Angela Garvin Wins Hartford Women’s Open for the Second Time
Birdie on second extra playoff hole clinches victory; Annie Dai finishes runner up
By Bruce Berlet
HARTFORD, Conn. (July 26, 2022) – Angela Garvin hasn’t had her usual amount of time to practice and play this summer thanks to her first full-time job at Dave DiRico’s Golf Shop in West Springfield, Mass.
“I’m the right-hand woman,” Garvin said with a smile.
Despite the limited time on the range or course, Garvin wasn’t surprised she won a second Hartford Women’s Open title Tuesday with a 12-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat fellow amateur Annie Dai at Keney Park Golf Course.
“Me not practicing doesn’t affect how I compete,” Garvin said. “And I wasn’t that worried because it had been a long season at the University of Maryland playing in nine of 10 tournaments.”
Talk about confidence that any coach would be delighted to hear. But such sentiments are hardly surprising in an event in which Garvin has finished fifth or better in each of the seven years that it has been played. The senior-to-be at Maryland won in 2020 and lost a four-way playoff to pro Brooke Baker in 2017. She was a dominant force in the Connecticut Section PGA junior ranks, including qualifying for the first of several U.S. Kids World Golf Championships in Pinehurst, N.C., at 7, and later winning the Massachusetts and New England Junior Championships while a freshman at Agawam High School.
Garvin, 20, began the final round in a four-way tie for second, two strokes behind pro Susie Cavanagh of Warwick, R.I., and survived a sometimes balky putt to shoot a 1-over-par 71 for a 36-hole total of 3-over 143. That matched Dai, who earlier carded a competitive-best 68, which included a 2-under 33 on the back nine that led to the low round of the tournament by two shots.
“I played better today, hit the ball better, but didn’t make as many putts,” Garvin said.
But Garvin made enough, including a two-putt for birdie on the par-5 14th hole that offset a three-putt bogey on No. 15. After missing good birdie chances on the 16th and 17th holes, Garvin made a clutch 6-foot par putt at No. 18 to get into the playoff. Cavanagh had a shot to make it a three-way playoff but three-putted from 30 for 75-145 that still was worth the $3,000 first prize for the pros.
Garvin, from Feeding Hills, Mass., missed a 6-foot birdie putt at the first playoff hole, the par-3 18th, but clinched the win at the second extra hole, the par-4 16th, after Dai had already made a bogey. It enabled Garvin to again pose in a winner’s photo with her biggest supporters, father Lou and mother Mary. Garvin will next play in the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur and few other events before returning to Maryland to complete her degree in business management, which is aided by the job at DiRico’s Golf Shop.
Dai, 16, from Longmeadow (Mass.) Country Club, rallied from five strokes back thanks largely to four birdies, including three on the back side. She drove the par-4 12th hole and two-putted for birdie, then hit a 7-iron to 7 feet, setting up another birdie at No. 13. She missed the green and made a bogey at the difficult 16th hole but recovered with a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 17. Her 33 on the back nine was five strokes better than Monday, when she made two double bogeys.
“I definitely putted better today and didn’t have any double bogeys,” said Dai, a junior-to-be at Northfield Mount Herman School. “I didn’t have any big expectations because that’s usually when I play the best because I don’t put any pressure on myself. I’m pretty happy because I know what a great player that Angela is.”
Cavanagh, 28, the teaching pro at Ledgemont Country Club in Seekonk, R.I., said she didn’t know how she stood most of the day on a course that she never played until a practice round on Sunday.
“I actually played better today than yesterday but didn’t manage the course and putt as well,” Cavanagh said.
But there was some solace in being able to cash the first check in one of her first pro tournaments.
“You always want to win, but that’s nice,” Cavanagh said.
The other major story of the tournament was 12-year-old Arabella Lopez of Ridgefield, Conn. Lopez was among the foursome tied for second starting the final round and was only one back after 13 holes. But she bogeyed the par-5 14th hole, and after a long drive on No. 15, she pulled her second shot into a hazard and made a quadruple-bogey 8. A bogey-birdie-par finish gave her 77 for 149 and a tie for eighth. Lopez, who leaves Friday for Pinehurst and the U.S. Kids Worlds Championship, won’t be a teenager until Sept. 22 when she will be in eighth grade at East Ridge Middle School.
Defending champion Mia Grzywinski of Farmington, who recently graduated from Quinnipiac University, shot 80 to finish 15th at 155.
