SOUTH YARMOUTH – Sturgis West graduate Mya Murphy is a caddie and a golfer, and she’s gained invaluable experiences from both aspects of the game.
Murphy was introduced to the sport by her dad at the age of five. She started playing competitively around 13-years-old, and in between then, she realized golf was a way to get out, form relationships, connect with others, and to spend time together.
Her uncles and cousins all play and there’s plenty of trash talk in the group text messages as her career progressed.
“Yeah, they’re pretty mad when I beat them,” Murphy laughed. “But it’s a game you can play your whole life.”
Murphy has featured in several Massachusetts state golf events and her senior efforts at Sturgis culminated in medalist honors at the South Sectionals.
This fall, she’ll head to Merrimack College to play.
“The scholarship part is great, but it’s also a way for me to continue to meet people that you may never meet otherwise,” she said.
Murphy is one of the only girls in the caddie yard at Sacconnesset Golf Club in Falmouth, which was something she had to overcome and has since paved her own way. She believes caddying has taught the importance of respect and being a good person to others.
Sacconnesset takes part in the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, which Murphy hopes to take advantage of as it has provided nearly $50 million to qualified students. She embodies all the qualities Ouimet seeks.
“Being a caddie has really built my confidence,” Murphy said. “I tell myself I can do it, and I no longer underestimate my abilities because I know I can go out and be a good caddie, a good person and a good player.”
It’s growth that will benefit her long term, while being a caddie has been a great opportunity to develop relationships and form a network.
Unlike a lot of her competitors on course, Murphy is not a member anywhere. She has a range membership at Plymouth’s Pine Hills and has worked hard to make herself standout, despite being from a non-traditional golf powerhouse.
“I’ve put in so much hard work,” she said. “I have to put in that extra effort to go or find a place to play. I feel my game is versatile because I play so many different courses.”
Golf has taken Murphy on an incredible journey to this point of her career she feels is only beginning.
Following a deep reflection, something stood out to Murphy about golf, whether she’s playing, watching or thinking about it: her grandfather.
“He played when he was alive, and helped teach me the game, and I feel like I’m living on in his honor,” Murphy said.
Advancing to match play
Murphy advanced alongside fellow Cape natives Emma Abramson and Riley Eames to Wednesday’s match play at the Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur championship following stroke play at Bayberry Hills and Bass River on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
Murphy shot two-under to finish tied for fourth place, Abramson was one-under in a tie for sixth and, despite struggling in the wind and rain in round two, Eames was inside the cut in a tie for 11th.
Murphy tees off against Reva Machanavajhula at 8:20 a.m., followed by Eames facing Julia Imai at 8:30 a.m., while Abramson is last off at 9:10 a.m. in a match with Sophie Lim at Bayberry Hills.
“Being from the Cape, and having been here my whole life, it adds a little something special to it and I want to enjoy it,” Abramson said.
Abramson wrapped up her freshman year at Williams College this past spring and is playing her final junior event as she turns 19 later this month. She won the tournament in 2022 and was a Silver Division champion in 2018.
Former Drive, Chip and Putt Champion Maya Gaudin, 14, who is based in Falmouth, missed out on match play but hailed the experience of playing against the top players in the state as a measuring stick.
“Some of those girls can bomb it,” Gaudin said. “But it’s really good to see where I stand against my competition because that gives me more motivation to improve.”
Gaudin, who played in the Massachusetts Stroke Play Championship, described Cape golf as quaint and unpredictable, due to its change in weather.
St. John Paul II High School’s Isabella Scioletti also failed to advance.
Allen Gunn covers high school sports for the Cape Cod Times. You can contact him at agunn@gannett.com and follow him on X at @allentgunn.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Golf has taught Strugis West graduate Mya Murphy life lessons
