EAST FALMOUTH, Massachusetts – Today began the unleashing of championship swings among Mass Golf’s female players. After Round 1 of the 73rd Women’s Stroke Play Championship for the Baker Trophy on Tuesday at Cape Cod Country Club, Christine Mandile (Winchester Country Club) and Emma Abramson (The Ridge Club) have positioned themselves atop the leaderboard, setting the stage for a competitive find round Wednesday. Mandile holds the lead at 2-over-par 73, and Abramson is one stroke back. The 2022 Women’s Senior Amateur Champion Pamela Kuong stands in third place with a score of 6-over-par 77.
In the Tournament Division, Barb Hecimovich (Beverley Golf & Tennis Club) sits atop the scoreboard while Christine Gagner follows in second with a score of 6-over-par 77 along with Mary Gale trailing two behind Gagner with 8-over-par 79.
The second and final round will begin with tee times starting at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
Both Mandile and Abramson were among the youngest in the field. Mandile, 19, just completed her collegiate season at the University of Richmond where she is a member of the women’s golf team, and Abramson, 18, will begin her collegiate golf career at Williams College this Fall.
“I feel pretty good. I’ve been putting a lot of time into my game, so I’m happy that it’s been showing out on the course. I definitely think I left some out there too, so hopefully I’ll go a little bit lower tomorrow” said Mandile.
Mandile was no stranger to the group of women she played along with as well. “I grew up playing with these girls [Emma Abramson and Mackenzie Whitney] so it’s always fun when I get to come back from college and play with the same people. It’s very familiar, so it’s always a blast which makes it even more fun.”
Speaking about what faces her tomorrow, Mandile added “Nothing changes. I kind of try to not think about it very much and just try to play my own game and not have something else influence it. We’ll see what happens tomorrow and I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing” said Mandile.
With Abramson trailing behind only by 1, the friendly yet competitive rivalry will be quite a fun spectacle to see.
Recalling her round Abramson had this to say: “The game has been feeling good and I have been working hard all winter in the gym and on the courses practicing. It felt good to come out strong here today. I bogeyed the first three holes but then I finished even on the last three, so it was a good comeback” said Abramson.
Abramson had similar thoughts to Mandile on playing with the group she was paired with.
“I love playing with Kenzie and Christina! I played with them my whole life basically. To be back with them and get back to starting a tournament season was really great.”
As Emma looks ahead to the final round, she hopes to get off to a quicker start.
“I think I’ll come out a little bit smoother, I was a little bit jittery coming out. I think I’ll just take it shot by shot and keep talking with my dad, he’s caddying for me.”
Barb Hecimovich has secured the Day 1 lead of the tournament division with a score of 3-over-par 74 and looks to replicate her performance tomorrow.
Christine Gagner follows with a score of 6-over-par 77.
Mary Gale trails 2 behind Gagner with a score of 8-over-par 79.
For the net score leaderboard, Hecimovich sits on the top of that as well with a score of 6-under-par 65 while Pat Finne follows in at second with a score of 1-under-par 70 for the day.
Cape Cod Country Club in East Falmouth is playing host for the 73rd playing of the Women’s Stroke Play Championship for the Baker Trophy. Get to know a bit more about the venue for this year’s championship:
Tee times on Tuesday will begin at 8:00 a.m. Leader Christine Mandile will be teeing off on Hole 1 at 8:20 a.m. and is grouped with Emma Abramson and Pamela Kuong. Barb Hecimovich and Christine Gagner will be teeing off on Hole 10 at 10:10 a.m. as they compete in the Tournament Division.
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Mass Golf is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing golf in Massachusetts by building an engaged community around the sport. Made up of 90,000 golfers statewide, Mass Golf is one of the largest state golf associations in the country. Presently, more than two-thirds of the 360-member clubs are public-access facilities, while nearly one-half of member golfers are enrolled at public facilities. Mass Golf offers its members services including handicapping, event access, youth programming and exciting golf content.
