Sports

Call It A Dynasty And There is No End In Sight For Berlin Girl's Golf Team

The Redcoats have won three straight state championships and return three sophomores from this years title team. They are ready to defend and keep streak going.

The Berlin girl's golf team won four state championships when the tournament was overseen by the Connecticut Girls Golf League.

When the CIAC added girl's golf as a team sport, Berlin came close but finished second twice, third and fourth.

That was until 2011 when Berlin won the first CIAC girl's golf team. The team didn't stop there, winning last year in 2012 and then again Tuesday for its third straight state title. 

No other team in the state has three CIAC state championships and certainly nobody can match the seven combined championships. You can call it a dynasty and there is no end in sight. 

While Berlin graduates senior co-captains Emily Deutsch and Caroline D'Attilio, the top three scorers from the state tournament will all return to try to help the Redcoats win a fourth straight title. The sophomores, Julia Kemmling, Ashley D'Attilio and Abby Underwood were the top three scorers for Berlin at the states. 

"I know a lot of the coaches in the state are tired of us winning, I would be," Berlin coach Jim Barnes said. "But I don't see why we can't keep this thing going. We have three sophomores coming back who will be back as juniors and they were our top three scorers at the state tournament.

"We also have another sophomore Emma Atkinson who played and scored in a few matches. Then there are four or five freshmen who came out for the team this year and they can all shoot in the low 50s. If they work on their game they could all be in the hunt for another spot. It's going to take a lot of work and I know we have a target on our back but I think we can keep it rolling forward." 

Julia Kemmling topped the entire tournament with a +6 score of 80 at Rolling Hills. 

"If you are offline one little bit at that court you are in big trouble," Barnes said. "Julia didn't play very well on the front nine and we weren't looking too great after nine holes. When she made the turn, she asked how we were doing. I didn't want to put any extra pressure on her but I told her we needed her to play her best. She goes out and shoot one-over and comes in with the best score of 80. That's what makes her great. She is an incredible competitor." 

Kemmling has been playing since she was a little girl. Her dad, Ed, a Berlin police officer, would take her to the course and let her hit balls. She often tarted playing in the sand traps. From there, grew a love of the game and you will rarely be at Timberlin without seeing Kemmling practicing or playing. 



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