Editor’s note: Information in this story is courtesy of the Westminster College Athletic Department.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – Ocean City High School graduate Kasey Clifford won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference golf championship, leading her Westminster College golf team to the team title for the second year in a row on Monday.
It was the team’s third straight title.
Clifford, a 2019 graduate of OCHS and a standout for the Red Raider golf team, was named PAC Player of the Year for the second straight year. She is a sophomore at Westminster College.
She won the individual title at the 2021 PAC championship with a two-day score of 159 (74, 85), making her only one of two players in program history to be the MVP more than once and the youngest to win it back to back, according to the Westminster College athletic department.
“Kasey Clifford is one of the best golfers to come through OCHS,” Ed Ritti, coach of the high school team, said. “She has always been very determined and stayed positive, even when a round would go sideways, which happens to every golfer. She would stay positive about her next shot.
“She is a great role model for the younger golfers,” Ritti added, “and continues to volunteer her time in the summers to teach at local golf clinics for kids.
“The coaches are very proud of her accomplishments,” Ritti said, “and we expect great things at Nationals and the remainder of her college career.”
Team title
The Westminster College team won with a final two-day score of 671 (+99) over second-place Geneva College.
By winning the PAC Championship, Westminster earned an automatic bid for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament May 11.
Clifford has been making waves at Westminster since her freshman year. The Longport resident was named PAC Player of the Year in 2019-20, PAC Newcomer of the Year, All-PAC First Team and was on the PAC Academic Honor Roll.
According to her bio on the Westminster College golf team for the 2019-20 season, Clifford was:
– Individual Medalist at the 2019 PAC Fall Championships with a two-day score of 166 (88, 78)
– Second-lowest round on the team with a 78 (+6) in Day Two of the PAC Fall Championships
– Second-lowest scoring average on the team at 85.88 over eight rounds
– Five top-ten finishes, good for second on the team
– Three top-five finishes, good for second on the team
– PAC Player of the Week on Sept. 16
– Two-time PAC Rookie of the Week (Sept. 11, Sept. 23)
– SAAC Titan Athlete of the Week on Oct. 16.
The athletic department also noted that as a senior at OCHS, she was a captain of the golf team and set the school record for low 9-hole and 18-hole scores, was Cape-Atlantic League Girls Individual Champion, took second place in Girls Division in the Carl Arena Golf Tournament, had the low average score on the team for 2019 season, Red Devil Girls Invitational, was a Cape-Atlantic League All Star, ranked 23rd in New Jersey in 2019 and named Most Valuable Player.