By Tori Schuller
BERNARDSTON, Massachusetts – The final match for the 2025 Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Powered by KOHR Golf was a familiar sight to anyone who watched in 2023, with Kaitlyn Doe (Needham Golf Club) and Maddie Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club) going head-to-head Thursday at Crumpin-Fox Club.
But the final match was not met without a drawn-out round from both girls in the semi-finals.
Both Smith and Doe didn’t close out their semi-final matches until the 16th hole. Smith earned her first lead 1-up over Sophie Redmond (MIAA) on the 8th hole, and only improved her lead through the next few. With a clutch birdie putt on hole 15, Smith kept her lead until 16, where Redmond was not able to make a comeback.
Doe took on Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club), an incoming Penn State commit in the semi-finals, not earning a lead over 2-up until the 9th hole. Doe earned two birdies on the 12th and 16th, putting her in a prime position to close out her match and send her to the finals.
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Smith and Doe took Crumpin-Fox on in the afternoon, after playing 80 holes each throughout the rest of the week. Both competitors had to dig deep to muster the strength, determination and motivation to play another 18 and grab a win.
Needless to say, neither made it easy for the other. With each par save, the other matched it. Doe grabbed a 1-up lead on hole number 4, but Smith and Doe played tug-of-war with the lead, no one leading by more than 1-up until the 16th hole. Smith two-putted for par, and earned a 2-up lead that she carried through the 17th to earn her second Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur title, and second amateur championship title in three weeks. Smith won her first title in 2023, in a playoff against Doe.
“It feels great. It’s always good to come out and play against a great field and challenge your game,” said Smith, who brought home the trophy for the New England Women’s Amateur in late June. “And that’s what I love to do and why you play, so coming out and getting two wins is pretty enjoyable.”
Over the past four days, Smith has kept her head and game steady through 99 holes of golf.
“Mentally it’s hard not to stay focused,” Smith said. “You’re so zoned in on a match trying to win that I didn’t really feel tired until everything was done.”
This is Smith’s first time in the match-play sector of the tournament, a change initiated in the 2024 tournament.
“I was a little more aggressive on the greens, I tried to play pretty fearless,” Smith said. “In match play you have to keep pressing, and I just went out and tried to play the best golf I could.”
Scroll down for capsules from the semifinal matches played Thursday at Crumpin-Fox Club:
1-Maddie Smith, Mount Pleasant Country Club, def. 5-Sophie Redmond, MIAA, 3&2
Only 2-up at the turn, Maddie Smith needed to find a higher gear to win her match, and she did. Smith first earned a lead of 3-up on hole 10, and continued her lead until the 15th hole, where time ran out for her competitor, Sophie Redmond.
3-Kaitlyn Doe, Needham Golf Club, def. 2-Lillian Guleserian, Blue Hill Country Club, 4&2
Kaitlyn Doe started her morning off right, taking a lead with a birdie on the first hole. Doe didn’t let her competitor, Guleserian, take the lead once in the match, staying focused and determined until she closed out the match with a birdie on the 16th.
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