The Westborough girls’ golf team has played a dozen matches this spring, and freshman Sophie Kamil has won or tied for medalist honors in half of them.
Tall and talented, the 15-year-old Kamil has carded consistent scores in the low 40s this season as the Rangers have built a solid 9-3 record while rising to the top of the Mid-Wach League standings.
“Sophie is so smooth in every part of her game, and she’s always so calm and collected on the course,” said Westborough coach Caroline Choate last week as she watched Kamil power a long drive from the first tee at Wachusett Country Club in a match against Notre Dame Academy.
More: GROWING THE GAME: Local support and contributions have helped the Worcester girls’ golf team reach new heights
“I’ve been playing for about four or five years now,” said Kamil in a brief interview after her opening drive at Wachusett CC. Although her opening shot was quite impressive — long and straight — she noted that the best part of her game is her chipping.
Kamil’s accurate short game helped her post medalist scores of 41 against Auburn at Pakachoag GC and also at Westborough CC against NDA.
Kamil is the first Westborough freshman since former T&G All-Star Allie Reed to earn the No. 1 spot. Reed, after playing No. 1 for the Rangers for four seasons, graduated in 2011 and played four years at Merrimack College.
Behind Kamil in the Rangers’ lineup are other very good golfers starting with No. 2, Ashley Huanga sophomore, who notched a medalist-winning 27 against Worcester in a six-hole match at Green Hill GC.
Juniors Abby Mahr spirit Shelby Drayer play in the 3 and 4 spots, followed by senior Ainsley Connorsjunior Nandita Ganesanjunior Sophie Robinsonsophomore Olivia Scott and freshman Italy Eddywho attends Algonquin.
Choate is in her first year as head coach, succeeding long-time leader Sandy Robichaud, who stepped down before the season, but agreed to be an assistant coach this spring. Robichaud will remain as the Rangers’ boys coach in the fall.
A seventh-grade special education teacher at Gibbons Middle School in Westborough, Choate was an outstanding softball and basketball player at Notre Dame Academy in the late 1980s. She recently joined a women’s softball team in her hometown of Grafton and, after not stepping into the batter’s box for over 25 years, hit a single and a double.
“It’s been fun coaching this team, and I’ve been so grateful for Sandy’s help in my first season,” said Choate, who began playing golf in her 20s and developed a solid game. “I really couldn’t have done this without her.”
Choate is the mother of two outstanding area baseball players, both pitchers: former Assumption University star Jack Choatewho was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and is currently pitching for their Minor League Single-A affiliate, the San Jose Giants.
Choate’s younger brother, Nicka sophomore pitcher at Anna Maria College, also pitches for the Worcester Bravehearts in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.
A tale of two golf bags with Notre Dame’s Beland and Quabbin’s Molea
Two stories. First a peek into the golf bag of Notre Dame Academy freshman Georgia Belandwho has been one of the top players for the Rebels since joining the varsity team as a seventh-grader in the spring of 2021.
We’ll follow with a funny story about the search for a set of golf clubs from Quabbin junior and first-year player Gianna Molearelated here with her permission, of course.
Beland, because of her impressive swing speed, which has been clocked between 97 and 100 miles per hour with her driver, uses men’s stiff flex shafts on all her clubs, including her Cobra King Speedzone Extreme 11.5 degree driver, her Ping G425 fairway wood and Ping 4 hybrid.
Often wearing a PXG brand golf hat, Beland carries PXG irons, 5 through gap wedge, and she adds a 54 degree and a 58 degree wedge, both PXG brands, for the short shots.
Also in her bag is her favorite putter, a Mizuno M Craft model, which she uses to smoothly roll her favorite golf ball – a Titleist yellow ProVIx.
Beland, 15, started playing golf at age 6. At age 8, she began entering tournaments. At Kettle Brook, where the Rebels often play matches, she has carded a career-best 2-under-par 34 on the front nine. At Wachusett CC, she loves the par 5, second hole which she can reach in two shots, setting up good chances for birdies.
And now here’s Quabbin’s Molea teeing up the tale of her unique quest to buy a golf bag and a set of clubs:
“Funny story, and I tell everyone,” she begins. “I joined the golf team this year, and had never played or picked up a golf club in my life. Naturally, I needed clubs and a golf bag.”
So, in early March she marched into Dick’s Sporting Goods in Leominster. It was simple.
“I saw a bunch of clubs in a bag, picked up the whole set and headed to the register,” Molea said.
“Are you sure you want these?” asked the clerk, looking at the display bag she was holding, filled with 14 women’s drivers.
“I had no idea they were all the same clubs,” Molea said while laughing. “Well, back I went to the golf section and I was soon fitted for a nice set of Top Flite clubs, a beginners’ women’s set for someone like me, 5-foot-3.”
Molea’s favorite club from her new set is the 9-iron, and she has actually won and tied a match this year.
“My swing has really improved,” Molea said. “I owe a lot to our coach (Rick Lindstein).”
And to an attentive store clerk at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
—Contact Jay Gearan at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Freshman Kamil has Westborough girls’ golf team rolling along