Junior Champ Alice Chen Of Neshanic Valley Adds Women's Amateur Crown
Alice Chen of Neshanic Valley, a high school senior, became the first golfer to win the NJSGA Women’s Amateur, Junior Girls and state high school championship in the same season when she defeated defending champion Alexandra Hershberger, also of Neshanic Valley, 6 and 4, in the 36-hole final of the 88th NJSGA Women’s Amateur Championship on a rainy Thursday, August 1, at the 5,637-yard Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.
Chen, who won a second straight Junior title in June, also became only the second player to win both the Junior and Women’s Amateur in the same summer, matching Laura D’Alessandro of Tom River who did it in 1984. Chen was medalist for the event on Monday, July 29, whe she carded a 2-over-par 74.
“I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t really looking to accomplish all that,” said Chen, a senior-to-be at Montgomery High School who lives in Princeton. “The way things are progressing from last year to this year, I’m truly blessed. The biggest thing is my mentality, being able to stay patient and having a quiet mind.”
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Hershberger, the defending champion who plays on the University of Virginia golf team, was appearing in her third straight final. In 2011, she lost to Scotland Preston of Echo Lake.
“Alice is very steady and consistent and great at putting,” Hershberger said. “In the course of four days, I’ve come a long way. I’m proud of myself. Alice is an extremely tough player. I really haven’t had a chance to play as much golf this summer, though I wouldn’t use that as an excuse.”
Hershberger is spending the summer as an intern for Greg Norman Golf in New York City.
After 18 holes, Hershberger had closed a two-down deficit to one-down following a birdie on the par-5 18th hole on an up-and-down match.
Chen quickly went 3-up by winning the par-3 first hole with a par and the par-5 second hole with a birdie. Chen made it 4-up with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth hole. Hershberger’s par victory at the par-4 fifth hole closed it to 3-down.
But Chen upped it to 4-up with a par victory on the par-4 seventh hole. At the turn, Chen was 5-up, getting another win on the par-5 ninth. Chen played to 1-under-par for the front side. She punctuated the day with a 65-foot chip in for birdie from the right rough on the par-4 10th hole to go 6-up.
“I know she chipped in from a bunker on Wednesday and when she did it today, I wondered how many times she could do that,” Hershberger marveled. “It shows how excellent a player she is. It’s that consistency. She’s such a sweet person. I’m happy for her. She can take her game anywhere she wants to.”
Chen, who has committed to play at Furman in two years, began playing golf at age seven with her father Sean, who calls himself “a bogey golfer.”
“I started in summer camps at Mattawang,” Chen recalled. “I just always loved it. I think winning today was about patience. I knew coming in how strong a player Alexandra is because of her ball striking. I had to stay patient. That was a big key.”
In the First Flight, Kelsey Solan of Burlington defeated Claire Serruto of Montclair, 6 and 5. In the Second Flight, Jess Wild of Copper Hill bested Madison Beer of Cherry Valley, 7 and 6. Both matches were 18 holes.
Solan is a sophomore-to-be at James Madison University while Serruto will be a senior at Millburn High School. Wild is a senior-to-be at Hunterdon Central Regional High School while Beer is a recent graduate of Montgomery High School who will play golf at Kutztown University.
