Mamaroneck's Emma Hjarne Excels in Golf

Mamaroneck sophomore Emma Hjarne had been playing golf in her native Sweden, but had never considered playing in high school until this year.

Though Mamaroneck didn't have enough female golfers to form a team, Hjarne decided to play as an independent along with girls in similar situations from other high schools.

"I thought it would be a fun, new experience to meet people and see what the competition was," Hjarne said.

Sure enough, Hjarne made great friends this year — but she also excelled against her new competition.

The sophomore qualified for the sectional tournament earlier this month, and then was one of nine golfers in the Westchester/Rockland/Putnam/Southern Dutchess area to advance to the state tournament.

She finished her season last weekend at SUNY Delhi by shooting a two-day total of 168, the second-best score among Section 1 golfers.

"It was a big competition and was something really new to me," Hjarne said. "I had never played such a big tournament."

She improved from an 87 on the first day with an 81 in the second round.

"It was a very new thing to me, playing high school golf for the first time," Hjarne said. "And making it so far, it was a great achievement and it was really fun. "I met a lot of people and I improved my golf a lot both mentally and physically playing better opponents."

Hjarne said that mental improvement was a big key in her success. She shot a 94 in the first round of sectionals, but followed that up with a 76 to get through to states.

"Golf is a big mental game," Hjarne said. "When you're doing poorly this whole craziness gets into your head. That used to hold me back a lot but I began doing some techniques like taking deep breaths and not thinking about your overall score."

Hjarne guessed that 70 percent of people in Sweden play golf, and she used to just play every summer when she went back with her family. But she's now playing year round — she practices at Bonnie Briar when she's in Mamaroneck. So she should be even more of a force at the state level in the future.

"I'm looking forward to having her the next few years," Tigers golf coach Adam Rizzuti said. "She's got a great swing, she's pretty serious about it, and she has a great attitude."