WSGA Senior Championship

The Southern Women's Golf Association Senior Championship was hosted by the Bentwater Yacht and Golf Club in Montgomery, Texas, September 21-24. The tournament included 112 ladies (50 years and older) from fifteen southern states.

Six of our local ladies participated in this outstanding golfing experience....about as close to a professional event as most of us will ever play in. Making the trip were SWGA members Donna Cobb, Mary Jo Gray, Martha Lawhorne, Kathleen McCoy, Shirley Pettitt and former SWGA member Debbie Magee.
The Monday practice round started out pretty well with no rain, but things changed quickly. On the first day of the 54-hole event, we were greeted with a rain delay. After waiting and waiting, we finally were able to play 9-11 holes before darkness fell on us.

The next morning there was still no sunshine, but the fine mist and occasional drizzle seemed wonderful after the first day of play. We started at 8am to finish our first round of the tournament. Shortly thereafter, we started the second round at 12:30pm and were able to finish without getting drenched. After the second round, we were flighted according to our two-day totals. The final round started like the first round....wet, and again cart path only. But through it all, spirits weren't dampered and we had a great time.

When the scores were all computed, two of our six ladies won tropies: Mary Jo Gray, Fourth Place, Fourth Flight; and Kathleen McCoy, Fourth Place, Fifth Flight.

Next year, the Senior Championship will be hosted by the Texarkana Country Club, right at our back doors, on October 24-28. You should consider playing in this great championship while it is so close to us.

Green Team Retains Crown

It was a close match today in the Best Ball competition between the Blue East Team and the Green West Team. The Green Team needed only 6 points to retain the championship, but the Blue Team nearly succeeded in taking it away. Green scored 6 1/2 points today while Blue won 7 1/2. A great competition!!

Even the weather cooperated with us. Only the groups that had to play 16-18 holes of golf actually got a bit wet, but their spirits were not dampened one bit. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event again this year. We're already looking forward to next year.

Thanks to Jill Litton for working so hard to make this a great tournament. Thanks to Shirley Pettitt for supplying the "green hankies" used in the victory celebration. And thanks too to Donna Cobb who led the pep rally for the Blue Team this morning. What can I say? GO GREEN!!! (Check out the Day 2 slideshow in the right column.)

Barbara Fay White Cup Team Matches

....and the rain came and went.....several times, but Day 1 of the 2009 Barbara Fay White Cup is now in the bag. The skies looked ominous and we got wet a few times, but that didn't damper the spirits of the 56 ladies that showed up in spite of the bad forecast. That's dedication and it is appreciated, especially by Jill Litton, Team Matches Chairman.

After the first day of Modified Alternate Shot, the Green Team (defending champions) had the lead with 9 points out of 14. Two of the matches went all the way to 18, ending in All Square. How exciting!

Thursday is Best Ball day. Fifteen teams will vie for the championship. The Green Team must win 6 matches to retain its title. The Blue Team must win 10 to gain the title. Yep, it's going to be an exciting day!

Team Matches

Let the games begin!!! It may not be the Olympics, but it's a great competition between the East and West ladies' association golfers. If you aren't familier with the concept, the Red River separates the clubs into the two groups. Last year was the first year of this format and it was named the Barbara Fay White Cup in honor of Ms. White who was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame last year.

This year's two-day event will be held on Sept. 15 & 17 at Olde Oaks Golf Club, a totally "neutral" course where there is no ladies' association. The first day pits fourteen 2-lady East teams against the West teams in the Modifield Alternate Shot match play format. We tee off at 9am with a shotgun start, hopefully with no rain to hamper the competition.

Day two consists of fifteen 2-lady teams on each side playing Best Ball, match play format. There will be a total of 29 points and the team with the most points becomes this year's champions. These West team is the defending champions.

After the competition on Thursday, there will be an awards luncheon at Olde Oaks. If anyone would like to attend the luncheon, even if you aren't playing, contact Jill Litton. The cost of the luncheon is $13.

Good luck to all the competitors and you might say a little prayer that the rain holds off till late afternoon.

LWGA State MidAm Championship

The Eleventh Annual Louisiana Women's Golf Association Mid Amateur Championship is being played this year on November 6-8, at the beautiful Beau Chene Country Club at Mandeville, LA.

Friday, Nov. 6th is the practice round, followed by two days of stroke play on Nov. 7 & 8. If you've never played it, you shouldn't feel intimidated by it....it's handicapped, just like any other big tournament, so you are playing against ladies with similar abilities.

The $145 entry fee covers two days of golf, cart, range balls, cocktail party/dinner on Saturday night, and lunch on both days. The practice round is an additional $36. The Tournament Chairman has gotten very good hotel rates at LaQuinta, Comfort Inn, and Super 8 Hotels.

The field is limited to 96 entries and must be received by October 29th.

For full details regarding the tournament and as well as the entry form, go to these links and print the information. Come join the fun just north of New Orleans.

Page 1: (Click for General Info)
Page 2 (Click for Entry form/program)
Page 3 (Click for Entry details)
Page 4 (Click for Accommodations)

SWGA Championship

First, a note from Jimmie Zey, Championship Chairman:

"I would like to thank everyone who participated in the SWGA Championship tournament. The first day was such wonderful weather, but the second day certainly challenged all of us. This will be a tournament that we can recall as we relate our interesting adventures to our family and friends as we reach our golden years. I appreciate everyone hanging in there through rain, thunder/lightening and sunshine and rain...rain...rain, and I look forward to next year...when I am only a player. Thanks again to all!!! Jimmie"

Now I will start by saying to Jimmie that the tournament was great in spite of all the uncertainty related to the weather. The first day was beautiful and we had high expectations for the second; however, Mother Nature had other plans. A special thanks to the Pro Shop personnel who did everything in their power to assist us in making decisions and changes.

The leader after the first day was JoAnna Ward, winning the Medalist award and trophy with her 81 score. Net Medalist was Robin Nattin with a net score of 69. Only three strokes separated JoAnna from the second place gross score posted by last year's champion, Lillian Granger.

Then came the second day which started with over an hour rain delay. We finally got to play about 3-4 holes when thunder and lightening caused another delay. This happened several times before we were able to finish....with a beautiful sunshiny ending. Unfortunately, a number of ladies just had enough after the second or third delay and withdrew from the tournament. They missed an exciting ending with JoAnna Ward and Lillian Granger facing off on a sudden playoff, and JoAnna emerging as the winner.

You can see the full list of winners in the right column of this blog. In addition, there are three separate slideshows of (1)all the players, (2) all the winners, and (3) candid shots taken during the tournament. My thanks to Allison Rains who took lots of pictures on the first day of the tournament.

Congratulations to all of the winners and to Jimmie Zey for hosting a great tournament. And let's not forget the "special" award won by Jeannie Ward.....Lucky 7!!!