The first annual Junior Girls Season Opener was held on a beautiful, sunny June 4th afternoon at Baltimore Country Club in Timonium, MD. Fifty girls, ages 8-16 participated in this inaugural MSGA-WD event.
The Season Opener was created, thanks to a grant from the Caves Valley Golf Club Foundation, to introduce the game of golf to girls throughout the state who perhaps have never had the opportunity to hit a golf ball, much less play on a golf course. And, to also provide an opportunity to further the skills of those girls who are in the early stages of learning to play.
The day began for the 12-16-year-old girls with a speech by Mariana Gottret, a future PGM professional from Bolivia who is currently interning at Baltimore Country Club. Mariana talked about her love of the game, and the obstacles she overcame to become a very accomplished golfer.
The girls were then treated to a very engaging golf rules and etiquette session taught by USGA Rules Official and former head of the Women’s Committee for the USGA, Stasia Collins. Learning the importance of marking your golf balls was a big hit as the girls were able to use their artistic skills to create their own unique designs on the golf balls they would later be using on the course.
We then headed to the back of the course where the girls divided into groups for the chipping, putting, bunker, and long game clinics taught by professionals Pat Coyner, Holly Anderson, Mariana Gottret, Mary Kennedy Zierke, and Dineen Notman.
After working up quite an appetite, everyone headed back to the BCC teaching loft and met up with the girls aged 8-11 for a fun pizza lunch.
Following lunch, the older girls went out to play six holes of golf on the West course, accompanied by a seasoned MSGA-WD junior golfer or an MSGA-WD committee member. In the meantime, the younger group had a rules and etiquette session with Stasia, and then headed to the back of the range for their clinics.
After the clinics, the younger girls had a choice of either playing a hole or two, or going back to the teaching loft for a putting contest – all depending on how much energy they had left!
We wrapped up the day with everyone enjoying ice cream sundaes in the teaching loft. The girls had a great experience and learned a lot about the game of golf, as evidenced by their huge smiles and desire to continue playing.
Many thanks to the following people and organizations for making this day a resounding success:
Baltimore Country Club
Caves Valley Golf Club Foundation
The First Tee of Baltimore
The First Tee of Howard County
MSGA-WD Executive Committee
Tim Bolton
Greg Jones
Holly Anderson
Mariana Gottret
Pat Coyner
Daneen Notman
Mary Kennedy Zierke
Stacey Collins
Rick Collins
Bailey Davis
Aneka Seumanutafa
Charlotte Simpson
Sophie Simon
Kendel Abrams
Amanda Levy
And especially all the participants and their parents. Great job girls!!
WE LOVE GOLF!
-Reported by Rebecca Krimski
