On August 15th – 17th, forty-six of the state’s best female amateur golfers head to Heritage Village Country Club in Southbury, Conn. for the 51st Connecticut State Women’s Amateur Championship.
About the Course: Located on what once was farmland in the 1800's the Heritage Village Country Club is an 18 Hole championship golf course located in Southbury, CT. Designed by Al Zikorus and opened in 1967, Heritage Village Country Club winds its way throughout the Heritage Village community. Sixteen of the eighteen holes are majestically carved through the foothills and along the Pomperaug River.
Round Two: The 2016 Connecticut State Women's Amateur Championship will be held at Heritage Village Country Club for the second time in tournament history. The tournament was last held at Heritage Village in 2006, where Natalie Sheary of Gillette Ridge Golf Club won the second of three Women's Amateur titles with a score of 217 (+1).
Catherine McEvoy of Innis Arden Golf Club enters the championship hoping to become the tenth player in history to win consecutive Women’s Amateur titles. She won the 50th Connecticut State Women’s Amateur title at Indian Hill Country Club last year, shooting rounds of 78-76-73—227 to edge Jen Holland by a single stroke.
Only two players (Elizabeth Caron and Marcia Dolan) have successfully captured the Women’s Amateur title on their home course. This year’s host club is represented by a total of three players, all of whom are seeking to win their first Connecticut Women’s Amateur Championship. They are: Kathy Boucher, Joyce Curran and Priscilla Wargo.
The average age of this year’s field is 36 years old, and at just nine years of age, Gianna Papa of Connecticut National Golf Club in the youngest player in the field. A 2025 high school graduate, Papa has been competing on the Connecticut PGA Junior Golf Tour circuit and maintains a 12.2 handicap index.
Taylor Rogers of the Connecticut PGA JGA and Plainville, Conn. enters the Women’s Amateur after recently winning the CWGA Junior Championship at Wampanoag Country Club. She shot rounds of 81-82—163 for a fourteen stroke victory. Past CWGA Junior Champions have a history of going on to win the Women’s Amateur – defending champion Catherine McEvoy won the CWGA Junior in 2013.
MacKenzie Hawkes of Madison Country Club won the 97th CWGA Championship in early June at Redding Country Club. Hawkes, who currently attends Northwestern University and competes on their Division I golf team, defeated Nikki Liucci of Farmington Woods Golf Club in the final match by a score of 4 and 3. Liucci is a recent graduate of St. Francis Brooklyn where she competed on their Division I team and earned All-Tournament team honors at the 2015 ECAC Championship.
At age 14, Maisie Filler of Hartford Golf Club is the highest ranked junior player in this year’s field. A 2020 high school graduate, Filler captured the 2015 CWGA Junior Championship at Wethersfield Country Club by twelve strokes, and recently finished in 11th place in the Trusted Choice Big I National Championship.
Debbie Johnson of Oronoque Country Club recently teamed up with 2014 New England Senior Amateur Champion Jim Romaniello to capture the 79th Mixed Team Championship. The pair shot a round of two over-par 74 in the selected drive alternate shot format and won on the second playoff hole.
2008 Women’s Amateur Champion Jen Holland of the Southern New England Women’s Golf Association (SNEWGA) is the defending Senior Champion and nearly captured her second Amateur title last year. She lost by a single stroke to Catherine McEvoy in the overall flight, but won the Senior flight by a staggering twenty strokes with rounds of 76-74-78—228.
Both Johnson and Holland added to their trophy collection this summer by capturing the SNEWGA Member-Member Championship at Watertown Golf Club. The win marked their third consecutive title as gross champions.
Darlene Tranquilli of Orange Hills Country Club is the defending Super Senior Women’s Amateur champion, having won her flight in last year’s event by three strokes over Jean Sennett with rounds of 80-82-85—249.
Lisa Fern-Boros of Highland Golf Club is the reigning CWGA Senior Champion, having captured the 68th playing of the Championship last week at Wampanoag Country Club with rounds of 76-82–158. She is the neice-in-law of legendary professional golfer Julius Boros, who captured two U.S. Open Championships and one PGA Championship throughout his esteemed professional career.
Maisie Filler, Mia Gryzwinski, Sarah Houle and Gabrielle Martin all recently represented Connecticut in the 2016 Girls Tri-State Matches in Massachusetts. The team fell just ½ point short of reclaiming the title, which was last won by Connecticut in 2012.
Championship Facts
About the Championship: The Connecticut State Women’s Amateur Championship, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, has a rich history of exciting, competitive play. Betty Boyko, the President of the first CT State Women’s Amateur held in 1966 and a pioneer and champion of women’s golf in Connecticut, was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame in 2014.
Who Can Play: The championship is open to any female amateur golfer who is a bona fide member of a CSGA Member Club at the time of entry, has a certified USGA Handicap Index of 15.4 or less, and meets the specific eligibility criteria for the tournament.
Championship Scorecard: Heritage Village Country Club will be set up at approximately 5,593 yards and will play to a par of 36-37—73.
