Thanks to Mother Nature, the 2011 Girls Go Golfing season was delayed a week with the opening event taking place at the High Bridge Hills golf course on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
A total of 23 competitors were on hand for the four-ball and scramble competitions that day. The team of 8th grader Allyson Wentworth of Greenwich Township and Hunterdon Central sophomore Marissa Castaldo of Raritan township posted a 9-hole score of 36 to win the four-ball division, scoring birdies on the 6th and 7th holes. The team of Central senior Deanna Smith of Readington Township and New Hope-Solebury sophomore Jess Reed posted a 41. Flemington-Raritan 6th grader Kaitlin Flynn and West Morris junior Stephanie Turci posted a 46 to best opponents Central junior Lizzie Venditti of Raritan Township and sophomore Jess Wild of Delaware Township (48).
The foursome of 8th grader Inna Dowd of Raritan Township, Central sophomore Celena Stoia of Raritan Township, Bridgewater sophomore Rachel Saperstein and 5th grader Sara Hardwick of Raritan Township carded a 3-over-par 39 to earn medalist honors in the 4-person scramble competition.
The 11-and-under quad featuring Julia Apsel of Glen Gardner, Sydney Smit of Lebanon Boro, and sisters Lizzie and Sarah Upwood of Glen Gardner finished their round with a birdie on the uphill par 3, 5th hole. Rounding out the competitors at High Bridge were Gianna Castaldo, Natalie Fella, Katie Lee, Lexi Semanchik, Emily Magro and Lauren Magro.
Temperatures dropped as 18 girls teed it up on Thursday, Sept. 15 at the Beaver Brook Country Club for the second leg of the GGG fall competition. The team of Flynn and Wentworth placed first in the 2-person scramble competition with 41, featuring four pars and Wentworth driving the 226 yard par 4, 3rd hole. Castaldo and Sarah Potter of Bridgewater-Raritan were second with a 45, followed by the tandem of Central junior Nicole Petrocchi of Readington Township and 7th grader Katie Lee of Raritan Township with 47. Also competing were Bloomfield freshman Isabel Gonzalez, Bridgewater sophomore Haley Katz, Raritan Township 4th grader Juliet Lardieri and 6th grader Chole Stoia, as well as Apsel, Smit, Lizze Upwood and Sarah Upwood.
The GGG competitors were scheduled to tee it up on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at High Bridge Hills, then travel to the Heron Glen Golf Course on Thursday, Sept. 22. Heron Glen's event will be a themed golfing affair featuring Fashion on the Fairway. Players are encouraged to come dressed as twins, all in one color and wearing their coolest knee socks while vying for "on-the-spot" prizes if they answer rules and etiquette questions correctly.
The final GGG events include Oct. 4 at the Stanton Ridge Country Club, Oct 6 at the Copper Hill Country Club and October 11 at Raritan Valley Country Club. Participants are asked to bring a donation to benefit the Flemington Food pantry at the final event.