It’s been quite a summer for North Reading’s Isabel Brozena.
The Indian Ridge member and freshman at Ohio’s Xavier University ran away with the Ouimet Memorial Women’s Division championship, shooting 7-under 208 to win by eight shots over runner-up Morgan Smith of Vesper CC. The tournament was held at Indian Pond CC and Woodland GC July 24-26.
The following week, she doubled up by winning the 91st Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Championship at Bayberry Hills and Bass River, 3&2 over Lillian Guieserian (Blue Hill CC) with whom she shared medalist honors (8-under 136). Brozena clinched the match with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole.
With the Ouimet win, Brozena became only the second female to win the Ouimet Fund and the Girls’ Junior in the same year, joining LPGA star Megan Khang who accomplished the feat in 2011 and 2012.
“This is a really great event to win, it being an amateur event and having so many talented players in the field,” Brozena said of the Ouimet Championship. “To know that I came out on top, just let alone be in contention, is really great.”
Isabel Brozena proudly shows off the Ouimet Championship trophy.
In an interview with Mass Golf’s Steve Derderian after the Girls’ Junior championship match, Brozena said she “worked so hard for this and this was my last junior round ever, so I wanted to win it so badly. I wanted it to be us at the end. This whole summer has been a battle between us in pretty much every tournament and I think there was no other way that I wanted to end than with me and her in the final.”
The win capped a breakout summer for Brozena. She qualified for match play for the first time at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur at El Caballero CC in Tarzana, California, July 15-20. She was ousted in 19 holes by Avani Prashanth in the first round. In June, Brozena tied for eighth at the New England Women’s Amateur Championship at Samoset Resort in Maine with an 18-over 231.
The week after winning the state junior championship, Brozena headed south to Xavier to join the golf team. She made her college debut Sept. 2 at the Boilermaker Classic in Indiana.
She said the secret to her summer success was confidence.
“I played against a lot of tough fields and I’ve done pretty well,” she said. “I think that having that confidence going in is going to be really big to start my college career off strong.”
