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Photo by David Colt from Massgolf.org [Press Release]. Needham resident Rebecca Skoler (left) and Morgan Smith (right) stand together with the championship trophy before the game.
8-21-2022 12:05am
Needham Resident Finishes as Runner-Up to Westford Teen Golfer in Mass Women's Amateur Championship
Darlene Cancell
Editor
On Friday, August 19, 2022 at The Orchards Golf Club in Hadley, Massachusetts, teenager Morgan Smith of Westford orchestrated a comeback against 20 year-old Needham resident Rebecca Skoler to win the Massachusetts Women's Amateur Championship in golf. Ms. Smith, who never led until the very end, turned in a performance has been called one of the most spectacular comebacks in the history of the championship.
Ms. Smith won the match on the last three holes. On the par-5, 16th fairway, Ms. Skoler was unable to save par. Ms. Smith then executed a near ace on the par-3 17th and a clutch par on the 18th to emerge victorious, 1-up, over Ms. Skoler.
Ms. Skoler commented on the final match against Ms. Smith, stating “I knew it was going to be a tough match. She’s been playing amazing the whole summer so I knew it was going to be a long match, and it was going to be tough, and I need to have my best stuff out there in order to beat her. I know she’s super steady off the tee, her irons, her whole game is pretty steady so I knew that I was going to have to do that, too. I just tried to trust it, but you don’t always got it.”
On her win, Ms. Smith commented,“I focused on that love of the game. I came out here and proved myself. My parents are a big part of that. They pushed me to continue to believe in myself. Obviously Rebecca is a phenomenal golfer, and she led the match the whole day, so to be able to close it out, it’s just awesome.”
This article is derived from Mass Golf, "Morgan Smith Rallies over Final Three Holes to Win Mass Women's Amateur for First Time" [Press Release] Aug. 19, 2022, Retrieved from https://www.massgolf.org/news/mass-womens-amateur-final-match-2022/.
