Notre Dame Academy girls land 14th state golf title

GEORGETOWN — The long hiatus is over for the Notre Dame Academy girls golf team.

After not winning a state title for the last two years, the Cougars captured their 14th state title on the sweltering greens at the Black Swan Golf Club with a team score of 347. Duxbury, which beat NDA twice in the regular season, was just two strokes back at 349.

With the mercury tickling the 95-degree mark, no one kept their cool better than Hingham sophomore Piper Jordan, who carded a one-over-par 73 to take medalist honors. Jordan’s playing partner, Ursuline Academy’s Victoria Veator, also had a terrific day and was just two strokes back with a 75.

With every stroke precious in the team competition against a talented field, NDA coach Pam Johnson got a 77 from her freshman daughter, Jillian, and strong performances from Jacqueline Cingel (83), Ellie de Andrade (85) and Emily Johnson (102) to seal the title for the Cougars, who had won 13 straight titles before coming up short in 2019.

“I just kept telling them that it’s a team sport today and every single stroke counts,” said the first-year coach and former LPGA player.

Johnson said she only checked in briefly on her daughter during her sizzling round.

“I didn’t get to see anything other than one shot and it was a bad shot,” Johnson said with a smile. “So after that I did not watch.”

After capturing the South sectional last week, Jordan was on fire, literally and figuratively, Tuesday on the links.

“I think if I had to play one more hole I would not be able to do it,” Jordan said with a smile afterward.

After several close calls, Jordan would notch her lone birdie on the 17th, where she stuck a 58-degree wedge to a foot. Other than that it was all pars for the diminutive sophomore who made short work of the challenging layout that gave many of her competitors fits.

“I had a lot of birdie attempts, but they just did not go in,” said Jordan.

“I made an up-and-down on my first hole and that really gave me the confidence to know that I can make up-and-downs if I needed to.”

Hingham coach Dan Clune said he was confident that Jordan would come out on or near the top.

“She knows all the No. 1, 2 and 3 golfers from all these schools and she has only tied once during the season,” said Clune, whose team went 8-5 on the season and who finished third with a score of 379. ”I knew she could do it.”

Ursuline Academy (390) and Westboro/Algonquin (414) rounded out the scoring.

MIAA Tournament Director Mary O’Brien and her staff got the shotgun tournament off promptly at 8:30 a.m. and all the players were back into their air conditioned cars by 1.

Individual results

1. Piper Jordan, Hingham, 73
2. Victoria Veator, Ursuline, 75
3. Jillian Johnson, Notre Dame, 77
4. Julia Imai, Brookline, 80
4. Charlotte MacCallum, Duxbury, 80
6. Devyn Hanley, Duxbury, 81
7. Jacqueline Cingel, Notre Dame, 83
8. Ellie de Andrade, Notre Dame, 85
9. Isabelle Crovo, Duxbury, 92
10. Tierney Regan, Duxbury, 96
10. Harper Capilli, Duxbury, 96

Top 5 teams
1. Notre Dame Academy 347
2. Duxbury 349
3. Hingham 379
4. Ursuline 390
5. Westboro/Algonquin 414

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Sz0jak