Article by Phoenix Writer Elizabeth Kalin Tynan ’26
On April 14th, in the Back 9 on the White Course at Eisenhower Park, freshman Eloise Alveari and her score in a golf match against Sacred Heart earned her a qualification for the New York State Catholic High School Girls’s Athletic Association’s League Tournament.
Alveari is a member of the Girls’ Varsity Golf team at Kellenberg and the first in their lineup. In the intense, back-and-forth match against Sacred Heart two weeks ago, she took an early lead and was up by 1 heading into the 9th hole. Her opponent made a par, but Alveari soon accomplished a 7 foot putt that tied the hole, and the win went to Kellenberg. This has only been her second match on the team.
This score, as well as the score from her first match, have each separately qualified her for the NSCHSGAA League Individual Tournament and secured her All League Honors. She currently ranks as one of the top players on Long Island for this season. Her coach, Mr. Doran, details that she possesses a “tremendous golf acumen,” and states that “her drives, iron play, and putting ability make her one of the standouts on our team and in the NSCHSGAA.”
Teammate Orla Cormican, a senior, has also achieved much alongside Alveari this year, qualifying for the League Tournament in a later match. Mr. Doran says that they are “the one-two punch for the team.”
As an eighth grader at her previous school, Alveari participated in the New York State Public High School Athletics Association (NYSPHSAA) Girls’ Golf Tournament, the top competition in the state, despite her younger age and her school’s lack of an official girls’ golf team. Coming to Kellenberg for high school and finally being able to join a girls’ team, Alveari has found it to be a wonderful experience. She reports that Coach Doran keeps the group “positive and focused,” encouraging them to play their best, and hopes that her other teammates will have their own opportunities to qualify for the league tournament and that they can all support each other. She states, “having a coach who actually sees me and teammates to lift me up has changed everything. For the first time I’m not just playing golf; I feel like I belong here.”
The team currently has 4 wins under their belt, and are facing St. John’s on April 30th at the Cantiague Park course in Hicksville.
