Swedick captures crown
Albany Academy golfer shoots second straight 72 to win state title by four shots
Hop aboard, Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly. Better known as the main characters in the NBC series “The Office,” they went along for the ride Monday as Kennedy Swedick competed in the final round of the girls’ golf state championship.
Swedick, a 15-year-old sophomore at Albany Academy, had pictures of the cast taped to her push cart, helping her keep composed and sane during a round that lasted nearly 6½ hours.
It ended up as another day at “The Office” for the two-time Section II champion, who grinded through a tough start to shoot an even-par 72 for a second straight round to win the title of the 36-hole tournament by four strokes.
“'The Office' is my favorite show,” Swedick said, “so yesterday and today my dad printed out four different scenes of 'The Office.' Whenever I would have a bad shot, I would look at that and laugh.”
She didn’t need to look often. Swedick, who led after Sunday’s first round by one stroke, trailed by one heading into the 12th hole. She played the final seven holes in 2 under, birdieing both par 5s on the back side and hitting fairways and greens on the others.
Swedick didn’t make any long putts, but most of her pars were tap-ins as she pulled away.
“She didn’t really do anything wrong with her putter, but she didn’t make anything,” her instructor, Anders Mattson,
said of Swedick’s front nine. “She was getting a little bit frustrated, a little bit down. The other girls were playing really good, and they ended up passing her for a little while.
“For her to kick that back into gear, you could see it on hole 12 (a par 5). She had a little hop in her step on 12 and hit one 70 yards past the other girls and made birdie there. She cruised in with some really good ball-striking.”
Swedick is the first player from Section II, which didn’t offer girls’ golf until 2020, to win a girls’ state title. The last section player to win any state golf title was Davis Jensen of Shaker in 2013.
There was no state tournament played in 2020 or 2021 because of COVID-19.
“I was finding something,” Swedick said of her back nine. “My long game was pretty consistent, and I knew I had to
just two-putt. That’s all I was hoping for, just get it within that three-foot circle, and it was all tap-in pars.”
“Something clicked with her today, and then it just took off from there,” Albany Academy coach Sarah Adamowski said.
“That light-bulb moment happened for her, and it was game over for everybody else, which I’m selfishly happy about.”
Posting a 36-hole score of 144, Swedick topped a pair of girls from Ursuline (New Rochelle), eighthgrader Nina Choe and senior Sofia Nogalo, by four and six strokes, respectively.
Academy was one of eight schools with enough players in the 121-player field to compete for the team title but finished eight shots behind Ursuline. Nicole Criscone of Academy tied for 14th in the individual competition, and teammate Samantha Von Rohr was tied for 16th.
“They gave it their all today,” Adamowski said. “They grinded it out and they did their best. It’s our first time here, and we had a strong showing.”
Swedick, who will return to Mcgregor next month for the New York State Women’s Amateur, wanted to pay tribute afterward to her late grandmother, Pamela Johnson, who died April 4 of a heart attack at age 68.
“This tournament was like extremely important to me, not only because it's such a great honor, but my nana passed,” she said. “She was always my biggest supporter, so I did this for her.”
“She was always the one picking up Kennedy from school, bringing her to the golf course,” said Kennedy’s mother, Karen Johnson Swedick. “She always said, ‘My little pro.’ ”