- Details
- Category: Current Issue
caption, page 3:
Sizing Up Putt
Woodstock Academy teammates Kaily LaChapelle, left, and Mia Dang eye a putt on the 9th hole. Photo by Marc Allard.
Pretty great. It’s how Woodstock Academy junior Mia Dang described the girls’ golf season thus far at the Academy. The Centaurs have won their first 10 matches including all three last week, finishing off with a 192-233 win over NFA.
Dang was the medalist with a 44. She also finished with a pair of 4-over par 40s in wins over NFA and E. Lyme earlier in the week.
Her first three rounds this season were all in the 30s and she held the top spot in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Association individual girls’ golf rankings for a couple of weeks. She’s still among the top 10 individuals in the state.
Dang came to the Academy after St. Peter-Marian in Worcester closed. She played ice hockey over the winter which helped familiarize her with several of her now golf teammates.
That, in itself, is a change. She was a member of the boys’ golf team at St. Peter-Marian as the school did not sponsor a girls’ team.
Academy coach Earl Semmelrock said playing on the boys’ team helped Dang’s first two years of high school golf.
“Most likely,” Semmelrock said. “It is my understanding that she usually played the white tees but sometimes the reds. Longer courses will be more difficult but you still have to get the ball in the hole.”
St. Peter-Marian’s course was difficult, Cyprian Keyes in Boylston, Mass.
“It’s hard,” Dang agreed. “I’m used to narrow holes and water everywhere. Here (at Quinnatisset), I can drive it to another hole and it’s still playable.”
Dang said her former home course put a premium on accuracy and playing with a fade or a draw did not lend itself to low scores.
“It also helped with playing smart. You can’t just go for every hole. You have to think it through. Maybe you have to lay up, even though you don’t want to, it’s probably the safer play,” Dang said.
In the seven matches she has played she is averaging about 4-over par, 40.4. She is also undefeated in her dual matches.
But she is not satisfied because she has been 40 or over in her last four matches. She’s trying to be more consistent. “I have to improve my putting and my approach shots, too. My drives are always in the fairway.”
Senior Kaily LaChapelle has been a steady No. 2 player for the Centaurs who are 9-0 in ECC play. She finished with a 47 in Norwich, but added a pair of 6-over par 42s earlier in the week and sports a 44.3 stroke average. She is also undefeated in individual match play as is Ciara MacKinnon (49.6) and Alex Vaida (48.9).
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy