Conner Willett wins Mass Amateur Golf Tournament days after father's death
CONCORD -- An emotional week for Conner Willett, a 19-year-old amateur golfer from Wellesley, ended in triumph on Friday. Willett won the 114th Massachusetts Amateur Golf Tournament at the Concord Country Club, just days after his father died unexpectedly.
Willett, who will enter his sophomore year at Georgetown University in the fall, defeated Longmeadow native Ryan Downes in Friday's match play finals. The two are friends, and even played alongside each other on Monday and Tuesday.
On Friday, Willett won the 36-hole match play final, 4-and-2.
The Massachusetts Amateur Tournament teed off Monday, July 11, just one day after Willett's father, Richard, passed away suddenly. Willett and his family decided that he would play this week, which ended with him winning the amateur crown.
"It feels awesome," he said Friday. "Definitely to do it this week, for sure. To do it this week is awesome."
Willett had a large gallery of family and friends cheering him on throughout Friday's match. He thanked them for all their support during a difficult week.
"I wouldn't have done it without them. I want to thank my family; they blocked out a lot of the details this week about everything," he said. "I wanted to play as much golf as possible, be on the golf course for as long as possible this week. I didn't really want to go home."
Wilett won the 2016 Massachusetts Young Golfers' Amateur Championship and made the match play semifinals in the 2019 Mass Junior Amateur. Winning the Massachusetts Amateur championship now has him booming with confidence.
"It means a lot," said Willett. "I've had a couple of tough years golf-wise. I always thought I could do it, and I did it this week. It's awesome. It really is a dream come true."
