Two-time defending New York State girls’ golf champion Kennedy Swedick of Altamont won both her matches in dramatic fashion Thursday at the 96th Women’s Western Junior at Greenbriar Hills Country Club in Kirkwood, Mo.
The Albany Academy standout, who will be a senior in the fall, sank a 30-foot putt to birdie the par-4 18th hole and beat No. 9 Mingyu Zhang of Beijing to advance to the semifinals of match play. Swedick was 3-up through eight holes, but Zhang drew even with a birdie on the 17th hole.
“She was an amazing and a really fierce competitor, so that match was a really tough one,” Swedick said of Zhang. “She was making putts and getting some tough up-and-downs.”
Swedick will play Lisa Herman of Jenks, Okla., in the semifinals on Friday morning. They will play for a spot in the final, which will be played later in the day.
In the round of 16 earlier on Thursday, Swedick was two down through 13 holes to No. 16 seed Samantha Brown of Westfield, Ind., before winning four straight holes from the 14th through 17th to win the match 2-and-1.
“My driver was something I couldn’t put in good position early. I was kind of grinding,” Swedick said. “When I got on No. 14, I had just lost the hole before and I knew I had to focus. I told my caddie that we had to grind these last few holes and see if we could get a couple of wins and, hopefully, get tied and go into a playoff. I birdied the 14th and got par on the next one. That momentum carried me through.”
Through seven events, Swedick is No. 165 in the Rolex American Junior Golf Association rankings. She finished T-13 at the Golf Performance Center Killington Junior Golf Championship earlier in June.
Swedick has won the past two state high school girls’ golf championships and has been named the Times Union girls’ golf Athlete of the Year in each of her three varsity seasons.
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