HIGHLAND, N.Y. — This was the year that the Ulster County Women’s Golf Association (UCWGA) Championship was supposed to be competitive after eight-time champion Amber Pennington moved out of the area.
The Delaware State golfer won her eighth straight title by a whopping 38 strokes in 2023, but wasn’t eligible to play this year since competitors must live in the county. While there’s still a long way to go in the 54-hole tournament, Alexa Trapani took a big step toward her first county title in her initial attempt by shooting a 2-over-par 73 in Friday’s first round of the UCWGA tournament at Apple Greens Golf Course in Highland. Trapani, who was a runner-up in the Ulster County Junior Girls Championship sponsored by the UCWGA last season, is nine shots ahead of three-time champion Kim Hines, who had an 82 on Friday.
The only other golfers to break 90 under perfect weather conditions were Diana Decker Kuster (88) and Kathy Murphy (89). Trapani, Hines and Kuster will be in the first group teeing off at 8 a.m.
in Saturday’s second round at Green Acres Golf Course in Kingston. Though the 14-year-old Marlboro High freshman golf star is too young to drive a car, Trapani showed she can drive the golf ball long and straight. Her first birdie came on the 465-yard par-5 fourth hole when she reached the green in two shots.
“I hit my drive pretty good, probably about 240 yards,” Trapani explained. “I had a decision to either lay up with an iron or just go for it with my wood. And I just thought what is there to lose and went for it.
I got on the green in two.” Trapani faced a 60-foot eagle putt and she managed to two-putt for her first birdie of the day. After leaving her first putt about 10 feet from the hole, she canned it for the birdie.
“I was happy with that second putt,” said Trapani, who has played Apple Greens numerous times because it is the home course for the Marlboro High girls golf team coached by her father Gary. After turning with a 2-over 38 on the front nine, Trapani hit her drive on the uphill 236-yard par-4 10th hole about two feet from the green. She chipped up and birdied the hole to get to 1-over for the round.
Trapani’s short game saved her on three occasions coming home when she got up and down for pars on the 14th, 15th and 18th holes. Her lone bogey on the back nine came on the par-5 16th when she hit her drive into a hazard down the left side. Acknowledging she was “very happy” with her opening round, Trapani said she hopes to continue her pre-tournament strategy of hitting fairways and greens in the second round at Green Acres.
“My mindset going into the second round is to just keep the pars going,” she said. “I don’t have to go for every shot since the course is shorter. I don’t have to hit my driver on every hole.
The greens are a little tougher, so I have to work on my lag putting so I can hit it close and just tap the next one in.” Hines played alongside Trapani and former UCWGA champion Ellen Densen, who had an opening round 90. Hines said Trapani has shown marked improvement over a year ago when she watched her play in the UCWGA junior event at Green Acres where she shot an 87 and finished four shots behind Woodstock’s Alexandra Young.
“Alexa has definitely progressed,” Hines said. “She’s hitting the ball long and has a lot of short shots into the green. She has a beautiful swing.
It’s a lot of fun to see young girls play like that. It’s what this sport needs, especially around here. She’s going to be so successful.
I’m so excited for her.” Hines was satisfied with her first-round performance, even though she felt she could have shaved some shots off the final score. “My game is coming back,” she said.
“I had a couple weeks where it was up and down, a little bit like a roller coaster. I missed a few putts today. A couple of stray shots got me into where I had to hit another club into the green.
If I got rid of that, I would have shot somewhere in the upper 70s. I’m not disappointed.” First-round scores in the Ulster County Women’s Golf Association Championship Friday at the par-71 Apple Greens Golf Course in Highland, N.
Y. Alexa Trapani 38-35-73 Kim Hines 42-40-82 Diana Decker Kuster 49-39-88 Kathy Murphy 47-42-89 Ellen Densen 47-43-90 Diane Myers 45-45-90 Hope Hughes 48-46-94 Christine Wesserling 50-44-94 Marianne Albamont 51-45-96 Kristen Osterhoudt 48-50-98 Kathy Kayse 53-45-98 Frances Murphy 53-46-99 Jaime Paddock 52-52-104.
