Downes does it again: 19-year-old from Longmeadow makes Mass. Am history at GreatHorse

HAMPDEN — After shaking hands with his opponent, Woodland Golf Club’s Patrick Kilcoyne, on the 12th green, Ryan Downes hopped on the back of a golf cart and took the long ride up toward the clubhouse with his caddie — the two all smiles.

Downes, a Longmeadow native who grew up playing at GreatHorse, had just won the 117th Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship over Kilcoyne on Friday afternoon to become the first golfer in the history of the event to win two Mass. Am titles before turning 20 years old.

When Downes won it in 2023, he was the youngest golfer ever to do so. Now, he’s made history twice.

The 19-year old was met with a champagne shower on the pavilion outside of the clubhouse by friends, family and other members of GreatHorse. Downes, a rising sophomore at Vanderbilt, shot a 5-under 67 on the first set of 18 holes before closing out Kilcoyne on the 30th hole of the 36-hole title match to win, 7 & 6.

With the win, Downes automatically qualified for the 2025 U.S. Amateur Championship, which will take place at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. from Aug. 11-17.

“It’s pretty awesome being a two-time champion,” Downes said. “It’s really something special to me. Home state, obviously home golf course too, family in attendance… it’s really special to get it done in front of all of them. I couldn’t be more elated. The U.S. Amateur exemption is awesome, now I don’t have to go through those qualifiers. But yeah, just really happy about the week.”

At the very beginning of the week — which seems like so long ago considering Downes has since played over 100 holes of golf since Monday’s first round — Downes struggled to get in a groove. He shot a 5-over 77 and sat near the middle of the pack as he teed off on Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, he broke his driver shaft and had to order a new one. It came in on Monday evening and he used it from Tuesday on. His 2-under round of 70 in the second round put him comfortably inside the cut line and from there, he just needed to take it one opponent at a time in match play.

Downes played better and better as the week went on. He was 3-under in his Round of 32 match and even-par in his Round of 16 match — both victories. He breezed through his quarterfinal match with a 2-under score at the time of his triumph and in the semifinals against George Wright Golf Course’s Joey Lenane, Downes stormed back from 3-down with a blistering back nine of 5-under par to force a playoff, which he won on the first hole.

“I worked a little bit on my swing after Monday, but it was really my attitude,” Downes said on what shifted between his slow start to his eventual finals win. “It wasn’t where it needed to be. And then my driver shaft came in Monday night, so I threw that in the bag after that. I guess it was just confidence. I drove it much better, and in match play I was just playing my opponent. And whatever he does, do something better.”

One change Downes didn’t mention between his Monday round and the rest of the tournament was the presence of his father, Billy — the head golf pro at GreatHorse. Billy Downes was swamped with the duties his job entail during the first round, so he didn’t get to watch his son’s opening 18 holes.

Once he saw Ryan shot a 77, he made sure he didn’t have anything on his plate to occupy him the rest of the week. Billy followed Ryan each of the next four days, and had a big hug for him when his par on the 12th hole Friday etched his name in history — again.

“What a fun week,” Billy Downes said. “I know it was a huge goal of Ryan’s after getting beat in the Junior Amateur here on his home course a couple years ago. He’s progressed so much after his freshman year at Vanderbilt, and it’s just so much fun to watch.”

It was the big stick in Downes’ bag that propelled him to an early lead on Friday. He hit his driver well on the first set of 18 holes, putting himself in perfect spots to attack the undulated GreatHorse greens aggressively. Downes started par-birdie to take a quick 2-up lead, and Kilcoyne never got closer the rest of the way.

A bogey-free 67 fueled by a bomb of a putt for eagle on the par-5 14th had Downes 5-up through 18 holes. The two traded victories on the 1st and 2nd holes after a short 30-minute break to keep the lead there, and Downes took full control after a par on the 7th and birdie on the 8th were enough to grab two more wins.

He was 7-up with 10 to play, and eventually closed things out with a textbook par on the par 3 12th hole — which played about 150 yards on Friday.

“I drove the ball really well in the morning,” Downes said. “I didn’t as well in the afternoon, but good enough. I just feel like that put me in great spots all day. I made timely putts, hit some great iron shots at good targets. Wedge play probably could’ve been a little better, but I was happy with it because these pins were pretty hard out there today. The main thing was I didn’t really ever get out of position, which was great.”

There couldn’t have been more of a storybook ending for the Downes family at GreatHorse this week, as Ryan claimed his second Mass. Am title in three years — this one coming at his home course in front of a plethora of his biggest supporters.