FOXBOROUGH — As a golf-crazed freshman in a sports-crazed town, Tori Adams dreamed big and mapped out a blueprint for putting a relatively new program on the map.
She took her training to the next level, emulated her basketball-obsessed sister Izzy’s work ethic, and convinced her friends to join her on the golf course.
“We came in with our heads high,” said Adams, now a senior at Walpole. “We were like, ‘Let’s just see where this takes us.’ We honestly changed the program.”
The Timberwolves, with three-year captain Adams as their guiding light, have now won three straight South sectional titles. Adams, who will continue her career at Bentley, captured the individual title with a 5-over-par 78 at Foxborough Country Club on Wednesday.
Third-year Walpole coach Vivian Kolovos said even the older girls on the team admired Adams when she was an underclassman. Now, with four of the team’s top six players graduating, she knows the current underclassmen will lean on her wisdom as they start fresh next year.
“They all look up to her commitment to the game and the way she plays,” Kolovos said. “If she’s not doing great, she keeps going and gets it back.”
Adams bogeyed five of the first seven holes, but played even from hole 8 through 18, including a birdie on the 491-foot par-5 11th.
She discovered the sport through her father’s side of the family, admits she wasn’t a huge fan at first. But she kept playing, kept improving, and eventually it clicked. Her commitment to her craft has had a ripple effect throughout the roster and inspired her teammates.
After back-to-back third-place finishes at states, the goal is to bring home another trophy.
“Hopefully we can take this [momentum] and go win states,” Adams said.
Walpole (plus-64) finished eight strokes ahead of second-place Duxbury (72), and Hingham was third (103). All three advance to states Monday at Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston.
Hingham’s Callie Crean (8-over 81), Bishop Feehan’s Hanley Correia (82), Duxbury’s Hailey Flynn (84), and Cape Cod Academy’s Olivia Jatczak (84) rounded out the top five individually.
“The girls have worked extremely hard to get themselves in this position,” said Duxbury coach Jack Stoddard. “It’s nice to see them have success at this point. Hopefully we can do something on Monday and take home the title.”
Trevor Hass can be reached at trevor.hass@globe.com. Follow him on X @TrevorHass.