Bishop Brady senior Mady Savary keeps trending upward.
Only a few weeks removed from capturing the New Hampshire Girls’ Junior Championship and finishing in a tie for fifth at the World Teen Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., she swung away with a personal-best 5-under-par 67 to take a commanding nine-stroke lead after the opening round of the New Hampshire Women’s Amateur Championship.
The first day kicked off Monday at Abenaqui Country Club in Rye, as 25 women from around the state threw their hats in the ring.
Savary, who has finished as women’s state am runner-up the last two years, knew this time could be her chance to finally claim the title. She finished one stroke back from champion Julianna Megan at Derryfield Country Club last year, but Megan did not enter this year’s tournament.
It wasn’t a perfect day for the Franklin native as she started off with a bogey and ended with a bogey. It was everything in between those bookends that built her lead.
Savary gained momentum early on and carried it into the back nine. She had seven birdies, including an impressive stretch of four consecutive birdies on holes 13 through 16 to build a big lead.
“Obviously starting out with a bogey was not the best and a couple of my drives on the first few holes were not in good positions, but I was able to make some good putts and hit some good iron shots,” Savary said.
Going into Tuesday, she wasn’t planning on changing a thing. Between trusting her caddie and hitting her irons well, Savary was able to remain calm after the rocky start. She looked to carry that rhythm into day 2.
“I want to play conservatively aggressive. If there are some pins that are open to getting it close, then I obviously want to go for those. But I want to make sure I’m playing smart golf; that’s what I did today,” Savary said after the opening round.
Other local women started their tournaments on Monday, although none as successfully as Savary.
On the leaderboard behind Savary headed into Tuesday, June Doerr of Abenaqui and Teagan Nadeau of Cochecho Country Club were tied for second at 4-over-par 76. Amy Dickison of Breakfast Hill Golf Club and Kat Bordeau of Canterbury Woods Country Club shared fourth at 6-over-par 78, and Dana Harrity of Abenaqui sat alone in sixth at 7-over-par 79.