Ryan Downes’ natural ability is abundantly clear as he picks apart golf courses on a regular basis.
However, as the saying goes, “You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”
Quietly, Downes has been building up his systems day by day, and he’s racking up the wins while he’s at it.
Downes, a 17-year-old from Longmeadow, Mass., became the youngest ever winner of the Mass. Amateur in July and then claimed his second straight Ouimet Tournament title.
With a steady, positive attitude when it comes to golf, he understands how hard the game is. After all, he’s the son of Billy Downes, the head pro at GreatHorse in Hampden, Mass., who played on the Nike Tour in the 1990s, and the nephew of Bobby Downes, the head pro at the Country Club of Wilbraham.
With a father and an uncle deeply embedded in the sport, Downes could allow the external expectations to bother him. Instead, he sees it differently.