Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
Hayden Knapp, the South High rising sophomore who beat out college and adult golfers last week to win the 95th New York State Women’s Amateur Golf Championship, started her journey in the game when her late grandfather Tom Knapp would bring her along for rounds at Queensbury Country Club. Tom, a South Glens Falls native, was a long-time teacher and coach at Hudson Falls. Hayden’s parents are Adrienne and Thomas Knapp.
She started playing competitively at 8.
Her coaches include Bob Cain at Saratoga National Golf Club and Glens Falls’s Anders Mattson, who runs Anders Mattson Golf Studio in Saratoga Springs.
“My coaches definitely have gotten my game to the level that it’s at now,” Hayden said. “They both help me out a lot.”
She also credits her family for last week’s win at St. George’s Golf & Country Club at East Setauket, Long Island.
Hayden shot 72-74-71 for a 217 total in the three-round tournament to defeat Albany’s Kennedy Swedick, who golfs for the University of Virginia, by one shot.
“I thank my family for giving me all these opportunities,” Hayden said.
“My parents drove me to Long Island and gave me the opportunity to play in this tournament. They’ve given me so many great opportunities, and I’m really grateful to them.”
Hayden prepped for the tourney watching some flyovers of the course online.
“I did a little bit of research and practiced shots I thought I would have on the course, but other than that I kind of stuck to my normal practice routine of working on a little bit of everything,” she said.
“I tried not to have really any expectations. I didn’t really know how the conditions were going to be. I was just going out there trying to do the best I could on the course, and have fun I guess.
“I thought I played pretty well throughout the entire tournament. Every day I was just trying to go out and hit the shot in front of me the best I could without getting too distracted by the scores or anything.
“I probably played best on the third day, but I thought that most of the days were comparable, and nothing in my game was really very bad — nothing was really costing me too many strokes.
“I felt pretty okay with every part of my game throughout the entire tournament, which was a nice feeling.”
After winning she was greeted by some of her friends from the Mattson Golf Studio. “They were very supportive and happy for me, and that was a great feeling. I’ve been working very hard at my game, and I was really happy to see it pay off.”
She said her irons and approach shots gave her lots of opportunities for birdies.
“I hit a decent amount of greens, and I thought that it was really helpful,” she said. “My putting has also come a long way, and it was really something I could depend on.”
She said a key to her success was “not letting bad shots or bad holes have any more power than they should….
“I think I’ve gotten a lot better at not letting bad shots or problems that I have in my game get in my head too much. And I think that it’s really helped me on the course feel more confident.”
“I try to stay pretty calm throughout the round,” Hayden said. “I try to not let anything get me too upset or too excited.”
She noted, “There were a lot of times when I think maybe the tournament could have gone a different way.
“I definitely had a couple rough starts during the rounds, and I think limiting the damage and not letting one bogey turn into multiple back to back bogeys was really important for me.
“And I think that the early bogeys I had in the tournament really tested my patience and my ability to not try to force birdies and let them come, and not get too worried about my score.”
Last week’s win qualified Hayden for the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon Aug. 4-10.
“I’m really excited for it, and preparing in every way I can. I think it’s going to be a really cool experience being able to play with such great players on such a nice course. I’m going to go out there and try to play as best as I can, but also have a lot of fun and enjoy the experience.”
Looking toward the future, Hayden said, “I want to play in college and see where I can take it from there.” She doesn’t have a dream school. “I haven’t really thought that far ahead. I really love golf and want to see how far I can take it.”
“I think it’s a fun sport because it’s a physically challenging game — you have to have good swing technique and everything — but it’s also just as much a mentally challenging game,” Hayden said.
“I really love playing on all these different courses and needing to adapt to the green speeds and the fairways. Every course is laid out differently, so every round you play is completely different than the round you played before.
“There’s so many variables. The conditions could also completely change a tournament or a round. It’s a really interesting game. I’ve always found it interesting and loved playing it…
“Everything can always be improved. A lot of the drills and my practice routine are really helping me, and it’s still helping me improve and get better with my game.”
Hayden uses Titleist clubs and mostly plays at Glens Falls Country Club in the summer. She will compete again for South High this fall after winning the Section II girls golf title by eight strokes last year.
When not golfing, Hayden enjoys reading, listening to music and babysitting her brothers. She played softball when she was younger, but now focuses on golf.
At just 15, she doesn’t know what she wants to do for her career or what she wants to study in college, but says that math is her favorite subject in school.
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