HISTORY IN THE MAKING:

Delaware’s First-Ever Statewide Girls High School Golf Series Has Begun

Last week, something happened in Delaware high school athletics that’s never happened before: girls teed off in their own statewide golf match series — not as an afterthought on a coed team, but as the main event.

For the first time ever, Delaware’s high school girl golfers have a stage built just for them. And they are showing up.

Why This Matters

For years, most girls who wanted to play high school golf in Delaware had one option: join the coed’ team and hope for a shot at match or tournament play that, too often, never came. They loved the game — they just never got a real chance to compete in it.

That changes now.

First Tee — Delaware and the Delaware Women’s Golf Association (DWGA) teamed up as lead sponsors to build a series that exists for one reason: to give girls the fair shot they’ve always deserved. Led by Scott Allen, First Tee – Delaware’s Director of Development & Programs, and Lesley Corydon, President of the Delaware Women’s Golf Association. The Delaware Coaches Association jumped in to support it too — because when you give girls room to compete, everyone shows up to back it.

Behind the scenes, this series didn’t just happen on its own. First Tee — Delaware’s Program Director, Charma Bell, has also been hands-on in getting several of these matches off the ground — and she hasn’t done it alone. A dedicated group of volunteers from both First Tee — Delaware and the DWGA have shown up match after match to make sure these girls had a real competition to play in.

This is what community-built history looks like.

The Series So Far

Six regional matches were scheduled, and the energy has been undeniable. Two more regional matches are coming this week:

• Monday, October 5 — Southern Delaware Golf Club

• Tuesday, October 6 — Ed Oliver Golf Club

Then it all comes together at the Statewide Championship:

• Saturday, October 10 — Maple Dale Country Club, Dover, DE

9-hole stroke match for the more advanced players

9-hole scramble for beginner and intermediate girls — because every skill level deserves a place on the course

Schools Competing

Results After the First Four Matches

In Their Own Words

“We’re really excited that the first-ever girls high school matches are taking place, and we hope this is the start of something big for girls’ golf in Delaware.”

— Scott Allen, PGA, First Tee — Delaware’s Director of Development & Programs

“We can’t believe the emails we received from parents who said these matches were the first time ever their girls came home from a high school golf event smiling and happy and wanting to talk about it! That is exactly why we are doing this!”

— Lesley Corydon, DWGA President

That’s not a small thing, That’s girls walking off a golf course feeling like they belong on it.

This Is Bigger Than One Season

Every regional match, every smiling girl coming home from a tournament, every coach who shows up to support it — it’s building the case to the DIAA that Girls Golf deserves to stand as its own sport in Delaware, not a coed arrangement where most girls never get a real shot at competition.

We’re not just watching history happen. We’re funding it, coaching it, and cheering it on — and we need you with us.

Join us at the Statewide Championship on Saturday, October 10 at Maple Dale Country Club in Dover. Come watch these girls compete for a title that didn’t exist in Delaware until this year.

For detailed information, please contact Scott Allen, Director, Programs & Development for First Tee – Delaware: [email protected] or 703-861-9818

Want to help make sure next season is even bigger? Support First Tee — Delaware’s Girls Golf programs