauren Greenlief of Virginia in a bid to get into a third semifinal in five years.

Shannon Johnson (left) and Sue Curtin are great friends and even greater competitors, which made their Round of 64 match an appealing attraction. Johnson won, 2-and-1.

Of course, to get this far, Johnson has had to sort of win a second Mass Golf Women’s Mid-Amateur at Berkeley Hall. She won the real thing last month, then faced another one this week. OK, so we’re embellishing. But by drawing her good friend Sue Curtin of Westwood in Monday’s Round of 64 and Duxbury native and onetime Mass Golf standout Tara Joy-Connelly in Tuesday’s Round of 16, Johnson has surely faced familiar faces.

For Curtin, who played the last four holes in 1-under Sunday to get in under the cut, had mixed emotions when she saw the draw putting her up against Johnson.

“First reaction was one of resignation to come that far to play a friend and someone you know is clearly one of the best in the field,” said Curtin. “My second reaction was one of disappointment in myself for not playing better in stroke-play, but in the end, these types of situations happen.”

Curtin’s play in the Round of 64 was exponentially better as she was tied with Johnson through nine holes and only 1 down after 16. Showing the sort of mettle that has lifted her to this championship, Johnson birdied the 17th to win, 2 and 1.

She then dispatched Lila Thomas, 3 and 2, in the Round of 32 to set up the game against Connelly, who now lives year-round in Florida. Connelly had won, 1 up, in the Round of 32 against Erin Packer, Allen Doyle’s daughter, and she carried the momentum into the afternoon against Johnson.

With birdies at the third and fourth, Connelly took a 1-up lead and held that until Johnson won the 11th, 13th, and 15th to seize control. Though Connelly won the 17th, Johnson held firm at the final hole to advance, 1 up.

Match play has only been a continuation for Johnson from stroke play where she shot 71-73 – 144 to tie for second. Megan Buck, another standout from Thorny Lea, also shined with rounds of 70-76 to finish joint sixth, then a 1-up win over Meghan Stasi in the Round of 64.

Buck’s week came to an end in the Round of 32 when she was ousted by Blakesly Brock of Tennessee.

Pam Kuong (83-83) of Charles River CC and Mary Mulcahy (82-84) of Hatherly CC also competed but failed to make it into match play.

Men: Maccario goes from playoff to Round of 16

Out on Nantucket, the men are only through two rounds, thanks to periods of rain and a thick blanket of fog over the weekend. Not that Nick Maccario of Haverhill is complaining, mind you. That’s because after needing to survive a 13-for-7 playoff Monday, the 2019 Mass Golf Mid-Amateur champion has rolled over Daniel Campbell, 2 and 1, and Jay Moore of Nebraska, 5 and 4.

Maccario, the last New England hopeful, will meet Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, Missouri, in Wednesday’s Round of 16.

John Hayes of Portland, Maine, won his Round of 64 game, but got ousted Tuesday, 6 and 4, by Andrew Bailey.

The only other New England players to make it into match play were Cody Paladino of Connecticut (he lost to Garrett Rank, 2 and 1) and Harvin Groft of Berwick, Maine (he was ousted by Brady Shivers, 3 and 2).

With conditions more conducive for scoring, you needed to be at 2-over just to get into that 13-for-7 playoff, which meant familiar names such as former U.S. Mid-Am champ Matt Parziale (71-73) and Doug Clapp (70-74) were outside the cut at 4-over.

Of the 16 names still alive, former champion Stewart Hagestad is most notable, but so, too, do Rank and Nurski have experience as former finalists in this championship. Still, keep an eye on Drew Kittleson, a reinstated amateur with a great collegiate background and a pair of wins safely under his belt.