By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
BOYLSTON, Massachusetts (September 10, 2026) – Emily Doe stood over her downhill birdie putt on the opening hole without much pressure attached to it. Her older sister, Kaitlyn Doe, was already in position to give the team a good chance at birdie, leaving the younger Doe simply trying to roll her putt close.
Instead, it rolled dead center.
It was Emily’s lone birdie of the round, but it gave the Newton sisters precisely the start they needed. Nearly five hours later, Kaitlyn supplied the finishing touches, sinking a long, improbable birdie putt on the 16th and then executing a clutch up-and-down par save on the 18th to complete a 3-under-par 68.
The target had been set one group ahead by two more teenage tandems: Maddie Chang (New York, NY) and Minjung “Jessica” Kim (Tenafly, NJ), and Providence’s Hazel Hegstrom and Wellesley’s Skylar Kotzen, recently featured on the cover of The Massachusetts Golfer. Both teams posted 2-under.
The Does were one better, however, turning their 68 into a ticket to Farmington Country Club for the 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.
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The qualifier represented the culmination of a plan the sisters had discussed throughout the summer. Kaitlyn, now a senior at the Winsor School, is four years older. With their time at home together growing shorter, they wanted another opportunity to share the golf course in competition. They had gotten a taste of that experience during the 2025 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur, when Emily caddied for Kaitlyn.
“We had a lot of fun just being on the course together,” Kaitlyn said. “We knew we wanted to do it again.”
This time, they called it their “last hurrah.” For much of the round, it appeared that hurrah might extend all the way to a national championship. The sisters complemented one another well in the Four-Ball format and remained in qualifying position entering the closing stretch.
But they had to overcome disaster on the par-3 13th, when both players made double bogey (including a four-putt) as neither sister could rescue the other. “I thought we were done,” Kaitlyn said. However, they got it back on the 14th, restoring both a stroke to the scorecard and some belief to the team. At the par-4 16th, Kaitlyn faced a sharply downhill putt from approximately 35 feet and knew it was time to be aggressive. “At that point, I was just like, ‘I have to go for it,'” Kaitlyn said. “It kind of just trickled in, and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s amazing.'”
Kaitlyn hit over the 18th green and was left with a delicate chip from the rough severe downslope under the pressure of trying to preserve their qualifying score. Fortunately, it was a shot she had seen before. During last year’s New England PGA Junior Championship at the same club, she had played from nearly the identical position and needed to get up and down for par to win.
Standing over the shot again, she replayed that earlier moment in her mind, and was able to finesse it enough to give her just a few feet back for par and the spot in the lead.
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The closing par secured the sisters’ 68 and their first trip to a USGA championship. Kaitlyn had narrowly missed reaching the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur earlier this year, finishing as the first alternate. This time, she will not only make her national championship debut but share it with her younger sister.
For Emily, who began playing golf shortly before the COVID-19, the championship will offer her first look at the level of competition her sister has pursued for years.
“We’re happy we can go together,” Emily said.
QUALIFIERS (Names; Cities)
Emily Doe (Waban, MA) & Kaitlyn Doe (Waban, MA); 68 (-3)
ALTERNATES (In Order)
*Maddie Chang (New York, NY) & Minjung (Jessica) Kim (Tenafly, NJ); 69 (-2)
Hazel Hegstrom (Providence, RI) & Skylar Kotzen (Wellesley, MA); 69 (-2)
*Earned spot with par on first playoff hole
In many ways, The Haven is exactly what its name suggests, a true sanctuary for golf in the heart of New England. It is also home to the New England PGA, with William Mitchell’s timeless design complemented by the refined work of Ron Forse to create a layout that strikes a balance between classic and modern.
Formerly known as Mount Pleasant Country Club, the club adopted The Haven Country Club name in 2014, helping establish a distinct identity while avoiding confusion with Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton and Mount Pleasant Golf Club in Lowell. Today, The Haven is a well-regarded private club known for its championship-caliber layout, welcoming atmosphere and longstanding relationship with the NEPGA, including its role as host of the association’s Pro-Pro Stroke Play Championship.
The course’s personality comes through in its demanding green complexes, with many elevated putting surfaces pitched from back to front. The uphill par-4 4th, often ranked as the No. 1 handicap hole, requires a precise approach; the par-5 12th features a turtle-back green capable of turning a birdie opportunity into a scramble for par; and the par-3 13th demands a full carry over water from every tee.
Those putting surfaces will soon undergo a significant renovation. The club recently announced it will close the putting green on September 22 and the course a week later to install XGD subsurface drainage and seed the greens with new 007 “Super Bent”, a high-performance cultivar of creeping bentgrass. The project joins several other improvements around the club, including — tennis purists, look away — a new pickleball court.
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Next year’s championship will be held May 15–19, 2027, at historic Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Virginia, where Thomas Jefferson once designed an addition to the original estate. The club formally opened in 1929, with local architect Fred Findlay designing the golf course amid the property’s sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The tournament will feature 64 sides who will contend in 36 holes of stroke play, before the field is cut in half and advance to a match play bracket. Each member of the side cannot have a Handicap Index® exceeding 14.4. The USGA accepted 409 entries.
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