Madison Smith (Photos by David Colt/Mass Golf)
At the 120th Massachusetts Women’s Amateur, held at Dedham Country & Polo Club Aug. 14-18, three sisters qualified for match play. It will come as no surprise to regular readers of North Shore Golf that those sisters are Vesper’s Morgan, Molly and Madison Smith.
This was the second straight year the Smith sisters achieved that feat, the only siblings in the history of the championship to do so.
Morgan, the oldest, came into the tournament as defending champion. She roared from behind to beat Rebbeca Skoler in a thriller at The Orchards in South Hadley last year. Standing on the 16th tee, Morgan, who plays at Georgetown University, was two down, but won the last three holes to win.
This year, it was middle sister Molly who came oh-so-close to keeping the championship trophy in the family. Had she pulled it off, it would have marked only the second time ever that sisters won state titles, matching the feat of Essex County Club’s Margaret (’01, ’07, ’08, ’14) and Harriot (’20) Curtis.
Fast forward 103 years and it was Skoler, a Pine Brook member, who had redemption in mind. She evened the score with Morgan in the semifinals, birdieing the 18th hole to win 2-up. About 24 hours later, she faced Molly in the final. Thanks to a flawless short game, she turned tables on Team Smith, winning the last two holes with pars to beat Molly in the championship match, 2&1.
Molly, a freshman on the University of Central Florida squad, seemingly had all the momentum going into the final. She shot the only sub-par round during the two days of qualifying, posting 75-68 (143) to earn medalist honors as her sister Morgan did in 2022. In match play, she never saw the 17th or 18th holes until the final.
Molly Smith
But Skoler served notice right out of the gate in Friday’s final, birdieing the first hole, arguably one of the toughest first holes there is in women’s golf. While Skoler never trailed, it was nip-and-tuck the whole way with Skoler’s largest lead only 1-up.
Molly looked to be repeating last year’s final after she bombed a drive and birdied the 15th hole, the so-called road hole, to level the match. But Skoler dashed any dreams Molly may have had of a second straight Smith comeback. Showing nerves of steel, Skoler won the 16th hole after getting up and down from the fringe, then closed out the match with a sand-save par on the 17th hole after Molly flushed her approach over the green and missed her putt for par.
“I didn’t bring my A-game,” Molly said in a post-match interview. “When you’re playing deep into an event like this, you have to progressively get better in your matches because the players get better and better as you move on. Overall, I feel like I played some good golf this week.”
Morgan qualified for match play with a score of 151, tied for fourth lowest.
Madison Smith, the baby of the family, posted the third-best qualifying score, 149. She was eliminated in the round of 16 by Mya Murphy, 2&1.
Morgan Smith
Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge) qualified for match play with a 152. She bowed out in the quarterfinals, losing to Lillian Guleserian, 4&3.
Tracy Martin (Vesper) qualified for match play with a score of 154, but was knocked out in the round of 16 by Morgan Smith, 4&2.
Christine Mandile (Winchester) qualified for match play with a score of 158 and was also eliminated in the second round, losing 3&2 to Mekhala Costello.
