Rockland County girls golf championship: Maura Forde leads Clarkstown to a team title
It wasn't the result Maura Forde expected.
Not even close.
The freshman made the absolute most of her first appearance in the Rockland County Girls Championship, shooting a 5-over 40 at Rotella Golf Course on Wednesday to win by two shots. Forde also helped Clarkstown win the team championship.
"I was honestly impressed with how I played," she said. "I didn't make too many mistakes, which I'm really proud of. There were a couple of pars, a birdie, so I'm pretty happy with how I played. I wasn't expecting that at all."
Suffern's Alexa Kyriacou was the runner-up and Clarkstown's Heather Kim was three shots back in third.
Boys golf: Arlington, Carmel golfers set pace in round one of Section 1 tournament
Girls golf: Meet the 2022 lohud Stellar 6
It was the first team championship in four years for Clarkstown.
Forde, Heather Kim (43), Riley King (48), Grace Oswald (54), Hailey Mennnell (74) and Gianna Maltbie (51) combined to finish 13 strokes ahead of North Rockland. It's the first title for the program in four years. Suffern was third.
"Our coach (Fred Brauntrager) was telling us, 'No pressure. Have fun.' and we did," added Forde, who attends Clarkstown South. "It's really great to win as a team because it secured a spot in sectionals next week."
Rockland County girls championship
At Rotella Golf Course
1. Maura Forde (Clarkstown) 40
2. Alexa Kyriacou (Suffern) 42
3. Heather Kim (Clarkstown) 43
4. Cassie Waitkus (Tappan Zee) 47
4. Molly Craffey (North Rockland) 47
6. Riley King (Clarkstown) 48
6. Sophia Brown (Pearl River) 48
6. Gabby Colon (North Rockland) 48
9. Alexis Lee (Pearl River) 49
9. Kirsten Torsoe (Suffern) 49
Team results
1. Clarkstown 236
2. North Rockland 249
3. Suffern 252
4. Tappan Zee 272
5. Pearl River 274
6. Nanuet 309
7. Nyack 320
Mike Dougherty covers boys soccer, boys lacrosse, girls basketball and golf for The Journal News/lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Maura Forde leads Clarkstown to Rockland County girls golf chamionship
