Cold Spring Harbor’s Jenny Rosenberg wins Maccabiah Games golf title

Cold Spring Harbor’s Jenny Rosenberg has won plenty of golf tournaments, but her latest victory was, well, historic.

Playing in the ancient port city of Caesarea, Israel, Rosenberg won gold at the Maccabiah Games last week. The recent high school graduate shot a 1-over 73 on Day 1 at Caesarea Golf Club and 70s on Days 2 and 3 to beat Israel’s Dana Lerner by seven strokes for the junior championship.

“It was amazing, seeing athletes from all over the world coming together from 80 different countries, playing sports and doing what they love,” said Rosenberg, who will attend Tulane University in the fall.

“The competition was good,” she added. “(Lerner) is a really good player. She shot a couple under on the first day, so I was six back going into the second day. I played really well on the second day and third day and that set me up to finish with a seven-shot lead.”

The win comes on the heels of Rosenberg’s record-breaking Cold Spring Harbor High School season in which she won her second consecutive Nassau County title and broke her own scoring record in the process, while also posting the lowest score for a Long Island player in a state tournament.

Rosenberg said the opportunity to be in Israel and meet athletes from around the world made the experience memorable.

“That was my first time being in Israel. I felt a connection I had never felt before,” she said. “And the Opening Ceremony was my favorite part of the entire thing. To see 30,000 people in a stadium celebrating the start of the games, it felt like the Olympics. It was an amazing experience.”