Story: Steve Derderian (sderderian@massgolf.org)
Photography: Matthew Hart
MASHPEE, Massachusetts (June 2, 2026) – Seventy-six years later, Edith Noblit Baker’s blueprint for her championship still holds up: pair premier amateur golf with resort hospitality, then add some bacon-wrapped scallops, a refreshing cocktail or beverage of choice and a lively post-round social to round out the day.
Now formally the Women’s Stroke Play Championship for the Baker Trophy, it also serves as a welcome home of sorts for several collegiate-aged players, many of whom have played the majority of their golf events away from Massachusetts since last summer. Morgan Smith (Mount Pleasant Golf Club), a two-time Mass Women’s Amateur winner, turned a pair of long birdie putts on the front nine into a slim one-stroke lead in the Championship Division at 4-over-par 76, with three players, including Harvard’s Sophie Lim (Woodland Golf Club), on her heels at 77.
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Still seeking her first victory in the event, Smith turned to a family heirloom: a decades-old Scotty Cameron Big Sur pendulum-stroke long putter. It gave her an early lift Tuesday, as she opened with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 1st and added another birdie make from 30 feet on the par-4 7th.
“This course is beautiful, and this is always a really fun event,” Smith said afterward. “I was a bit sloppy with some things, but hit the tee ball pretty well, hit my irons pretty well, just coming up a little bit short. And then I made a couple really nice putts, which that always helps.”
After navigating the more open, exposed front nine, Smith settled into the tighter, tree-lined back nine and strung together six straight pars. She nearly saved one more from a deep greenside bunker on the 18th, but still walked off with the opening-round lead.
Two years after falling short in a playoff at Cummaquid Golf Club, Smith is hoping the putter stays hot long enough to help her claim the Baker Trophy for the first time.
“I really want to win this tournament,” Smith said. “I’ve never won this event so it’s definitely on the top of my list that I want to do it, so it’d be awesome.”
Fresh off her first year in Cambridge, Lim won’t be the only person trying to move into the lead as a rival in the form of ex-Yale golfer Coco Chai (1929 Club) also shot 77, going 2-over on the front nine and adding a birdie on the par-3 11th. Senior standout Jayne Pardus (Boston Golf Club), who played in both the U.S. Senior Women’s Open and U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur last year, nearly holed out for birdie on the 18th and tapped in for par to post a 77 on the board. Merrimack’s Jillian Johnson (Hatherly Country Club) was largely steady throughout the round but had to hit twice out of the bunker on the 18th and finished with a 78.
Christine Gagner (Bedrock Golf Club), the winner of the Tournament Division for the past three years, was soaking up the ocean vibes nearly the entire day. Prior to shooting a leading 78, she said she started her day with a long beach walk before her 12:50 p.m. tee time, then proceeded to strike it well all day with birdies on holes 6 and 17 to move five strokes clear of the field entering the second and final round. She’ll play in the final group alongside Kym Pappathanasi (Renaissance), who carded an 83.
The finale begins at 8 a.m. Wednesday with the groups re-seeded based on score. In the event of a tie for low gross in either division, a hole-by-hole playoff will commence immediately following the close of competition.
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The Club at New Seabury, located along Cape Cod’s southern shore, features two tremendous golf courses. The par-72 Ocean Course, where the Baker is being played this week, was designed by William Mitchell in 1962. Bruce Hepner completed a renovation of the club’s Dunes course in 2019 before moving on to the Ocean Course. The eight-month project for the Ocean Course featured a full bunker renovation, expanding fairways, recontouring greens, and relocating cart paths.
With native vegetation and fresh sand, the Ocean Course is a challenging layout that offers two distinct presentations. The Ocean’s front nine is a windswept, links-style layout, starting with a scorable par 5, followed by a pair of tough par 4s that are situated immediately next to the ocean. After playing the rest of the front through open areas, the back nine winds its way through corridors lined by trees and lavish homes on the northeast side of the clubhouse.
“The renovation of the Ocean Course takes advantage of the ocean, pure and simple,” Hepner previously stated. “Our goal was to make the golf better and interesting by changing grass lines and angles so people can subtly enjoy their round and surroundings. We infused classic architecture into the site to make it feel old, a classic style, where the golf course lays right on the land.”
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