FRAMINGHAM – Thirty-six holes stand in the way. But it was a 37th that turned the tide.
Earlier this week, Matt Naumec was nearly eliminated from the Mass Amateur golf tournament. He needed a birdie in a playoff on Tuesday – at the conclusion of stroke play – just to move on.
As the 32nd and final seed heading into match play, Naumec knocked off the No. 1 seed (Matt Cowgill) and No. 17 Tyler Dupuis on Wednesday before winning twice more on another steamy, muggy day to reach the finals for the second year in a row.
The Framingham Country Club member, with a large gathering watching every stroke at his home course, put away Wellesley Hills native John Broderick on a cloudy Thursday morning before defeating former Masters and U.S. Open participant Matt Parziale in sweltering sun and increasing winds in the afternoon.
Naumec will face Ricky Stimets of Worcester Country Club in Friday’s 36-hole championship match that tees off at 7:30 a.m. Naumec became the first 32 seed to reach the final since 2013. He lost to Ryan Downes in last year’s championship match 6 & 5.
“It would be special,” Naumec said of winning the trophy. “This course is a big family. It would be fun to do. Is the competitiveness there? Absolutely.”
Friday’s winner earns a spot in the United States Amateur, at Hazeltine National in Minnesota, next month.
Naumec is looking to become the first Framingham Country Club Mass Am champion since John Salamone in 1991. Naumec admitted to knowing the ins and outs of FCC, what works and what doesn’t.
“I think if you’re playing the course over and over again, it’s not where you hit it; it’s where you can’t hit it,” he said. “Knowing those spots helps the most. You always want to say, ‘par’s your friend, so make them make a birdie.’ Being able to not be in the worst position on the hole is definitely more important than being in the best.”
Naumec, the defending club champion who played at the U.S. Open in 2019 at Pebble Beach, led 4-up after nine holes in both of his matches Thursday before his opponent sliced the lead in half both times.
After Broderick closed to within 2-down, both players made birdies on 12. Broderick crept no closer. In the Parziale match, the Thorny Lea golfer made a long birdie on 10 and a Naumec bogie on 11 left him 2-up. The lead grew to 4-up through 13 before Naumec iced the match two holes later.
“There’s going to be fluctuations throughout a match,” Naumec said. “To be 4-up through nine was great, but Matt Parziale is one of the best to come out of Mass., and John Broderick is the next one coming up. Knowing that they could make a run was definitely on my mind. You can’t let your mind slip for a hole because they’re going to take advantage of that.
“Playing that level of caliber of player almost keeps you in the match a little bit more.”
“I didn’t play very well this afternoon,” Parziale said. “That’s why I lost. It’s been a long week.”
Naumec and Parziale were cordial throughout their match, chatting easily during walks to the green. They first played against each other in 2014 at the Mass Am at Kernwood.
“He destroyed me on like the 12th hole,” Naumec said of Parziale, who won 7 & 5 on the way to the semifinals. “Ever since then, we’ve been close friends. We see each other a lot. He’s been a good buddy for a long time.”
In last year’s final match at Essex Country Club, the golfers were even through 21 holes before Downes, who was runner-up the year before, made his charge. Naumec said that experience will be helpful on Friday. (Incidentally, next year’s State Am will be at GreatHorse in Wilbraham, Naumec’s hometown).
“It’s not an 18-hole match; it’s 36,” Naumec said. “The longevity of the match – knowing that if that fluctuation happens, there’s plenty of golf to be played where you can make up a bit of a deficit. That’s comforting.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham CC’s Naumec Matt to play for Mass Am golf championship
