Already a young lady of continental dimensions – a U.S citizen who was born in Africa and lives in Asia – Maya Palanza Gaudin added to her eclectic resume when she won the Girls’ 12-13 division in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta Golf Club this week.
Part of a celebratory weekend of golf in advance of the annual Masters, the Drive, Chip & Putt and Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which concluded April 1, are dotted with international flavor. But no one’s story resonates quite like Gaudin’s.
And East Falmouth, Mass., is quite prominent on her dossier.
She is the 13-year-old adopted daughter of Stephen Gaudin and his wife, Cassandra (Palanza), Massachusetts natives who have lived for years overseas as government employees. Gaudin, born and raised in Boston’s North End, is a retired FBI agent. Cassandra Palanza, who was born in Mansfield but spent much of her life in East Falmouth, works for the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, which has been home for the family for more than 10 years.