Mekhala Costello Holes Out For Eagle on Final Hole To Earn Her First Stroke Play Medal; 32 Will Compete In Match Play Beginning Wednesday
By Steve Derderian sderderian@massgolf.org
WILLIAMSTOWN, Massachusetts (August 13, 2024) – As the sun broke through the early morning fog and painted Taconic Golf Club in brilliant hues, the 121st Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship entered Round 2 on Tuesday, revealing not just a brighter sky but also another opportunity to tackle the puzzle that the majestic mountain view masterpiece presents.
Round 1 leader Mekhala Costello (Blue Hill Country Club), of Canton, had her struggles at times but pulled off the most electrifying finish of the day. With the Williams College stadium in view, Costello’s arms sprung up in celebration like a touchdown celebration when her third shot from 90 yards into the par-5 18th green hit the middle of the green and spun back into the cup for an eagle to finish 2-under-par 69 for the second consecutive day.
“For as long as I remember, I don’t think I holed out,” said Costello, who earned stroke-play medalist for the first time, each day finishing one shot shy of the women’s course record (3-under 68). “I felt more pressure today to back it up. I was playing pretty consistently, and that was just a good way to finish.”
Westford sisters Morgan Smith and Molly Smith finished 2-over and 3-over total, respectively, to round out the top 3. Molly was on course record pace by shooting 5-under 30 on the front nine, but she will have top-10 seeding along with Morgan and fellow past champions Allison Paik (2020) and Shannon Johnson (2018).
Top-seeded Costello will lead off the parade of matches in the Round of 32 at 8:00 Wednesday morning as she faces Hingham High School girls golf coach Samantha Leary (South Shore Country Club), who prevailed in a 3-for-1 playoff for the final spot in match play. The winners advance to the Round of 16 in the afternoon. Quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Thursday, and the 18-hole final match begins at 8:00 Friday morning.
A standout soccer player all her life, Costello is living in the moment. Soccer at Amherst College is on the horizon in the fall, but she said Tuesday she may be back on the links in the spring to compete in golf as well. In her time balancing multiple sports, she has grown more comfortable playing in the Mass Women’s Amateur. In her debut three years ago at Plymouth, she played with a pair of Division I standouts – past champion Angela Garvin of Maryland and Virginia’s Rebecca Skoler, who won the title last year.
“I felt like I was just thrown in, but honestly, they were super nice to me,” Costello said of the experience. “That helped me each year. I can see what it takes to be at the top and then get more comfortable.”
In 2022, Costello took a step forward by earning the 4th seed, and then last year, she played her way into the second seed, making it to the quarterfinals before falling to Morgan Smith. On Tuesday, she answered both her bogeys with birdies. After a bogey on the par-4 4th, she tapped in from 3 feet for birdie on the par-3 5th, and after a bogey on the 15th, she countered with a birdie on the par-4 16th despite hitting it past the hole. After a clutch two-putt par on the 17th, Costello drove into the left edge of the fairway and laid up with a 4-iron to set up her finish.
“There’s something about this tournament that I love,” Costello said. “My chipping kind of saved me yesterday and today. I’ve just been enjoying it. I know scores are erased tomorrow, but it’s nice to feel what it’s like to be at the top.”
Once Molly Smith has a course figured out, all you have to do is stand back and watch. That seemed to be the case for half of Round 2. In her second-ever pass at Taconic, Smith lit up the front nine with a bogey-free 5-under 30, including three straight between holes 4-6. On just about every hole, she was hitting pitch wedge into the green, adjusting for whatever number it called for.
“I felt more prepared,” said Smith, the University of Central Florida standout and 2023 finalist. “There are a couple holes where I changed strategy with clubs off the tee and things like that. The more you play, the more you learn. Today, I felt more comfortable on most of the shots.”
While she was on record pace, the back nine spelled a bit more trouble as she made a bogey on the 10th and then hit the pin on the 12th, followed by a bad chip. While things were sliding on the back, Smith made a 15-footer for birdie on the 18th to finish the round on a high note.
“On the backside, I’m not exactly sure what happened, but it’s nice to end with a birdie because things were off track a little bit,” Smith said. “I made 11 birdies and had so many mistakes, so if I can clean up the mistakes and keep trying to learn a little bit more, I feel like my game is in a good spot.”
After stroke play concluded, Samantha Leary found herself in a 3-for-1 playoff with Mia Yohe (Pinehills Golf Club) and Camille DeStefano (Youth on Course/Mass Golf) for the final spot in match play. After all five made par on the par-5 1st, Leary broke the deadlock with a winning par putt on the par-3 17th. To watch the full playoff, CLICK HERE
Here are some other tidbits from Day 2 at the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship.
Costello also won the Osgood Memorial Cup with a Low Net score of 8-under (67-67–134). She won the same award two years ago.
Jake Shuman, who, like Costello, is a Blue Hill Country Club member, set the Taconic men’s course record with a 64 during the 2016 Mass Amateur Championship. He was also the stroke-play medalist that year.
The only two sisters who have won the Mass Women’s Amateur are Hall of Famers Harriot and Margaret Curtis, the latter of whom won back-to-back titles in 1907 and 1908.
Emma Abramson, the Williams College standout, finished in the top half of the field by shooting 77 on Tuesday, improving by three strokes. She is the No. 14 seed and will play Jillian Johnson (Hatherly Country Club) in the first round.
Keira Joshi (Nashawtuc Country Club) holed out for eagle on the 360-yard par-4 13th, hitting an 8-iron into the green from about 120 yards. Joshi, who shot 3-over 75 on Tuesday, plays for Hamilton College, which competed at Taconic during the NESCAC Championship this past spring. She will face future NESCAC golfer Katherine Ng, who will attend Bowdoin College in the fall.
After four years at Columbia University, 2020 champion Allison Paik (Cape Club of Sharon) is transferring to Clemson University for her final year of eligibility. Since the Ivy League didn’t compete during her first year at Columbia, Paik earned an extra year to play. Her warmup routine from Tuesday consisted of 120 shots, including 70 putts, CLICK HERE for the full video.
Noted actor Kevin O’Rourke was on-site Tuesday as a live scoring volunteer Tuesday. O’Rourke, a Taconic member and Williams College graduate, has spent his entire career as an actor and played an award-winning role as Mayor Edward L. Bader in the series Boardwalk Empire, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. O’Rourke founded the Williams College Summer Theatre Lab in 2005, serving as its artistic director for a decade.
Quotable
I was debating between that and a black hat. I haven’t worn this hat a lot, and I leave in less than a week, and I was like, I’ll be here this year. — Mekhala Costello on sporting a flashy purple hat with the A for Amherst College, the main rival of Williams College.
There’s something I like how you can see everything in front of you, and I think the greens were a little faster today. I like just letting the ball go and not having to putt it hard and worry about speed that much. That was the biggest thing for me. — Mekhala Costello on how her game suits Taconic.
Just being back at Taconic, back at Williams, is such a great feeling, and being able to represent my team and my school and being on my home course is incredible. The past few days, I did alright. I feel like I have a lot more in me. I felt a lot better with my game on the front nine today and how I finished. — Emma Abramson on the past two days playing at home.
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