HISTORY ON THE LINKS: Wellsville’s Maddy Parks claims 1st ever Allegany County Girls Golf Invite title in field of nine at Allegheny Hills

RUSHFORD — On Thursday, history was made as nine Allegany County girls all met at Allegheny Hills in Rushford for the very first of what hopes to be many more invitationals to come in the future. It was an idea that had been brewing deep within the mind of Fillmore head coach Tom Parks for the past couple of seasons, but was really pleased to see it all come into fruition in 2023.

“This was something that I was thinking about putting together for a couple years now, and it finally came together this year. With no girls golf teams, our girls who are interested in golf play with the boys teams in the spring,” he said. “Some of the girls don’t get to see any match action and the ones that do are required to play from the boys tees. This event gave nine girls from the County a chance to play from their tees and spend time getting to know one another.”

Out of the field of nine, Wellsville’s Maddy Parks was at the top of the scorecard as the very first medalist of the Invitational, as she took home the top honor by shooting the match-low round of 51. Following right behind was Friendship’s Olivia Marks, as she posted a round of 54. Serena Boussa scored a 59 to round off the top three.

Also competing were Fillmore’s Grace Clark and Tenlee Miller, as the two Lady Eagles chipped in with a 62 and 65, respectively. Hinsdale’s Lily Howell had a round of 75 to add in. Lexi Aftuck of Wellsville posted a 75, while Genesee Valley/Belfast’s Violet Edwards and Wellsville’s Lane Joyce respectively rounded out the scoring with their rounds of 76 and 77.

Parks says that he hopes that the inaugural event will help provide a giant footstep forward in encouraging the girls to come out and play golf.

“I hope to make this an annual event each spring for our girls that play golf. It’s just a way to keep them interested and encouraged to keep playing,” the Fillmore head coach said. “In the end, this was an absolute success. There was lots of laughter, girls from other schools were meeting new people and there was some very good golf being played. We had a couple of our golfers drive it greenside, and taking multiple pars. It was a great day.”