“I thought the tournament was very empowering for girls. Seeing how many girls play golf really surprised me. It makes me think that this is the new upcoming sport for girls to play,” says Masco sophomore Julia Tremblay, who played this tournament for the first time and is on her school’s varsity golf team.

Early on the morning of Tuesday, May 28th, girls from all across Massachusetts arrived at The Country Club of Greenfield, to participate in the 2019 MIAA Spring Golf North Sectional Golf Tournament. With a 9:00 am shotgun start all 72 individual girls and six teams hit off the black tees to play 18 holes of golf (5181 total yards) on one of the oldest golf clubs in New England.

“The girls spring golf tournament for individuals is relatively new, but it offers ’women’s golfers in high school an opportunity to play a sport amongst their peers that they haven’t had before,” says Triton Athletic Director, Sean McInnis.

David Keir, who was this ’year’s championship director appointed by the MIAA and this happened to be his first year running this particular tournament although he has experience running other tournaments. Mr. Keir also runs the fall golf tournament, and he was previously a golf pro for many years. He has coached for Hatfield public school for many years but recently retired from coaching golf. Keir has a lot of experience in the golf community and knows about the opportunities open to women’s golfers.

“I have coached three ladies who went D1 on scholarships,” says Keir. “There are lots of opportunities available for all levels (D1, D2, and D3,) if you are willing to put in the work on the course and academically.”

The course is unlike any other I have ever seen with a set of railroad tracks running through the center of the course and along the tenth and fourteenth holes. Other than that the course is very open and relatively easy. Probably the toughest hole is hole seven which is a blind and downhill par three. In total the course is a par 72 with 5181 yards.

“It wasn’t that difficult. A lot of sand traps by the greens and a couple of water hazards,” says Tremblay. “I think it was a playable course for high school girls.”

Unlike the beautiful day that Memorial Day was on Monday, the weather did not stay sunny and hot, but during the tournament it was cold, and it started to downpour with about five holes left. I give credit to the girls for toughing out the rain and for continuing to play to the best of their abilities.

Although the majority of the girls who played were from more western Massachusetts teams, there were a couple of local girls who competed representing the local area, which includes Masco Sophomore Julia Tremblay, Masco Sophomore Karleigh Odiet, Pentucket freshman Ava Spencer, and Triton junior Caitlin White.

According to the MIAA results, Spencer finished tied for 20th with a total score of 82. White finished tied for 24th with a total score of 91. Tremblay finished in 34th place with an overall score of 98. Odiet finished in 60th place with a total score of 115.

Golf is a sport that all ages can play on an amateur or professional level and everything in between. The number of schools on all levels offering golf as a sport is more than you would think. Although the spring girls golf tournament is relatively new, it seems like girls golf is a growing sport.