By: Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
FITCHBURG, Massachusetts (August 10, 2026) – Molly Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club) arrived at Oak Hill Country Club sporting UCF black and playing with the quiet confidence of someone determined to finish what she has started so many times in previous seasons.
After advancing to the Round of 32 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur last week, the Westford native opened the 123rd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur with seven birdies and only one bogey, shooting a 6-under-par 66 to build a commanding five-stroke lead. She began with a birdie and remained in control throughout the morning, consistently finding fairways and creating scoring opportunities with her irons and wedges.
Smith’s patience was tested during five consecutive pars from Nos. 7–11, when several birdie putts from inside 10 feet narrowly missed. When such putts weren’t falling, however, she decided to take them out of the equation. She struck the flagstick with her approach into the par-4 12th to leave a tap-in birdie, then eliminated the putter entirely by holing out from a greenside bunker on the par-3 13th, which got her to 5-under.
“It would have been easy to get a bit frustrated, but I just kept saying, ‘Stick with it. The birdies will come,’ and to get two back-to-back like that, and in kind of cool fashion, was definitely good,” said Smith, who then drained an uphill birdie putt from about 25 feet on No. 16, following up her birdie on No. 15.
“There’s a few key longer iron shots,” Smith added. “The par 3s, definitely you want to execute well on those, so I feel like it does play to my strengths.”
View this post on Instagram
Monday’s first grouping doubled as a summer reunion. Playing alongside longtime friends and competitors since their junior golf days, Mackenzie Whitney (Oak Hill Country Club) and Emma Abramson (The Ridge Club), Smith arrived to hugs on the driving range and spent much of the morning smiling and laughing between shots.
“We used to see each other almost every week during the summer,” Smith said. “You don’t always get that in a lot of tournaments, so it was really good to see them and catch up.”
But for all the catching up Smith did with her playing partners, she never allowed herself to get ahead of herself. She has learned to separate one hole from the next, preventing a missed opportunity or thoughts of what’s at stake from following her to the next shot.
“I’ve finally gotten my brain to think that way, separating the holes and saying, ‘This is the shot I’m trying to hit right now,'” Smith said. “If I commit to this shot, whatever happens with it is OK. I just feel free on the golf course.”
Smith has already reached multiple semifinals in this championship and advanced to the final in 2023. If she is going to take the final step this week, however, she will have to navigate a field crowded with some of the region’s most accomplished players, including New England Women’s Amateur champion Lillian Guleserian (Blue Hill Country Club), reigning champion Isabel Brozena (Indian Ridge Country Club) and 2023 champion Rebecca Skoler (Pine Brook Country Club).
Guleserian and Brozena both shot 72, while Skoler, who edged Smith in the 2023 final at Dedham Country & Polo Club, was the only other player to break par Monday. After chipping from the front-right rough on No. 18, she converted a downhill 10-footer for birdie to complete a 1-under-par 71.
The performance was especially impressive considering Skoler said she’s played fewer than seven rounds over the past year. Long workdays have replaced the daily practice schedule she maintained throughout her college career, while her summer weekends have also looked considerably different.
“I’ve spent a lot of time at the beach this summer, which normally I would never be doing, other than hanging out in the sand traps,” Skoler said.
This week offered Skoler a welcome out-of-office assignment: return to one of her favorite events and see whether her game could still meet the moment. Monday’s 71 suggested it could, though another day of patient play, precise approaches and steady lag putting stands between her and a return to the match-play bracket.
“I love playing in Mass Golf stuff, and it’s such a fun week to play match play as well,” Skoler said.
View this post on Instagram
Among those giving chase, incoming Stonehill freshman Hanley Correia (Ledgemont Country Club) had the most emphatic finish on Monday. Standing about 200 yards toward the severely sloped, par-5 18th, Correia landed her hybrid on the putting surface, and knocked down the 20-foot eagle putt to finish the round even-par 72.
Correia, a Norton, Mass., native, was finalist in the Rhode Island Women’s Amateur earlier this summer at Agawam Hunt. Fellow Ocean State competitor Adriana Eaton (KOHR Golf) shot 75 with a pair of birdies, with her sister Kylie Eaton (New England Country Club), carding 79.
The entire field will play a second round of stroke play at Tuesday, with the field then being trimmed to the low 32 scorers and ties. If a playoff is necessary to determine the final spots in the draw, it would take place immediately following the conclusion on stroke play. Match play begins Wednesday with the Rounds of 32 and 16 and continues until Friday’s 18-hole championship match. Mass Golf will provide live coverage of the entire final match on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
Here are some other tidbits from Day 1 at the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship:
Visit MassGolf.org and follow @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, X, and Instagram for the latest information regarding the 123rd Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #MassGolf and #MassWomensAm
