SANDWICH, Massachusetts – Angela Garvin (The Ranch GC) posted a two-round score of even par 142 at The Ridge Club to capture the 2019 Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship title.
Garvin’s victory was a crowning moment in Sandwich on Tuesday following the conclusion of two-day event which featured three divisions and competitors who ranged in age from 11 to 18. In addition to Garvin’s overall Championship victory, the following divisional winners were honored: Silver: Piper Jordan (Boston GC) ; Junior-Junior – Julia Imai (KOHR Golf Center).
Competitors who also showed the most improvement from Monday to Tuesday were recognized with most-improved-golfer medals. Grace Farland (Marlborough CC) will also have her name engraved on the Pippy O’Connor Trophy after posting the biggest improvement across all divisions. Farland bettered her first-round score by 10 strokes in Championship Division play.
See below for highlights from each of the four divisions.
With a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship, Angela Garvin (The Ranch GC) did not let the pressure of the situation get to her.
In the end, the soon-to-be freshman at the University of Maryland fired off a second round that was as consistent as her first. She finished with a two-round score of even par 142, which was three strokes ahead of Gabrielle Shieh (Nashawtuc CC), who carded the only under par round of the Championship, and six better than last year’s champion Rebecca Skoler (Pine Brook CC) and Morgan Smith (Vesper CC).
“I knew coming into this event that it would be my last Junior event,” said Garvin, who has been playing golf since she was four years old and began competing in tournaments at the age of five. “It is a bit sad and I am emotional about it but I still have a lot more golf to play.”
Garvin’s name will now be etched on the same trophy that was won by the likes of past greats such as JoanneGoodwin and Noreen Friel as well as modern-day LPGA stars Brittany Altomare and Megan Khang.
Garvin entered the final round with a one-stroke lead but three bogies on the front nine to start the second round allowed the rest of the field to gain momentum.
“Yesterday I played a solid round hitting 12 of 13 fairways,” said Garvin. “My game kind of leveled out. I was one under on the front yesterday and I was one under on the back today so I switched the nines each round.”
Taking the turn with only one birdie on the card for the card, Garvin would find her pace with a couple of pars and a birdie on the 537-yard, par 5 12th hole.
“My irons were definitely the strong point today,” said Garvin. “I hit a lot of greens and was putting a little better but today I had closer birdie chances.”
With wet conditions on the day, the players put a bit more thought into club selection.
“The course was playing longer today,” said Garvin. “There were a few tee shots I hit where you could see where my ball landed and actually came backwards instead of running out. The pins were tucked away today. So I think there was a couple of holes where I had longer irons in hand today than yesterday.”
Garvin kept composure and finished her round just as focused as when she had started it. “I was just trying to stay on my own game and figure out my goal of what I wanted to shoot where I want to be, not so much where I was in comparison,” said Garvin. “I didn’t know where anybody else was scoring during the round, so I didn’t really think too much about it.
Piper Jordan (Boston GC) took a commanding nine-stroke lead after day one, and she never looked back en route to capturing the Silver Division title.
“On the first hole I shot a double bogey, I guess I was nervous” said Jordan, a Hingham resident who is just 14 years old. “I hooked it right into the trees and I was just hoping that I could get rid of those nerves and keep playing and trying my best.”
Following that first-round score of 80 on Monday, Jordan dealt with changing course conditions for round two with a bit of rain and softer landing areas. “There was a lot of rain and the wind started to pick up so I was factoring that in with my club selection,” said Jordan.
Heading into her freshmen year at Hingham High School, Jordan will finish up her summer season and is looking towards fall with a positive mindset. “I’m excited to play more tournaments and to do well in school, just try my best at everything,” said Jordan.
Finishing 14-strokes back of Jordan in second place was Haley Lee-Burke (Westborough GC) and Emily Hunt (The Ridge Club) just two stokes behind Lee-Burke rounded out the top three finishing solo third.
Brookline’s Julia Imai made a big improvement upon her 3-over par 38 performance on Monday by shooting the best round across the two-day Championship capturing the Junior-Junior Division title. Imai, who was part of a division that played 9 holes on both Monday and Tuesday, posted an even par 35 on Tuesday for a two-round score of 3-over par 73.
She finished two strokes ahead of Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Women), who led the field on Monday with a 1-over par 36 and posted an overall score of 5-over par 75.
Imai, whose day-two score featured three birdies, the most in a round by competitors in the Junior-Junior division.
Following Brozena on the leaderboard was Maddie Smith (Mount Pleasent GC), who posted a 13-over par 83, rounded out the top three in the Division.
Jillian Johnson (Hatherly CC) was recognized as the most improved golfer in the Junior-Junior Division after bettering her day-one score by four strokes.
