Franklin’s Mady Savary took a six-stroke lead on day one. Day two, she tightened her grip on the championship. On day three, she shot with comfort and still won it all by 12 shots.
The New Hampshire Golf Association’s girls junior amateur championship at the Mount Washington Resort Golf Course in Bretton Woods was Savary’s to lose from the get-go.
The rising Bishop Brady senior cemented her spot as the top girls’ junior golfer in the state with her win on Wednesday. Her consistency throughout the week saw her finish with a three-round score of 5-under-par 211, good for a 12-stroke victory over runner-up Josie LeFebvre.
Despite the comfort after building a sizeable lead through the first two rounds, it wasn’t easy to hang on. Savary opened the final round with a bogey and a double bogey. But after that small hiccup, she went back to playing her usual style to regain control.
“I started off not that great, but I just tried to keep calm,” Savary said. “One of my coaches before the round told me that if I get any doubles, just remember there’s a lot more golf. So I really kept that in mind. I was able to fight back.”
One of the big keys to Savary’s success was her focus on the greens up north. She said she was reading them well and set herself up for success with open and getable putts.
She was comfortable off the tee, too. Savary shot below par in her first two rounds, carding back-to-back scores of 3-under 69. It felt like a milestone moment for the young golfer.
“I’ve always felt pretty confident about my ball striking,” Savary said. “That’s the part of my game that’s felt really consistent. And right now, it’s just really helping my game a lot. And my putting, I’ve been working on for a while now and I think it’s really starting to pay off.”
On the boys’ side, rising Concord High senior Zach Nelson finished in third place with a much-improved final round, ending up a 5-under-par 211. He was ninth after round one, seven strokes behind the leader at 1-over 73, and cut the deficit down by three strokes in round two to move up.
On the last day of the boys’ championship, Nelson pulled through to reach a podium spot. Nelson kept pace with the winner, Grey Gagnon, and went under par by four strokes (68). His round-three masterclass saw him move up by three spots in the standings and finish four strokes ahead of fourth place, yet eight strokes behind Gagnon (13-under 203).