![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Golfers.jpg\")
On Wednesday, a total of $36,000 in scholarships was awarded by the Lowell Women’s City Golf Tournament to 30 young female athletes heading to college. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\nAll eyes will be on the Smith sisters this Saturday at Vesper Country Club.<\/p>\n
The Lowell Women\u2019s City Golf Tournament has turned into the de facto Smith Open since Westford sisters Molly, Morgan and Maddie burst onto the local scene with eye-popping scores and dazzling performances.<\/p>\n
This year should be no different when golfers from Vesper, Nabnasset, Mt. Pleasant and Long Meadow take to the links in Tyngsboro in the highly anticipated annual event that started in 1999.<\/p>\n
Molly Smith, a University of Central Florida golfer, is looking to win her third consecutive crown. She\u2019s made\u00a0history each\u00a0of her last two championships, first breaking the tournament record in 2024 with a sizzling 8-under 64 before capturing her record sixth crown a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely just tried to play the best golf I can,\u201d Molly Smith said. \u201cFor the most part, that\u2019s kind of my mindset whenever I tee it up. And I feel like the last few years I\u2019ve been playing well going into the tournament, which is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
And look for Morgan Smith and Maddie Smith to be in the hunt. Morgan Smith would have set the tournament record in 2024 \u2014 carding a 6-under 66 \u2014 if it wasn\u2019t for her sister\u2019s mastery. Morgan Smith, who plays at the University of Georgia, is a 2019 and 2023 champion. Maddie Smith, meanwhile, will play at the University of Memphis this fall after a stellar career at Westford Academy.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s event is staged at Vesper. But Long Meadow\u2019s proud members will undoubtedly keep tabs on Molly Smith\u2019s play on Saturday. Long Meadow golf pro Shawn Scott said he has seen a rise in women interested in golf at the Lowell\/Tewksbury club since the Smith sisters have risen throughout the ranks.<\/p>\n
Maddie Smith is also a Long Meadow golfer, while Morgan Smith calls Mt. Pleasant home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the membership as a whole is always following them and keeping an eye on what they\u2019re doing \u2026 everyone is always checking in where the girls are this week,\u201d Scott said. \u201cBetween the three of them, they always have something going on. It\u2019s certainly been an uplift for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, a total of $36,000 in scholarships was awarded by the Lowell Women’s City Golf Tournament to 30 young female athletes heading to college. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n
The talented trio should make for an exciting event for those on hand at Vesper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re amazing, all three of them,\u201d said Vesper pro Jason DuFresne. \u201cThey truly are.\u201d<\/p>\n
But look for Vesper member Tracy Martin to be a name atop the leaderboard. Martin won the tournament in 2021 and has been right behind the Smiths ever since. Martin has had her fair share of epic moments at the Cities. A year after her victory, she dropped a hole-in-one.<\/p>\n
\u201cTracy has been playing pretty well,\u201d DuFresne said. \u201cShe\u2019ll be right there in the mix. I think it\u2019s really a four-horse race, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz Friel O\u2019Brien, one of the most decorated players in the tournament\u2019s history, will also represent host Vesper. She remains tied with Long Meadow\u2019s Caitlin Barry with five titles.<\/p>\n
DuFresne said Vesper golfers Morgan Pier and Isabel Smith should also be in the mix in what is shaping up to be a challenging layout at the Tyngsboro course.<\/p>\n
![\"Lowell](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Women-1.jpg\")
Lowell Women’s City Golf Tournament champion champ Molly Smith, right, is congratulated by five-time champ Caitlin Barry last year at Nabnasset Lake CC in Westford. It was Smith’s record-breaking sixth championship. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, Vesper is considered the toughest course of the Cities. But with recent bunker renovations and ultra-thick rough, DuFresne said the course is playing tougher than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rough is still healthy,\u201d DuFresne said. \u201cIt\u2019s not super long, but it\u2019s so thick. It\u2019s just tough to get a club through. I think that\u2019s the single biggest factor\u00a0that\u2019s affecting\u00a0scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Molly Smith, the difficulty might not be as obvious. The seasoned college golfer is accustomed to battling unforgiving conditions during her competitive season at some of the more challenging courses around the country.<\/p>\n
She, or her sisters, doesn\u2019t have to come back and play the Cities every summer. But they do. Growing the game \u2014 as Scott alluded to \u2014 is important to them.<\/p>\n
More so than any record, trophy or milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the whole idea of playing local golf,\u201d Molly Smith said. \u201cI think the Women\u2019s Cities\u00a0does\u00a0a really nice job in trying to grow the game. Not only grow the game of golf, but grow the whole women in sports thing. Obviously, that is something that is important to Morgan, Maddie and I.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, $36,000 in scholarships was awarded to 30 young female athletes heading to college. To date, the tournament has helped raise over $335,000 in funds.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s tee times<\/p>\n
11:00 a.m.: Jeannette Blanchette (N); Tracey Ogden (LM); Billie Ann Casey (MP)<\/p>\n
11:10 a.m.: Peg Pinsky (V); Marybeth Hohrath (N); Julia Santos (LM)<\/p>\n
11:20 a.m.: Kelly Trahan (MP); Janice Carroll (V); Judy Lantagne (N)<\/p>\n
11:30 a.m.: Caroline Miller (LM); Lynn Smith (MP); Cheryl Popp (V)<\/p>\n
11:40 a.m.: Deb Villano (N); Kathy Doherty (LM); Diane Murphy (MP)<\/p>\n
11:50 a.m.: Sheila Montminy (V); Julie Abrahamson (N); Janelle Wagstaff (LM)<\/p>\n
12:00 p.m.: Christine Talbot (MP); Colleen Kaiser (V); Lisa Colangelo (N)<\/p>\n
12:10 p.m.: Linda Kilbride (LM); Marian Silk (MP); Samantha Gervais (V)<\/p>\n
12:20 p.m.: Jen Paletta (N); Brigid McNiff (LM); Moira Bowser (MP)<\/p>\n
12:30 p.m.: Joanne Aldrich (V); Alice Westland (N); Leann D\u2019Entremont (LM)<\/p>\n
12:40 p.m.: Susan Allison (MP); Lauri Welch (V); Fiona Johnson (N)<\/p>\n
12:50 p.m.: Anne Farley (LM); Kelly McKiernan (MP); Isabel Smith (V)<\/p>\n
1:00 p.m.: Laura Nejame (N); Caitlin Barry (LM); Brooke Weza (MP)<\/p>\n
1:10 p.m.: Morgan Pier (V); Anne Windhol (N); Madison Smith (LM)<\/p>\n
1:20 p.m.: Andrea Dutile (MP); Elizabeth O\u2019Brien (V); Sophia Flabouris (N)<\/p>\n
1:30 p.m.: Molly Smith (LM); Morgan Smith (MP); Tracy Martin (V)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All eyes will be on the Smith sisters this Saturday at Vesper Country Club. The Lowell Women\u2019s City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44,1834,898,899,5575,15403,15404,56,15405],"class_list":["post-38172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-golf","tag-keywee","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-maddie-smith","tag-morgan-smith","tag-mplly-smith","tag-sports","tag-womens-city-golf-tournament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}