10/2/21
Congratulations to alumna Catie Schernecker ’20 for winning the 118th Massachusetts Women's Amateur championship at Plymouth Country Club from August 9 to 13. What makes her victory even more special is that Catie and her classmates started the golf program at The Winsor School during her years here.
“Rebecca Skoler '20 and I were in the same grade and bonded over playing competitive golf outside of school,” Catie explains. “We both longed for a school team to be able to compete together and to bring golf to our peers in an accessible way. Soon, Jordan Hamelsky ’20 also joined our efforts, and we worked together with Director of Athletics Sherren Granese to figure out the logistics of the club and ways to promote the club in the community,” she adds.
According to Catie, the response to the golf team was overwhelmingly positive, with high participation after three years.
Catie recalls playing golf very casually as a child. In her early days, she would head to the course for an hour or two with her dad, who is currently Harvard College’s director of golf, and practice while he did. “I played a lot of sports growing up and golf ended up being the one that I wanted to commit to. I liked the beautiful setting, strategy, and skill components of the game. It’s a unique sport in that it is very individual and requires a lot of internal motivation and mastery of mental processes to perform at your best,” she said.
Catie is hoping to use this new victory as momentum as she starts a new chapter as an incoming freshman at Harvard and member the Harvard Women’s Golf team, Catie is enjoying her collegiate experience, which has been one of learning, competition, and bonding with new friends and team members.
“I will continue to play golf for the foreseeable future, be it collegiately, as an amateur in tournaments after graduation, or even professionally. It is a game you can play for life and I look forward to a future of improvement and competition,” said Catie. “I think a lot of people liken the sport to life because of the mental game; you are outside, alone, performing for yourself, and need to focus the right way for four or more hours at a time. It is a difficult skill to acquire but, done well, the sport can be meditative,” she adds.
Read more about Catie’s recent victory in the
Boston Globe.
