By Tori Schuller
BERNARDSTON, Massachusetts (July 8, 2025) – Maddie Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club) brought home the stroke play medal Tuesday, leading the Championship Division at the 92nd Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur, Powered By KOHR Golf. Smith carded a 3-under-par 69 at the Crumpin-Fox Club, leading the field for the low score. With five birdies on the card, Smith aimed to improve on the course today, after a 1-over-par 73 yesterday.
“I think I made a couple more putts today, but I do think this is a course where the more you go out and play, the more you learn about the course, and hopefully the easier it gets, at least strategy wise,” Smith said.
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The Championship division tournament turns to match-play on Wednesday, where the low 16 scorers advance. Wednesday will hold the round of 16 and quarterfinals, and Thursday will host the semi-finals and finals, all 18 holes. Smith will continue the week as the number one seed for match play, hoping to make it to the finals by the end of the week.
“I just want to go out and try to play the best I can and see what that does for me,” Smith said. “So might as well go out, enjoy the day, and see what you can do.”
Smith is familiar with the top of the leaderboard, winning this tournament in 2023 and bringing the New England Women’s Amateur trophy home in late June of this year. She finished one stroke ahead of Day 1 leader Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club), who made the final match last year and will head to Penn State in the fall. Guleserian finished third in the New England Women’s Amateur two weeks prior.
A three-way playoff for the Silver Division of the Junior Girls’ Amateur powered by KOHR Golf headlined the second day. After two 18-hole rounds in the past two days, Genevieve Taylor (North Hill Country Club), Isabel Montzka (Needham Golf Club), and Jacqueline Keefe (Walpole Country Club) all tied, forcing a playoff starting on hole 1.
At the end of hole 2 Keefe fell short, leaving Taylor and Montzka to advance to the second hole. After a short second shot and a chip up, Taylor two-putted, earning her first two-day tournament trophy, and first Mass Golf win. After Round 1, Taylor led the rest of the field by a stroke, which helped her mindset going into day two.
“It definitely gave me a bit of confidence, knowing I can play this course,” Taylor said. “I felt like that helped me today.”
Without a practice round before the tournament, Taylor used her first tournament round as a way to scope out the course, helping her score and strategy on day two as well.
“I play in a lot of tournaments so I know how to read courses, but I was a little nervous, especially on the par fives with water,” Taylor said. “I wanted to fix some of my huge numbers on the par fives, and I think I did that successfully, which was good. And then the ones I went low on, I tried to play the hole the same way and remember what I had done.”
Taking home the trophy for the Most Improved in the Silver Division was Charlotte Cohen (Boston Golf Club), with a 13-stroke improvement.
In the Junior-Mite division, Reese Hunsinger (Fall River Country Club) took home the two-day, nine-hole trophy, beating out her competitors by 8 strokes. The Junior-Mite division contains competitors 13 years and younger, with only three players in the field this year.
The Most Improved trophy for the Junior-Mite Division went to Emily Doe (Needham Golf Club).
When traveling up I-91, the last course you’ll find before crossing the Vermont border is Crumpin-Fox. Originally conceived in 1969 as the “Field of Dreams” of David Berleson, the course opened for play over 20 years later.
Since its opening in 1990, the club has been a staple on the competitive golf scene, having hosted dozens of Mass Golf and USGA events over the years. Thursday’s qualifying event marks the 8th time U.S. Open Qualifying has been hosted in Bernardston.
The club’s dedication to competitive golf will continue through its long-term support of the New England Junior Amateur Championship. Crumpin-Fox is now considered the permanent host site of the New England Junior, with an official commitment through 2027.
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