Morgan Smith with the championship and junior trophies.
After taking a big lead in the first round, Morgan Smith never looked back at the New England Women’s Amateur Championship, coming away with the Championship and Junior Division titles at the Country Club of Vermont on Wednesday.
Sana Tufail (Southborough Golf Club) made a late move in the standings to finish as runner-up. Sue Curtin (Boston Golf Club) captured the Senior Championship division and Tournament title with a 9-over 225.
Smith ended the event with a 7-under 209. She is the first junior to win the event since Rhode Island’s Anna Grzebian in 2003 and the first teenager to do so since Rhode Island’s Samantha Morrell accomplished the feat in 2010.
“It’s my first ever pretty big tournament win so I’m really happy,” Smith said.
Though she held a significant lead for much of the competition, Smith didn’t let the advantage alter her strategy.
“I just kind of stuck to the game plan of playing my own game,” she said. “Obviously going into today there’s a little bit more pressure since it’s the final day of the tournament and I had a bit of a bumpy start, but I was able to turn it around still play pretty good today.”
Smith’s Day 3 performance was highlighted by a string of three birdies on the front nine — capped off with an eagle on the par-4 7th hole — and two straight birdies on holes 17 and 18 to secure the win.
Tufail shot a 5-over 221 en route to her Runner-Up finish after surging on the back nine. She shot a 34 on holes 10 through 18, the best back-nine score of the day.
She again preached “damage limitation” as the key to her success throughout the championship, though she feels she had room for improvement on her play earlier in the event.
“I’m getting better the second and third rounds but I think it’s just being able to start off the first round better,” she said. “And again, that may be constant preparation, learning the course a bit better in the practice rounds, knowing where to be and where not to be, but I’m definitely very happy with the way my game is trending.”
Tufail tied with Molly Smith (Vesper Country Club) for the second-best Round 3 score with an even-par 72, one stroke back of Morgan Smith.
Molly Smith’s 72, a five-stroke improvement from the second round, moved her into a tie for third with the University of Maryland’s Angela Garvin (The Ranch Golf Club) at 7 over.
Family Business
The championship proved to be a family affair with multiple pairs of siblings in the championship proper, including the Smith sisters.
“It’s a little weird,” Morgan joked, “but we have fun out there.”
The Smiths, who were in the same group for Round 2 after finishing within five strokes of one another on Day 1, also had family members supporting them out on the course.
Another pair of sisters who also made it through to the final day of the competition were Maine’s Jade and Ruby Haylock (Turner Highlands Country Club). After each shooting a 167 through two rounds, they narrowly missed an opportunity to play in the same group in the final round.
“I was hoping to be with her so I can keep an eye on her and try and be right with her,” Jade said.
However, Haylock said they still had a good time playing in the championship together and trying to get a leg up on one another.
“We’re very competitive with each other,” she said. “I enjoy competing with her and when I beat her, it’s really fun.”
Joining the club
Smith joins a sizable group of golfers from the Bay State who have emerged victorious in the championship and captured a combined 29 titles for Massachusetts — the most of any state at the New England Women’s Amateur.
Notable champions include Westford native Pat Bradley, a 1991 World Golf Hall of Fame enshrinee, who won the championship in 1972 and 1973. Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame members Joanne Goodwin and Tara Joy-Connelly also won in back-to-back years (1957 and 1958 for Goodwin; 1995 and 1996 for Joy-Connelly).
Smith also defeated two previous champions competing against her in the Championship Division — 2020 winner Megan Buck (Thorny Lea Golf Club) and Johnson, the back-to-back champion in 2018 and 2019. She played in the same group as Buck on Day 1, building up a 10-stroke advantage during the round, and the same group as Johnson on Day 3, when she finished 7 strokes ahead.
ABOUT THE
New England Amateur
Held since 1926, the New England Amateur
brings together players from six New England
area states — Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Rhode Island. The event host rotates between
each of the six represented states. The
tournament has been won by notable PGA Tour
players such as JJ Henry (1998), Tim Petrovic
(1986), Billy Andrade (1983), and Brad Faxon
(1980, 1981).
Entries are open to amateur golfers who hold
membership in a
club belonging to one of the six New England State
Golf
Associations and have an up-to-date USGA/GHIN
Handicap Index
not exceeding 6.4
View Complete Tournament Information