Massachusetts

Ryan Downes becomes youngest winner in 115-year history of Mass. Amateur

Published

2 years ago

July 14, 2023

Ryan Downes becomes youngest winner in 115-year history of Mass. Amateur

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — One year after coming up short in the Massachusetts Amateur final, Longmeadow and GreatHorse’s Ryan Downes wasn’t about to be denied for a second time.

Putting on a surgical exhibition of winning golf, the 17-year-old Longmeadow High senior played with experience far beyond his age.

Downes played 31 holes in Friday’s championship match against good friend Matt Naumec in 7-under par en route to becoming the youngest winner in the 115-year history of the state’s biggest amateur championship after his 6 & 5 win.

Downes eclipses the previous mark of Ted Adams and James Driscoll, who each became amateur champions at age 18.

“It really does feel great,” Downes said as the Massachusetts Cup sat at his feet. “Last year, I don’t think my game was as mature as it is now. I learned a lot about being able to hit shots under pressure and that really paid off.”

While the score was seemingly lopsided at the end, the match was actually much closer for most of the way.
If there was one spot where Downes did the bulk of his damage, it was on the part of the course called “birdie bend” by the Essex County Club membership.

Holes four through seven were very good to Downes on Friday in both rounds. During the first 18, he used three straight birdies on five, six and seven to open up a 4 up lead. Then in the second round of the day, one interrupted by a lightning delay, it was that stretch of holes where Downes turned an all square match into a runaway in a flash.

“Ryan is just a hell of a player. Any time you birdie a hole like the fourth, you just have to tip your cap,” Naumec said.

The birdie that the former Boston College standout spoke of came after Downes bogeyed the par 5 third, the 22nd hole of the match, to see a four down lead go away.

He stepped to the tee on the second hardest hole of the week and striped a 4 iron to 10 feet. He sank the putt and then followed it with a close approach on the par 5 fifth for a conceded eagle.

After a delay for lightning in the area, Downes’ first swing resulted in a four-foot birdie on the seventh and a three up lead.

“I pulled that four iron out on the fourth and didn’t have a second thought. That stretch of holes was probably my favorite all week. I played them really well,” Downes said.

By the time the final pair made the turn, Downes had restored his 4 up lead from earlier in the day, putting him within reaching distance of the crown.

Another birdie at 10th increased the lead to 5 up and when Naumec couldn’t get up and down from behind the 12th green, Downes was on the verge of the crown. Fittingly, he wrapped it up with another surgical par on the 13th green.

“Ryan didn’t make many mistakes and he deserves this,” Naumec said.

As he looked at the names inscribed on the winner’s trophy, Downes couldn’t help but feel happy.

“It’s a great feeling for me, it really is awesome,” Downes said.

Matt Naumac, 26, of Framingham, left, congratulates Ryan Downes, 17, after Downes won the championship match at the 115th Massachusetts Amateur. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)

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Massachusetts

Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

Published

5 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

Hardly had Kelly Ayotte, the new governor of New Hampshire unloaded on Massachusetts over its immigration policy, than another illegal immigrant was charged with rape in the Bay State.

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Originally Published: January 16, 2025 at 12:22 AM EST

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Massachusetts

Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

Published

13 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.

Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.

“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.

“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.

He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.

On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.

Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.

The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.

“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.

“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.

Originally Published: January 15, 2025 at 6:56 PM EST

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Massachusetts

Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Published

21 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.

In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.

The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.

But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.

The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.

Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.

Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.

Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.

The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.

The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.

Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.

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