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CHIP SHOTS
The 56-women field included players from six states and Japan. … The 50 amateurs included 30 junior girls competing for merchandise credit prizes within age groups. The 18-and-under division was ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard and the American Junior Golf Association and approved by the division for PBE stars. … Keney Park hosted the 2019 National Junior PGA Championships for both girls and boys. The course originally opened in 1927 and has received high marks since its $5 million restoration and re-opening in 2016. Golf Magazine ranked it the 14th best municipal course in America in 2021, and Golfweek ranked it the No. 1 course in the State of Connecticut that the public can play this year. … This was the first time both rounds were played at Keney Park. Previously, the first round was at Goodwin Park GC. … The event has played a pivotal role in the City of Hartford’s strategy to bring golf back to the State Capital city’s two golf courses. … The tournament was sponsored by The Hartford and Mohegan Sun.
FINAL Results
(P) denotes professional
1 Angela Garvin (a) Feeding Hills, MA 72-71–143 +3
2 Annie Dai (a) Longmeadow, MA 75-68–143 +3
3 Susie Cavanagh (p) Warwick, RI 70-75–145 +5
T4 Linda Wang (p) Plainview, NY 75-71–146 +6
T4 Sana Tufail (a) Southborough, MA 72-74–146 +6
6 Laniah Moffett (a) Waterbury, CT 74-73–147 +7
7 Josephine Genereux (a) Greenwich, CT 75-73–148 +8
T8 Grace Farland (a) Sturbridge, MA 73-76–149 +9
T8 Arabella Lopez (a) Ridgefield, CT 72-77–149 +9
10 Andra Frappier (p) Cheshire, CT 74-76–150 +10
11 Emily Nash (a) Baldwinville, MA 76-75–151 +11
T12 Yvette OBrien (a) Greenwich, CT 73-79–152 +12
T12 Molly Holbert (a) Mechanicsburg, PA 72-80–152 +12
14 Jaelyn DeBoise (a) Springfield, MA 75-78–153 +13
15 Mia Grzywinski (a) Farmington, CT 76-80–156 +16
T16 Jensie-Rose Nicholas (a) Trumbull, CT 80-77–157 +17
T16 Jen Holland (a) Branford, CT 76-81–157 +17
T18 Caroline Petchark (a) Waterford, CT 80-78–158 +18
T18 Mami (Judy) Amano (a) Coconut Creek, FL 78-80–158 +18
T20 Jo Rasmussen (a) Westport, CT 84-76–160 +20
T20 Marie Allo (p) Newington, CT 81-79–160 +20
T20 Jacqueline Lu (a) Scarsdale, NY 80-80–160 +20
T20 Kenna Roman (a) Kensington, CT 79-81–160 +20
T20 Aoife Devaney (a) Waterbury, CT 79-81–160 +20
T25 Violet Robbins (a) Fairfield, CT 83-78–161 +21
T25 Taylor Schmidt (p) Westfield, MA 81-80–161 +21
T27 Alia Godek (a) Feeding Hills, MA 85-77–162 +22
T27 Mia Holbrook (a) Pound Ridge, NY 84-78–162 +22
29 Sophia Cunningham (a) Tolland, CT 84-79–163 +23
T30 Samantha Dunn (a) Berlin, CT 82-82–164 +24
T30 Anna DeSanto (a) West Hartford, CT 79-85–164 +24
32 Dixi Han (a) Shrewsbury, MA 81-84–165 +25
33 Riley Carey (a) Glastonbury, CT 81-85–166 +26
34 Giada Izzo (a) Wallingford, CT 83-85–168 +28
35 Elizabeth Dunn (a) Berlin, CT 84-85–169 +29
T36 Meghan Mitchell (a) New Canaan, CT 88-82–170 +30
T36 Amanda Barone (p) Orange, CT 88-82–170 +30
T36 Nancy Walker (a) South windsor, CT 84-86–170 +30
39 Lauren Ogrodowicz (a) Stratford, CT 88-84–172 +32
40 Lynn Scully (a) Watertown, CT 84-91–175 +35
41 Milan Yorke (a) Ansonia, CT 91-86–177 +37
42 Isabella Thomas (a) Oxford, CT 90-88–178 +38
43 Grace Codd (a) Trumbull, CT 95-89–184 +44
44 Helen Wright (a) Belchertown, MA 91-94–185 +45
T45 Brooke Zajac (a) Plantsville, CT 95-91–186 +46
T45 Rachel Pontoriero (a) Westport, CT 88-98–186 +46
T47 Jennifer Walsh (a) Sutton, MA 98-90–188 +48
T47 Paige McKenna (a) Fairfield, CT 93-95–188 +48
49 Bailey McGuigan (a) Trumbull, CT 91-99–190 +50
T50 Riley McPhee (a) Cheshire, CT 102-90–192 +52
T50 Selam Olson (a) New Haven, CT 88-104–192 +52
52 Kathleen Coffey (a) Westport, CT 94-108–202 +62
DID NOT FINISH
WD CC Kaplan (a) Greenwich, CT +5
WD Courtney Faber (a) Suffield, CT
WD Zorah Williams (a) Mystic, CT