Headline: Ken & Meredith Kotowski Capture 2009 Massachusetts Father & Daughter Championship... Their Second in Three Years
For Immediate Release: August 24, 2009
Mashpee, MA — For the second time in three years, the team of Ken Kotowski (The Kittansett Club) and Meredith Kotowski (The Kittansett Club) can call themselves MGA champions.
The Marion-based team was the only one to break par on this day and as a result were able to claim victory at the 2009 Massachusetts Father & Daughter Championship held today at the Willowbend Club in Mashpee.
The Kotowski team carded a 1-under par 69 which was one stroke better than two teams – Mark Savel (Nashawtuc CC) and Andie Savel (Nashawtuc CC) and John Mulcahy (Hatherly CC) and Mary Mulcahy (Hatherly CC) – who posted scores of even par 70 to finish in a tie for second place against a field of 50 teams from across the Bay State.
After making their second bogey of the day – on the 420-yard, par 4 6th hole – the Kotowskis found a way to stay focused and went on to play stellar golf to win the title. From that point on, the Kotowskis were 2-under par courtesy of birdies on the 9th and 12th holes. They capped off their round by making six straight pars.
In 2007 when they last won the title, Meredith Kotowski was finishing off a high school campaign at Deerfield Academy where as a senior captain she led her team to a 2006 league championship with an 11-0 record. Now – as a senior at the University of Pennsylvania – Meredith brings three years of collegiate experience to the course.
She matches up well with her father, Ken, who has Ivy League roots much like his daughter as he earned First Team Ivy League honors back in 1970. He was also the 1962 State Caddy Tournament victor.
A Look Back at 2007
It seemed like just yesterday when the Kotowski duo first won their championship. Here is a copy of the press release that summarizes their first-ever MGA Championship victory held at their then home club of Oakley Country Club.
Watertown, MA – In 1962, a newly-turned 16-year-old Ken Kotowski (The Kittansett Club) captured the State Caddy Tournament at Oakley Country Club.
Fast forward 45 years, Kotowski celebrated his 61st birthday at the same course in the same winning style as he claimed the 2007 Massachusetts Father & Daughter Championship title with his daughter Meredith Kotowski (The Kittansett Club).
This marks the first time in the event's 25-year history that the Kotowski duo has called themselves champions. They finished the day with a score of 2-over par 73, which was two shots better than two-time past champions of this event, Ken Costello (Segregansett CC) and Beth Costello (Segregansett CC).
Under cool conditions in Watertown, the Kotowski team struggled out of the gates as they made bogey on the 508-yard, par 5 4th, 192-yard, par 3 7th and 385-yard, par 4 9th holes to make the turn at 3-over par 39.
Finding themselves in a tie for sixth place at the turn, the Marion residents responded like true champions as they made birdie on the 472-yard, par 5 10th and 163-yard, par 3 15th holes. One lone bogey – on the 362-yard, par 4 16th hole – capped off their 1-under par 34 back nine and sealed their victory.
Meredith Kotowski has clearly followed in her father's golfing footsteps as she is former three-year letterwinner in golf at Deerfield Academy and, for the past two years, has been a standout performer for the University of Pennsylvania golf team. During her freshman campaign, Kotowski finished second on the team in stroke average.
