1 week Ago By Drew Wemple
QUEENSBURY, N.Y. — South Glens Falls freshman Hayden Knapp previously hadn’t played much at Hiland Park Country Club.
Instead, if she’s playing a round, it would normally be just four minutes down Rt. 17, at Glens Falls Country Club. The pristine, golf venues are separated by less than two miles, but knowing for sure Hiland’s 18-hole, par-72 would truly play was key for Knapp, as she made her third straight Section 2 Golf Championship/State qualifier appearance on Wednesday, among the field of 64 high school girls golfers.
What’s the best way to learn a course? Play it, obviously. That’s just what Knapp and her varsity head coach Michael Yeager did, in the lead-up to thus far, the freshman’s biggest round of the season. “Strategizing was really helpful.
This is definitely a course where you have to have a plan going into it. Definitely not a course you want to go into blind. There are definitely some tricky roles and I’m really glad that I got out here and was able to play and kind of make a plan going into today,” Knapp said Wednesday, inside the clubhouse restaurant, at Hiland.
“I still think there are a couple of holes, or bounces, that I was kind of surprised by.” High school girls golfers compete in the Section 2 Championships - Round 1, on Wednesday, October 16, at Hiland Park CC, in Queensbury, N.Y.
(PHOTO BY DREW WEMPLE - MEDIANEWSGROUP) High school girls golfers compete in the Section 2 Championships - Round 1, on Wednesday, October 16, at Hiland Park CC, in Queensbury, N.Y. (PHOTO BY DREW WEMPLE - MEDIANEWSGROUP) High school girls golfers compete in the Section 2 Championships - Round 1, on Wednesday, October 16, at Hiland Park CC, in Queensbury, N.
Y. (PHOTO BY DREW WEMPLE - MEDIANEWSGROUP) Knapp’s garnered experience both at Hiland and in the sectional format boded well through round one on Wednesday, as the South High freshman finished at one-under-par, 71, through 18 holes. She was the only golfer to finish under par and was bogey-free up until a lone blemish on the back nine.
She’d finish with a near, eagle putt on 18, but a close miss kept her to birdie. “There were some holes that kind of didn’t go exactly as I planned, but there were definitely some good par saves and some good putts that I made out there. So far, I’m pretty happy with it,” Knapp said.
“It’s fun to see all of these players that I don’t normally get to play with during the season.” Last year, Knapp finished as the runner-up at sectionals, held at The Edison Club, in Rexford. As a seventh grader, she took fourth, also at The Edison Club.
“In seventh grade, that was a little bit intimidating and even in eighth grade, I was still a little bit nervous,” Knapp recalled, Wednesday. “But, I’ve kind of gotten used to the girls here and kind of have become closer with them. We’re still competitors and everything out there, so still, I’m a little bit intimidated, but definitely more confident.
” Behind Knapp on the leaderboard, following round one was Glens Falls’ Maddie Oliver, with a 76, in second place. La Salle Institute’s Maria Glavin finished third after the first round, with a 78, while her teammate, Avery Minkiewicz, holds, fifth with an 80. Emma Willard senior Zorah Williams finished one shot back of the top five, rounded out by Sienna Wheeler, from Colonie, in fourth place, at 78.
Williams also had finished in the top-five, each of the past two seasons at sectionals, and feels the more wide-open field in 2024, has her with a renewed sense of confidence heading into round two. “I think for me, a lot of it is about trust doing my swing and my aim,” Williams said. “Even when something wasn’t going my way, I’d never quit.
The metal game is always (about) practice, so, I’ll try to get back into it. Shenendehowa’s Lilla Zeevalk, a junior, sat in 10th place after scores were turned in. Zeevalk finished 24th last season, at The Edison Club, just three spots back of round two’s cut-line.
“I mean, it feels great. I mean, I’ve really worked for it and it makes me happy to see that paying off,” Zeevalk said. “I think it’s definitely going to be a change in mindset (Round 2).
I just need to kind of mentally prepare myself for Friday.” Shaker senior Clare Cunningham, in her fourth stint at sectionals, finished in twelfth place on Wednesday, four shots back of the top-10, at nine-over, 81. “Just getting better (each year of sectionals) is kind of nice,” Cunningham said.
“Like, seeing how I’ve improved throughout and all techniques, kind of makes me feel better about how I’ve been playing, especially after a long day.” The top 21 golfers (results below), advanced to round two, on Friday, back at Hiland CC. The top nine finishers, overall, by the end of Friday, will earn the right to advance to June’s State Tournament, in Rush, N.
Y. Overall, Bethlehem claimed its first-ever, Section 2 Girls Golf Team Title, with its top-four scorers combining for 379, just two shots better than La Salle..
