HoVal’s Meng wins MCT on 3rd playoff hole
PRINCETON » Megan Meng is the picture of calm on the golf course.
The Hopewell Valley sophomore doesn’t get rattled if a shot goes slightly awry nor does she get over-excited when she drops an iron within 6-feet of the pin. She’s just so smooth.
That was particularly evident when Meng birdied the 18th to force a tie for the lead and then won the Mercer County Tournament three playoff holes later over Princeton High’s Maddie Zang after both shot a 1-under 71 despite steady rain on Friday at Princeton CC.
“She’s doing everything I kind of expected,” said Hopewell Valley coach Bill Russell. “She’s playing great.”
Meng burst on to the Mercer County golf scene last year as a freshman when she finished seventh at the Tournament of Champions and has rolled that momentum right into 2022.
“After the boys (MCT), I feel like I’ve had a little bit more time to practice and warm up now that we are a little bit farther into the season,” Meng said. “I’ve been working on my putting because I figured out a lot of the things I did wrong at that event and that gave me more of an advantage because I got to play another county tournament before.”
The morning didn’t start well at all.
Meng bogeyed the first two holes and was three-over after nine, but roared back into contention by shooting four-under on the back nine, including clutch birdies on both 17 and 18.
“After the first two holes, I was like give yourself short-term memory, move on and pretend the next hole is the first hole,” Meng said.
“I think (the birdie on 18) gave me confidence,” Meng added. “When it came to the last two holes, both of them weren’t too long for me. I was thinking as long as I played textbook golf I didn’t have to hit any amazing shots, I just had to hit decent shots and I would be OK.”
On 18, Meng drove the green in two on the par-5 while Zang was in the bunker after her second shot, but the Princeton player hit a terrific shot from the sand to help save par and Meng’s long eagle putt for the win narrowly missed. That set up a playoff in which both made birdie on the first hole and par on the second. Meng landed her second shot on the third playoff hole within four feet of the pin and tapped in for birdie and the win.
“Given the conditions, I thought I played well,” Zang said. “It was a super-fun round for me, especially playing on a co-ed team, finally getting to be out here with the girls. … It was kind of up and down with birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey. During the playoff, I was nervous and third hole … that’s a pretty good playoff. It was just an honor playing with Megan because she’s such a great player and great person.”
West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Elenora Byrne just missed out on making it a three-way playoff and took third with an evenpar 72. Lawrenceville’s Angel Zhang shot a 1-over 73 for fourth and Jackie Zang — Maddie’s younger sister — was fifth with a 2-over 74.
Peddie, led by Emma Li’s 5-over 77, won the team title with a total score of 334, just ahead of secondplace
Princeton’s 336.
Meng, however, was the star of the show. When you include the playoff, she birdied six of her final 12 holes.
“She’s very clam and cool,” Russell said. “She does not let anything negatively (impact) her. She just moves on to the next hole.”
Next up for Meng is a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier on Tuesday in Morristown followed by the boys sectionals — Hopewell’s team is co-ed and Meng is the lone girl in the program — and then the girls ToC where she’ll try to give the CVC back-to-back champions.
“This is, hopefully, the beginning of two weeks of really good golf,” Russell said.