Holmdel Freshman, 15, Qualifies For US Women's Open In Golf

HOLMDEL, NJ — A 15-year-old freshman Holmdel High School qualified last Tuesday for the U.S. Women's Open in golf.

If you follow the world of New Jersey high school sports, you likely already know that Holmdel High School is a standout in golf. The girls' golf team won the Monmouth County championship April 9 and they won the Shore Conference April 16, for the third year in a row.

But Megha Ganne, all of 15 and a freshman newbie to the team, is far and away a standout. Ganne is so good she beat out 40 other golfers, some of them pros, at a U.S Women's Open qualifier held last Tuesday at Forsgate Country Club. The U.S. Women's Open will be at the end of May in South Carolina.

"She's been playing golf since she was 6 or 7, with full-time coaching," Holmdel varsity golf coach Geraldine Semenza told Patch. "She plays nationally in golf events and the most recent event was the sectional qualifier last week, at Forsgate. Megha finished first."

Megha shot even-par 70-72-142 last Tuesday, which meant she won, by one shot, a spot at the U.S. Open, according to Tunf, a golf news blog. She beat 40 other players, including eight professionals, for that one spot.

"It's a pretty phenomenal feat," said Semenza, who is also a physical education and health teacher at Holmdel High. "She'll be playing with Michelle Wie and all the pros like that when she goes down to Charleston. Megha is the real deal. She's ranked No. 6 or 7 in the nation for her graduating class, and already all the major women's college coaches are calling her. Of course, they can't talk to her until her junior year."

What makes Megha so good? Probably her time and her dedication to a sport she "absolutely loves," says her coach at Holmdel High.

"It's not like she goes home every day after school and sits on the coach. She is working out with physical trainers, private swing instructors," said Semenza. "This is a person who dedicated her career to this. Megha is also a very good student. Her work ethic is why she's so good. And the best part about Megha is she's as nice a girl as she is a good golfer. It's been a pleasure to see her jive with the whole team."

"Obviously, with the addition of Megha on an already strong team, we're having a very successful season," she added.

Indeed. The Holmdel girls' golf team is 6-0 so far this season, besting such conference rivals as Rumson-Fair Haven, St. Rose, Trinity Hall, Red Bank Catholic and St. John Vianney.

The program has come astoundingly far since Semenza first started coaching it in 2009. Consider that before that, there wasn't even a girls' golf team at Holmdel!

The few girls who wanted to play golf had to play on the boys' team. One of them was Vanessa Picciotto Perrine, a beautiful young Holmdel woman who was a golf standout. As a teenager, Vanessa was one of the first girls to play on the Holmdel High boys' golf team and she went on to play at the college level at Wagner College. Vanessa's story is tragic because she died at the age of 31, when she was seven and a half months pregnant, due to undiagnosed preeclampsia. The baby boy she was carrying, her first child, died as well. (Please read her story: Golf Tournament Named For Holmdel Woman Who Died Tragically)

Semenza knows Vanessa and her story very well.

"The man who was the Holmdel boy's coach at the time, Bob Kreig, was very active in recruiting girls to get involved with the Holmdel golf program. After Vanessa there were several other girls, and when there were three or four girls on the boys' team, I started helping out," she said. "When there were enough girls for a full team, we went from there. It's been such a pleasure. All the girls on the team are wonderful young ladies. They have fun and work hard at the game."

Sadly, Semenza will be retiring from teaching, and coaching, when the 2019 season ends this June. But she is excited to see Holmdel girls' golf carry on its strong tradition, a legacy that was created under her leadership.

Semenza said that in the past decade, she's seen a surge of interest from teenage girls in golf, and she hopes it only grows from there.

"More and more high schools have girls' programs now, which is great. We're already seeing camps and teams for younger girls and we're going to start seeing even more," she said. "And more young girls are playing golf than ever before, which is great for the sport."