Without question, Fayetteville-Manlius girls golf senior Meghan Kingsley struck the most memorable shot of Tuesday’s Section III championship tournament.
On the par-three 17th hole at Foxfire in Baldwinsville, Kingsley, from 120 yards out, struck an eight-iron that found its way to the cup for a hole-in-one.
This ace nearly delivered Kingsley a piece of the individual sectional championship. Instead, with an 18-hole total of 82, Kingsley tied Holland Patent’s Rachel Halwig for second place.
Both were one shot behind the surprise winner, Rome Free academy’s Nicolette Darois. Not even thought to be the best player on her own squad, Darois posted an 81 that did more than edge Kingsley and Halwig for individual honors.
With the win, Darois earns a berth in the LPGA Symetra (formerly Futures) Tour’s Credit Union Classic on July 27-29 at Drumlins Country Club’s East Course, a traditional honor for the girl who claims the sectional title.
It proved, in all, a glorious day for RFA, who ended a long sectional team title drought, too, at F-M’s expense. The Black Knights shot 352 to claim Division I honors, ahead of the Hornets, who were second with 370.
CBA, with a 387, edged Baldwinsville by one shot for third place in Division I, but finished fourth overall because Jamesville-DeWitt, with a 385, edged them. The Red Rams won the sectional Division II team championship by a healthy margin.
In all, local players earned five of the nine berths on the sectional All-Star team that will go to SUNY-Delhi on June 7-9 for the state championships.
Kingsley’s teammate, junior Allison Donella, was not part of F-M’s four-player squad in the team competition, but still worked her way to fifth place among individuals with a score of 84. Carly Kidd had a 91, with Alexandra Millimaci adding a 96 and Natalie Powers picking up 101.
On J-D’s side, sophomore Molly Hair qualified for the state tournament with a solid 85, putting her alone in sixth place, while teammate Victoria Roney (also a sophomore) joined CBA senior Emilee Oakes to in grabbing the last two spots on the team, tying for eighth place with 88.
Elsewhere for J-D, Hali Greenhouse shot 103, with Alaina Jones contributing a 109. CBA’s Ellie Baumgartner, with a 91, just missed the state alternate’s spot by a single shot, with Jung-Hye Kim adding a 96 and Kaleigh Savage shooting 113.
