KINGSTON, Massachusetts – Walking off the green on hole 18, Emma Abramson (The Ridge Club) didn’t know where exactly she sat in the final-round standings at the Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship Powered by KOHR Golf on Tuesday.
It wasn’t until several minutes later that she found out she had won, giving her her first win at the championship and her first individual championship division title at a Mass Golf Championship.
Abramson shot a 2-under 70 in the final round, one stroke shy of the round’s lowest score, to finish 1-under in the championship. The rising senior at Sandwich High School was the only competitor to finish under par after both days.
With the win, she became the 73rd golfer in state history to win the Girls’ Junior, one of the oldest championships held by Mass Golf.
In addition to Abramson’s win in the championship division, the following divisional winners were honored: Sophie Lim (KOHR Golf Center) in the Silver Division, Reva Machanavajhula (Youth on Course/Mass Golf) in the Junior-Mite Division, and Anna Gardner (The Country Club) as the Most Improved Golfer in the Championship Division.
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After getting off to a tough start on her first hole during the first round of competition on Monday, Abramson quickly chipped away at the deficit on to enter the final day in the last group. She made up a Round-1 deficit against Sofie Robinson (Weston Golf Club) on the front nine to enter the back nine as the 9-hole leader by one stroke. Abramson did her best to keep the pressure off even though she knew that the final holes of the match would determine the championship winner.
“I was trying to shake the hips as I was coming down, just keep breathing, as we all know pressure rises as you come down to the stretch but I thought I kept my head even-keeled,” she said. “A lot of tournaments in the past prepared me for this one.”
Abramson made her fourth birdie of the afternoon on the 15th hole, which seemed to give her the confidence necessary to manage the end of the round. She putted for birdie after setting herself up with an effective bump shot, a skill she says she’s been putting extra work into as she prepares for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay next week.
Coming down the 18th fairway, Abramson’s approach shot onto the green landed her several feet north of the pin. Her first putt rolled six feet away from the hole, but she sank her next attempt to make a critical par save that ended up giving her the win.
“Honestly I didn’t know until we got to the scoring tent about who won because we all played really well out there today,” she said. “I knew I had to make the putt at the end from six feet and that’s what did it, so very excited.”
Renna Chang (Youth on Course/Mass Golf) finished as runner-up with an even-par 144 after shooting a 1-under 71 during the final round. Chang made up ground on her groupmates Abramson and Robinson by making birdie on holes 16 and 18.
Robinson said that the trio enjoyed being matched with one another for the second day of competition.
“It was a fun group,” she said. “We all were talking and laughing the whole time. It was fun to watch Emma make a ton of awesome putts today.”
There was a three-way tie for third between Robinson, Morgan Smith (Vesper Country Club) and Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Country Club) at a 2-over 146. Brozena solidified her spot near the top of the leaderboard with clutch play down the stretch, including a par save on the final hole, after starting off the day with a 9 on the par-5 2nd hole.
“I think it went pretty well considering I had such a difficult second hole,” Brozena said. “But I was happy with how I was cutting well and I just think that the tough hole helped motivate me to to play better.”
The biggest turnaround of the day came from Gardner, who made an 18-stroke improvement from Day 1 to shoot a second-round 74. Francesca Choquette (Boston Golf Club) also improved with a 3-under 69 Tuesday score, the only sub-70 mark of the championship, after carding an 82 on Day 1.
Another big moment came from 2021 Junior-Mite Division Champion Kaitlyn Doe (Student Member/MIAA) on the 17th hole, where she made a hole-in-one to the delight of nearby spectators. Doe said it was also the first hole-in-one of her career.
In the Silver Division, Lim continued to build on her 9-stroke lead from Day 1 en route to winning her first division title at the Girls’ Junior.
Lim made four birdies during her round to shoot a 78, the best 18-hole score recorded from either day of the championship in the division. She finished with a 20-stroke win, which she said is the largest margin of victory she can recall posting.
Sadie Cumming (Dedham Country and Polo Club) was the divisional runner-up after bettering her first-round score by two strokes. Olivia Arone (The Ridge Club) finished behind Cumming to take third.
Machanavajhula walked away with a 3-over 75 after her two 9-hole rounds to nab the win in the Junior-Mite Division, her second career divisional title at the Girls’ Junior. She previously captured the Mite Division crown in 2020 at Hatherly Country Club.
The Billerica native finished with a 12-stroke victory on Tuesday that included a birdie on hole 2.
“I’m quite excited,” Machanavajhula said. “It’s really fun because I’ve won this one before, so it’s nice to have some memories in each place.”
While she was pleased with her round, she also credited her Junior-Mite competition.
“I had one to two bad shots by the end there, but otherwise, pretty much a pretty good round and I think everyone else played really well too,” Machanavajhula said. “It was a tough competition, so it’s nice.”
Isabella Arone (The Ridge Club) finished with an 87, good for second place. Alyssa Paine (MIAA) ended just three strokes back of Arone with a 90.
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