Young Mass Golf Team Competes In Junior Inter-City Team Matches - MASSGOLF

Mass Golf Junior Girls finish third, soak Up Experience In Team event in Pennsylvania

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 29, 2022

WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania – Team Mass Golf finished third to New York and Philadelphia in this year’s Junior Inter-City Team Matches at Radley Run Country Club, but the young team of female junior golfers walked away with plenty of fond memories. As part of the experience, the six individuals on the team earned prizes, heard from an inspiring speaking during a dinner with the three teams and got to experience golf in a different part of the country.

The Junior Inter-City Cup was first contested in 1934 and has been held every year since except for 1942-1948 during the World War II period and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Host sites rotate between courses in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Jersey. The last time the matches were contested in the Bay State was 2017 at Concord Country Club.

“It’s a very prestigious event, and to be picked for the team is something that those who have participated in the past look forward to, as well as those who haven’t participated,” said Naomi Nesenoff, Mass Golf’s Manager of Women’s Events and Player Development.

ONLINE: FINAL RESULTS | TEAM ROSTER | JUNIOR INTER-CITY TEAM MATCHES HOMEPAGE

THURSDAY RECAP

The teams competed for the Enos Cup on Thursday using a Nassau format. Each three-person group featured one player from each state, where 1 point is awarded for winning the first nine holes, 1 point for winning the second nine holes, and 1 point for winning the 18-hole match. If any matches are halved, then a half-point is awarded. The team that accumulates the greatest amount of points is declared the winner.

The Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia totaled 27.5 points to win the competition for the first time since 2019. The Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association (New York) was second with 14.5 points, while Mass Golf finished with 12 points.

Champa Visetsin (MIAA/Youth on Course), who played Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals the past two years, led Mass Golf with five points, including a 3-point sweep against Philadelphia. Team captain Abby Stone (Oak Hill Country Club) and Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club) each had 2.5 points in their matches.

“It was another great experience,” said Stone, who played on last year’s Junior Inter-City team. “I told the team to just go out there, don’t worry about the score and just have fun playing with different people and representing Mass Golf.”

Mass Golf player captain Abby Stone, center, was paired with WMGA’s Grace Smith and WGAP’s Eliza Dana in Thursday’s matches.

WEDNESDAY RECAP

Competitors played in the Sweepstakes Round on the first day of the event Monday. Each golfer was grouped with one member from WGAP and one member from WMGA, receiving individual scores and group best-ball scores.

Stone’s group, which included WGAP’s Grace Smith and WMGA’s Charlotte Wagner, finished first with a best-ball score of 68. Stone shot a 77, while Wagner finished with an 88 and Smith shot a round-low 74 to take low gross honors. Visetsin was on the second-place group, shooting an 86 en route to a team best-ball score of 70.

Guleserian finished with the long drive individual prize for her drive of more than 250 yards. Lyon received the closest-to-pin prize with a 4-foot-2-inch mark.

Later that evening, Nesenoff said the team was also inspired by guest speaker Isabella DiLisio, a former standout on the University of Notre Dame Golf team who has her name listed multiple times in the Fighting Irish’s record book.

Amy Lyon, left, and Lillian Guleserian, right, won the Closest to the Pin and Long Drive competitions, respectively, during Wednesday’s Sweepstakes Round. (Mass Golf)

MEET TEAM MASSACHUSETTS

ABBY STONE

Age: 16

Hometown: Fitchburg, MA

Member Club: Oak Hill Country Club

Recent Accolade: Co-medalist at Mid-Wach B League Championship.

LILLIAN GULESERIAN

Age: 15

Hometown: Westwood, MA

Member Club: Blue Hill Country Club

Recent Accolade: Won the 2021 New England Interscholastic Golf Championship.

CHAMPA VISETSIN

Age: 13

Hometown: Sudbury, MA

Member Club: MIAA/Youth On Course

Recent Accolade: Competed in Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National in 2021 and 2022.

CLARA CHAE

Age: 17

Hometown: Weston, MA

Member Club: KOHR Golf

Recent Accolade: Won 2021 Hurricane Junior Golf Tournament Mohegan Sun Junior Open.

MADDIE SMITH

Age: 14

Hometown: Westford, MA

Member Club: Mount Pleasant Golf Club

Recent Accolade: Won 2020 Mass Father-Daughter Modified Scotch Tournament with father Phil Smith.

AMY LYON

Age: 16

Hometown: Winchester, MA

Member Club: Winchester Country Club

Recent Accolade: Won 2020 Winchester’s Junior Club Championship (Girls Championship Division).

Team Mass Golf at the Junior Inter-City Team Matches. Left to right: Amy Lyon, Abby Stone, Champa Visetsin, Maddie Smith, Clara Chase, and Lillian Guleserian (Mass Golf)

FAST FACTS: RADLEY RUN COUNTRY CLUB

The 2022 Junior Inter-City Team Matches marked the first time that Radley Run has hosted the competition. It was last held in Pennsylvania in 2019 at Whitford Country Club in Exton, Pennsylvania.

  • Radley Run is located on historic ground. The land used for the golf course was the site of troop movements during the Revolutionary War prior to the Battle of Brandywine.
  • Real estate developer and former University of Delaware athletic coach Z. Edmund Price considered the history of the idea when he pitched the idea of building a country club on the land. He co-purchased 1,200 acres of land in the revision with Nicholas DuPont that would later become the site of Radley Run.
  • The course was named for the Radley Run tributary on the Brandywine River, near which the greens are located.
  • The course was designed by architect Alfred Tull, who had been an active designer in the region for almost two decades at the time. Tull developed a routing plan for the course without using topographical maps, preferring instead to walk the land.

 

ABOUT MASS GOLF

Mass Golf is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing golf in Massachusetts by building an engaged community around the sport. 

With a community made up of over 100,000 golf enthusiasts and over 360 member clubs, Mass Golf is one of the largest state golf associations in the country. Members enjoy the benefits of handicapping, engaging golf content, course rating and scoring services along with the opportunity to compete in an array of events for golfers of all ages and abilities.

At the forefront of junior development, Mass Golf is proud to offer programming to youth in the state through First Tee Massachusetts and subsidized rounds of golf by way of  Youth on Course. 

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