Exactly 78 years after 20-year-old Patty Berg captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur title — who eight years later won the first U.S. Women’s Open — came a trio of headlines for as many students at a pair of Catholic high schools.
Ashley Menne and Emily Mahar, a freshman and senior respectively, at Xavier College Preparatory, tied with the best individual score at the inaugural Brophy-Xavier Invitational Sept. 24. Their team also won the match at the newly
renovated Grand Canyon University golf course in Phoenix. Xavier’s score of 595 outpaced Tucson’s Salpointe Catholic (718), Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain (720) and Notre
Dame Preparatory (750) plus Chandler’s Seton Catholic (874).
Golf team from Xavier College Preparatory (courtesy photo)Mason Quagliata (courtesy photo)
Meanwhile that same day in Pacific Palisades, California, a sophomore at Notre Dame Preparatory in Scottsdale made a name for himself on the green. Mason Quagliata placed first on the elder side of the boys 14- to 15-year-old category in the 2016-17 Drive, Chip and Putt Regional Competition.
The Masters, United States Golf Association and the PGA put on the joint event. Quagliata began golfing seriously two years ago. He advances to the National Finals at the Augusta National Golf Club next spring ahead of The Masters golf tournament.
Ashley Menne
Quagliata scored 143 points. So did Xavier’s Menne and Mahar. Since Menne’s final round score (69) was three strokes ahead of Mahar’s, she was awarded first place honors.
Menne went on to be the only Arizona girl during the PING Invitational that began Oct. 7 in Oklahoma. She is among 72 youth ages 12 to 19 selected to play in the American Junior Golf Association event. Menne has earned a medal in seven of the nine matches Xavier has played so far this season.
Elizabeth Caldarelli
In other golf news, Elizabeth Caldarelli, a senior at Xavier, has been named to the American Junior Golf Association’s 2016 Transamerica Scholastic Honor Roll. She is one of only 32 female high school golfers in the nation to achieve this year’s honor.
Oct. 22 Update
Ashley Menne was named to the 2016 Rolex Junior All-America Team by Rolex and the American Junior Golf Association. The only Arizona girl selected this year, she received “honorable mention” recognition and was invited to play in the prestigious 2016 Polo Golf Junior Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, next month.
The Junior Golf Association of Arizona named her Player of the Year among girls in her age group.
Editor’s Note
(CNS photo/Rob Schumacher, USA Today Sports via Reuters)
The teaser image to this story features another young golfer who went to Catholic school.
Jordan Spieth plays a shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the 2016 The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Spieth, a graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, and last year’s Masters champion, was at the top of the leader board as of April 8. (CNS photo/Rob Schumacher, USA Today Sports via Reuters)
