Last year, Sadie Lee was playing on a team, with the majority of players being boys, along with one other girl. It was then she decided to make a squad with all of her female golf friends; not only to have a strong bond, but to play competitively. Sadie Lee, 14, put together the first ever all-girls PGA Junior League golf team, appropriately called the G Squad, meaning “girl squad.”
This past summer, the team competed in the Junior League Sectionals. However, the team did not make it to the championships. Sadie said she hopes the team can grow and inspire girls across the country in different sports to do something similar. “It shows how girls can keep up with boys,” she said.
Sadie, her sister Mackenzie, and six other girls all between the ages 10 through 13 played on the team. The sectionals at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, Connecticut consisted of eight teams competing for the top four spots. The G Squad ended the day coming in third. They made it to the second day of competition, but lost that morning. Their coach is Bobby Brown, the director of golf at Tashua Knolls Golf Course in Trumbull, Connecticut, where the team holds their practices. He stated that they were down a girl for the sectionals, so one teammate had to play by herself, which is often difficult to do. But his goal, along with the rest of the team, was for everybody to shoot under par, and they each did. “All we did was have fun on the course without stressing about our next spot,” said Lee.
Mackenzie Lee, 12, said she felt good to be part of the team, and it was fun to play with all girls. Both sisters enjoy how competitive the sport of golf is. Being able to spend time with friends while they practice and compete is what they love most. Sadie started playing at 5 years old and started competing by 10. Mackenzie started playing at 4 and started competing only this year. Her goal is to one day be able to beat her sister. This spring, Sadie will be moving up to play for Weston High School’s golf team.
Teams at Tashua Knolls and Tashua Glen (in Trumbull, Conn.) have been participating in the PGA Junior League for about eight years. Brown said it is one of the best programs PGA offers. The G Squad is, essentially, the top female players at Tashua. The girls, who are from Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York, range in age from 10 to 13. The Lee sisters are the only players from Connecticut.
The team is already preparing for next year’s G Squad, which will now be a U13 team and a U17 team, since founder Sadie Lee would be aging out. The G Squad did not make it to the PGA Junior League Championships in Texas last weekend, however, they were there in spirit, as ESPN aired a segment about the first ever all-girls junior league team. Brown stated that the team is already getting emails from interested players. It appears the team has four spots to fill on the U13 team, with four players now moving up to the U17. “It’s going to be tough to fill those spots,” says Brown.
Hear more from Sadie Lee and the G Squad!
Source: Kayla Mutchler, CT Insider
– Photo Credit: Jason Lee –