Commack's Lee takes Suffolk girls golf title
Of all the swings she took Thursday on the way to winning a fourth consecutive Suffolk girls golf championship, Commack's Suzie Lee counts an eagle putt on the par-5 ninth hole of the Green Course at Sunken Meadow as the shot that "made her day."
On the green of the 354-yard hole in two shots, her ball rested seven feet above the cup. "It was one of those deceiving putts," Lee said of the break, which appeared to be slightly left-to-right.
But she wasn't totally sure. Maybe it's straight in? No, couldn't be. "I had a second guess," she said. "I went with my first one because I always mess up my second guess."
There was no guessing of any kind about who was the best Thursday. Lee, a senior who will play for South Carolina next fall, took first place with a two-day, 36-hole score of 6-over-par 150 on the Green and Red courses at Sunken Meadow. She shot a 2-over-par 74 Thursday and a 76 during a rain-soaked Day 1 on Tuesday.
"I'm excited that I won this all four years of high school," Lee said. "I'm pretty stoked."
Sayville's Julie MacDonell took second with a 158. Sayville won the county team title by 29 strokes, powered by three of the top seven finishers. Smithtown West's Victoria Snak was third (159), winning by a tiebreaker over fourth-place Michelle Rosenhouse of Half Hollow Hills West, also with a 159.
Smithtown East finished second in team scoring, Northport was third and Smithtown West fourth.
Lee, also the two-time defending state champion, was all smiles after her final round, despite ending with "an uncalled for," she said, three-putt on the 18th hole. It was a 431-yard par-5, and she reached the green in two. Her second shot was a three-quarters swing with a 3-wood that flew 215 yards.
Distance is certainly a strength. Lee averages around 250 yards with her driver, a club adorned in her golf bag by a fuzzy South Carolina Gamecock head cover. (It's a red-headed bird with a bright yellow beak).
Next for Lee and yesterday's top nine finishers is the state tournament June 11-13 at SUNY-Delhi. "Hopefully, I'll win states three years in a row," Lee said.
Other state qualifiers are Sayville's Jennifer Clinton, who was fifth (161), Northport's Cameron Lambertson (162), Sayville's Cynthia Cheng (167), Longwood's Emily Garrahan (171) and Smithtown East's Lindsay Shulock (176).
Mollie Rose Drinkwater, Shannon Haselton and Kayla Grossi were the other members of Sayville's winning team.
