Alexa Trapani was the only Marlboro golfer to attend last year’s state championship tournament last year.

This year, she’ll have some company.

The Dukes won the Section 9 girls’ golf team title with a four-player score of 417, beating Division 1 champion, Monroe-Woodbury by 22 points.

“It felt a lot like an accomplishment because our team progressed so far in the two years we’ve had it,” said Alexa Trapani, who will be attending her second state meet. “Last year, we couldn’t compete with the other divisions.”

She would have been heading to the state meet anyway as she finished the two-day tournament with a 36-hole score of 163, shooting an 83 on the tournament’s second day.

“That also feels like a big accomplishment because I’m so much younger than everyone else,” said Trapani, a Marlboro Middle School eighth grader. “Yesterday, I played pretty well, and today I had a bad front nine and I had to have a better back nine to place pretty high.”

Trapani had a Day 1 score of 80 and Gwen Benninger shot a 102. Madison Markle had a 107 and Rebecca Panio shot a 128.
Trapani finished third after the first day, trailing Goshen’s Isabella Ok by seven strokes. Warwick’s Gina Milazzo finished Day 1 in second place with a 75.

Highland’s Sierra Wiser finished Day 1 in 13th place with a score of 101. Benninger was 14th, all making the cut for the second day of the tournament.

Markle didn’t make the cut with a 22nd place finish. Highland’s Grace Koehler was 36th with a score of 122. Panio was 41st.

The Dukes had won their division title for the second straight year and Trapani finished better than Monroe-Woodbury’s Lee Sheerin by four strokes and Benninger was better than Tea Proia. The Goshen Gladiators were in strong position to win the team title, but their fourth golfer – Mary Ellen Collins – didn’t finish and they didn’t qualify for team scoring.

“It says a lot about my girls and how much time and effort they put into this sport,” Marlboro coach Gary Trapani said. “All four girls that are in there love golf. They practice. They play outside of our school matches, so it’s nice to be able to put it all together and take down those bigger schools.”

Now, it’s on to the state meet for Marlboro’s foursome with Trapani being the only player with any experience. She finished 69th with a 36-hole score of 193. She’s already 30 strokes better.

The meet is scheduled for Sunday and Monday at the Edison Club in Rexford.

There will be a practice round on Saturday. The first round will be played on Sunday and will finish on Monday.

It will be nice to go with some company.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Alexa Trapani said. “We know the other teams at states are really good and we’re not expecting a lot going into it. We’ll be getting the experience and the memories.”