SANDWICH, Massachusetts – The first of two days of the Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship was held on Monday at The Ridge Club. This premier girls’ amateur championship features competitors who range in age from 11 to 18 who compete in three divisions over two days.
Competitors between the ages of 14 and 18 are taking part in 18 holes of stroke play in the Championship & Silver Divisions on both Monday and Tuesday, while those under the age of 14 are featured in the Junior-Junior Division which includes 9 holes on each of the two days.
In addition to trophies awarded to the champions in each division, the competitor who shows the most improvement in score from day one to day two will be recognized with prizes. The overall most improved will also have their name engraved on the Pippy O’Connor Trophy.
See below for highlights from each of the three divisions.
Angela Garvin (The Ranch GC) takes the lead at the Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship with consistent play.
Garvin, an 18-year-old from Feeding Hills who will be entering her Freshman year at the University of Maryland in the fall, carded an even par 71 on Monday taking a one stroke lead heading into the second and final round of 18 holes on Tuesday.
Garvin started the round with a birdie on the 1st hole and finished the front nine without a blemish, stringing together 8 consecutive pars before taking the turn at 1-under par.
Although she would follow that up with a back-to-back bogies on the 355-yard, par 4 10th hole and the 159-yard, par 3 11th hole, Garvin found momentum again in a couple of pars on the 12th and 13th holes. A birdie on the 135-yard par 3 14th hole would set her on course to finish the back nine with four more pars.
She now stands atop the leaderboard in the Championship Division only one stroke better than her closest competitor, the 2018 Champion Rebecca Skoler who sits in solo second place at 1-over par 72.
Four strokes back of Skoler is a trio of impressive talent. Anne Walsh (The Country Club), Morgan Smith (Vesper CC), and Gabrielle Shieh (Nashawtuc CC) – all finished with scores of 5-over par 76.
In the Silver Division which included competitors with a Handicap Index of 10.2 or more, Piper Jordan (Boston GC) jumped out to a nine-stroke lead after posting a score of 9-over par 80 on Monday.
Jordan carded a strong back nine with a birdie on the 124-yard, par 3 17th hole. It was one of just four birdies made on Monday by Silver Division competitors.
In second place behind Jordan is Keira Joshi (MIAA) at 18-over par 89, while Haley Lee-Burke (Westborough GC) and Ahria Desai (Nashawtuc CC) are in third and fourth place, respectively.
All competitors between the ages of 11 and 13 are competing for the Junior-Junior Division, which features 9-holes played on both Monday and Tuesday.
Sitting on top with a score of 1-over par 36 is Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Women), who finished two strokes better than her closest competitor in the Junior-Junior Division. Brozena began her consistent round with five straight pars before carding a bogey on the 6th hole, a 256-yard par 4. She would then go on to take one back with a birdie the 128-yard par 3 7th hole.
In second place and within striking distance is Julia Imai (KOHR Golf Center) with a scores of 3-over par 38. Imai was 1-under par through her first three holes after carding a birdie on her third hole of the day. She was even par until she posted a double bogey on the 6th hole followed by a bogey on the 7th. Imai, regained control of the round finishing with two pars to hold a solo second place spot.
Originally scheduled to be hosted by Cranberry Valley Golf Course, the Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship was moved from the venue due to serious damage caused by the tornado on July 22 forcing its closure. It was estimated that 170 trees were down on the course in playable areas along with extensive damage on the 15th and 16th holes.
The Town of Harwich worked swiftly to begin a staggered reopen of various areas of the course once the damaged was assessed and cleanup had begun. The course opened the driving range at the end of the month followed by the back nine on August 1st. After three crews and over $100,000 worth of work cleaning up limbs and felled tress, Cranberry Valley re-opened the front nine on Saturday and was fully operational with all 18-holes available for play.
