Newburgh’s Roth qualifies for state golf

By Mike Zummo
Posted 6/1/22

Reagan Roth was nervous before the second day of the Section 9 girls’ golf tournament on Wednesday.

She was already in seventh place and within rankings of state qualifiers, but the …

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Newburgh’s Roth qualifies for state golf

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Reagan Roth was nervous before the second day of the Section 9 girls’ golf tournament on Wednesday.

She was already in seventh place and within rankings of state qualifiers, but the possibility was still there to slip out of qualification contention.

However, she bucked the trend and actually did better on the second day at Apple Greens golf Course, shooting a 91, to finish with a total score of 186 for a sixth-place finish, earning a berth in the upcoming New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament on June 5 and 6 at McGregor Links County Club in Wilton, Saratoga County.

“I was very excited once I learned that I made it,” said Roth, a sophomore at Newburgh Free Academy. “It was hard competition. It was definitely very hard mentally because I felt a lot of pressure and I was super nervous off the first tee box. But once you start playing, you just have got to get through it. And then when I finished, I was super excited and I’m super thankful because I put in a lot of work during the season.”

She was most thankful for her two coaches, Dave Doulin, who serves as Newburgh’s head golf coach and her personal coach Rob Hoag, who Roth said rebuilt her golf swing and spent hours preparing her for competition. She said both coaches helped build her mental game as well.

That was most important when she put two balls in the water on Hole 14, scoring a nine.

“In the past that would have completely blown up my round, but because I was able to stay focused, I turned it around and birdied the next hole,” Roth said.

Unlike most of the field, Roth’s second day was her better day. She entered Wednesday in seventh place tied with Tri-Valley’s Kaylee Poppo with a 95, but still 18 strokes off the lead.

Warwick’s Gina Milazzo won the Section 9 championship with a two-day of score of 155. Of the nine state qualifiers, only Roth and Goshen’s Sofia Fini had better second days.

Roth shot a 44 on the Front 9 and a 47 on the Back 9 to move up one place over her Day 1 finish.

“I knew on the second day that I rally didn’t have anything to be nervous about,” Roth said. “I knew the course. I knew if I hit a bad shot, I knew how to get out of it.”

She will end this week, learning a new course. She’ll have a practice round at McGregor Links on Saturday before tournament play begins on Sunday. It will finish on Monday.

Roth would have qualified last year, but the tournament was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire season was canceled in 2019.

“I’m just looking forward to the experience,” Roth said. “I know the competition is going to be very difficult, but I’m just excited to go.”