Southampton's Ella Coady, Elie Poremba Finish Seasons at New York State Girls Golf Championships

Consider the torch passed.

Southampton senior Ella Coady and seventh-grader Elie Poremba both wrapped up their seasons at the New York State Girls Golf Championships that were held June 3-5 at The Edison Club in Rexford, New York, which is just outside of Albany. While it’s the end of a largely successful five-year high school career for Coady, it’s just the start of what’s expected to be a successful six-year varsity run for Poremba.

Poremba took the torch and ran with it at the Suffolk County Girls Golf Championships, in which she bested the entire field, bringing the county individual title back to Southampton, following in the footsteps of both Coady and Caraline Oakley prior to her. Coady, a three-time state qualifier, winning her county title her sophomore year, and then runner up last year, tied with three other girls in the state for 33rd place, matching her placement from a year ago, finishing with a two-day total of 173, with an 83 on day one of the tournament on June 4 and then a 90 the following day. Poremba finished right behind that foursome by one shot (174) in 37th place.

Coady said this season has certainly been one where she’s shown Poremba the ropes, very much like when she was an eighth-grader under the tutelage of Oakley.

“Every step of it has been about learning, like how I learned from Caraline, and how I even learned from the other girls who were on the team that year,” she said. “I learned to be a better team captain, and since I was one of the better players on our team, I had to be a better role model. When our girls weren’t feeling it, I needed to step up on the golf course, and when you start to lead by example the other girls will follow suit.

“Maybe their results aren’t there, but at least they’re focused on their game more. So it’s just about learning. I had to learn how to fill in those shoes when Caraline left, and I need to learn how to support Elie when I’ll be gone. I may not be there, but I can hop in a group chat and have a few words of encouragement, like before counties or states.”

Southampton head coach Edgar “Hikey” Franklin said that the first day of the competition was pretty tough with strong winds. The players didn’t get much time to practice the day before play began with it being a little chilly and rainy. Overall, he said, considering the conditions, it wasn’t a bad weekend.

“I think we could have finished better than what we did. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the bounces, or the rolls, that we needed,” he said. “Had things went different, left or right, there could have been different outcomes. Sunday, the first day, it was cold, it was windy, and because of that, the course was playing tough. Both Ella and Elie shot in the 80s, and to me those were respectable scores under the conditions. They finished outside of the top 20 so they missed a chance at All-State, but they were right there.”

Poremba is no stranger to having played in big tournaments in amateur play, but being at the state tournament for high school golf was at another level, she said. She was not expecting things to be on such a grand level, in terms of how many girls were actually playing, and it led to some nerves.

“I really didn’t understand the scale of it,” she said. “I didn’t know where I would end up. I was just trying to do my best. [Ella] was a big help. She explained how everything works, the way the scoring and the tees are. I didn’t really know anything.”

In comparing her third time to states to her past two trips, Coady felt like all of the girls were more connected and friendly with each other this time around. It was also nice, she said, that the qualifiers from Suffolk shared a bus with those from Nassau and more connections were made that way.

“My first year [at states], everyone kept to themselves,” she said. “This year, everyone was a lot more friendly. We all, or a lot of us, went to hibachi on the first night, and we were even paling around with the Nassau girls.”

Franklin agreed that there was very much a passing of the torch between Coady and Poremba, and with Poremba already winning the county title, he considers it a done deal already.

“With Ella graduating, it’ll be on Elie to carry the load a little bit, and she has some big shoes to fill. But to me, she’s already filled them by winning counties,” he said. “Elie has already showed her composure at times. Like I’ve said, she’s got ice in her veins. She’s got a calm, laid back demeanor and can handle pressure very well.”

Poremba hasn’t given much thought about being the next leader of the team, she said, but she’ll do what’s needed.

As for Coady, she’s preparing to attend Penn State, where she’s enrolling in the school’s esteemed golf management program. She had planned to try to walk on to the women’s golf team, but the golf management program conflicts quite a bit with a team’s schedule, she’s learned, so she may just play on the club team, which is much more relaxed. Either way, she’ll be firmly entrenched in the sport that she’s given so much to and what has given so much back.

“I think she meant a lot to the program,” Franklin said of Coady. “Along with Caraline Oakley and Mia Wilutis, she put Southampton on the map and has been a part of it for the four or five years since it all started. She came out, made a name for herself, won a county title as a sophomore and it’s been fun coaching her. Everywhere we went, you hear the other players, ‘There’s Ella Coady.’ Everyone was looking for her, she had a bullseye on her, and she handled all the pressure and performed at a high level and played very well. She had a great high school career.

“Had she won states or finished in the top 20, it would have been an ideal way to cap off her career. But more than that, she’s helped promote girls golf and in a way that’s more satisfying than any actual victory. What she’s done for the game of golf for Long Island and Southampton schools, there’s a lot to be proud of.”