SOUTH HADLEY — Morgan Smith continued her impressive run at the 119th Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship on Tuesday, shooting a 3-under-par 69 to earn the top spot in match play.
Smith’s two-day score of 4-under 140 is the lowest to par since the format shifted to 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying in 2019. Smith leads the group of 32 who are advancing to match play under a single bracket.
Smith came into Tuesday’s action with a one-stroke lead, but an aggressive approach yielded sizable benefits, particularly down the stretch. She birdied the 13th and 14th to finish the first two days well ahead of the pack.
Advertisement
“I hit the ball better today, that was probably the biggest difference,” Smith said. “You have to be on the right side of the fairway or the right angle or the second shot’s not going to be so easy.”
As the top seed, Smith will face Amy Lyon in match play Wednesday.
Rebecca Skoler (a two-day score of 1 over), Angela Garvin (7 over), Mekhala Costello (8 over), and defending champion Catie Schernecker and Emma Abramson (tied at 9 over) round out the top five finishers after two rounds.
Morgan’s younger sisters Molly and Maddie also will be in match play. Morgan and Maddie are on the same side of the bracket, but will face each other only if both make the quarterfinals.
“I think it’s pretty funny if I got [to play] one of them,” Morgan said of a potential family matchup.
“Hopefully I [don’t play] Molly for a bit. I think I could take Maddie on,” she added with a chuckle.
The round of 16 will take place Wednesday, the quarterfinals and semifinals on Thursday, and the 18-hole championship match on Friday.