REXFORD — After two state high school championships, a state Women’s Amateur title and a plethora of other accomplishments, Kennedy Swedick isn’t a child prodigy anymore.
Swedick, a junior at Albany Academy for Girls, is now one who other golfers use to gauge their own success. That became more apparent Monday after Swedick cruised to her second straight victory in the New York State girls’ golf championship at Edison Club.
The only golfer in a 111-player field to shoot below par, Swedick fired a 3-under 69 to finish the 36 holes at 5-under 139, seven strokes clear of the runner-up, Scarsdale sophomore Emma Lee.
Among those taking notice was Hayden Knapp, a seventh-grader from South Glens Falls who, like Swedick, trains at the Anders Mattson Golf studio in Saratoga Springs. Knapp, playing in the lead foursome, shot a second straight 74 and finished alone in third. As a seventh-grader.
“It’s great playing with Hayden,” Swedick said. “She’s a great little player. She’s great to talk to. It’s nice to have someone that you know on the course with you. You get to chat and just having someone local. It’s a lot of fun.”
At 13, Knapp may have started on a path Swedick created. Swedick emerged on the golf scene at age 8 when she qualified for the national Drive, Chip and Putt Championship in Augusta, Ga.
Since then, she has played in the U.S. Girls’ Junior twice and qualified for the Junior PGA Championship four times. She has received sponsor’s exemptions to the Epson Tour’s Twin Bridges Championship at Pinehaven. Swedick’s most impressive performance may have been last summer, when she won the State Women’s Am at McGregor in Wilton.
Knapp, meanwhile, is just beginning. She still has five more chances at the state tournament.
“It’s just awesome to watch her play and everything that she’s done,” Knapp said of Swedick. “It’s really…
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