Westover Golf Team Competes in Pippy O’Connor Tournament

Middlebury, Connecticut – Five members of Westover School’s Varsity Golf Team competed in the annual Pippy O'Connor Independent School Girls' Golf Tournament May 12 at the Watertown Golf Club. More than 100 female golfers representing 30 schools from all over the Northeast competed in the event.

Sisters Danny Smooke ’14 and Taylor Smooke ’17 of Woodbridge, CT, played in the 18-hole competition with Danny, the team captain, shooting 87, placing 24th, and Taylor carding a 90, placing 30th. Danny Smooke, the only senior on the team, is attending Yale University in the fall.

In the 9-hole competition, Savvy Lodge ’15 of Bridgewater Corners, VT, placed 10th with a 52; CiCi Liu ’16 of Shanghai, China, placed 17th with a 57, and Dhalia Tejada ’15 of Newark, NJ, tied for 34th with a 69. Tejada is the team’s assistant captain.

The golf team, coached by Scott Sutherland, began play in 2009, and the program has made great strides over the past two years, Sutherland said. The Wildcats’ home course is Highfield Club, located in Middlebury, where the team practices and plays their home matches. 

The 9-hole Highfield course features 3,253 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 36. Designed by Orrin E. Smith and Al Zikorus, the Highfield course opened in 1953. Practice facilities and the rights to practice four days a week along with home matches enables the team to work on all aspects of their game and improve their skills. Highfield’s clubhouse was designed as a residence by Westover’s architect, Theodate Pope Riddle.

Westover is a selective boarding and day school in Middlebury, Connecticut, with 205 students in grades 9-12 from 17 states and 20 countries. The School offers its students more than 20 Advanced Placement courses as well as signature programs in science, engineering, art history, and music.