Girl Wins Boys Golf Tournament But Not Trophy Due To MIAA Rules
LUNENBURG (CBS) - Emily Nash of Lunenburg has been golfing since she was a little girl and winning tournaments since she was 11. Nash's Athletic Director at Lunenburg High School says the 16-year-old won 90 percent of her matches and this year she won the Massachusetts Girls Junior Amateur Championship.
"It's a 365 day, every day of her life she practices, holidays, winter we convert our house over to a driving range," Bob Nash, Emily's father says.
Emily's high school doesn't have enough girls to field a golf team in the fall, so she plays with the varsity boys team and she has since the 8th grade. Emily's team this year went to the Division 3 Central Mass Tournament and finished in 4th, but Emily shot an amazing three over par 75 to beat all the boys in individual scores.
Nash won the tournament but did not take a trophy home because of MIAA rules. The rule states "Girls playing on a fall boys' team cannot be entered in the Boys Fall Individual Tournament. They can only play in the Boys Team Tournament. If qualified, they can play in the spring Girls Sectional and State Championships."
"The rule prohibits individual girls from moving on from the tournament, the only way she could have gone on is if our team had been in the top two and we finished 4th so we were not allowed to move forward," Lunenburg High School Athletic Director Pete McCauliff says.
The boy who came in second offered her the trophy but she declined. "Yeah it was really nice of him and it was very respectful," Nash says.
Despite her disappointment Nash is not calling for a rule change. "I feel like it is a bit unfair because say I play from the same tees as the guys and I played with them all season, so I feel like it's fine if I don't advance onto states but it would have been nice if I got the title of winning," Emily says.
Her father said golf is a sport of rules, and they must follow them even if they don't agree.
"I know I do have the girls districts and states in the spring so that will be my chance if I try and win that," Nash says.
Emily hopes to attend a Division I school with a good golf program and she plans to participate in some tournaments this winter down south and hopefully catch the eye of some scouts.
