Money Hill Best Ball

 Money Hill Golf Course hosted it's Best Ball Tournament in Abita Springs, LA on September 29th.  Three of our SWGA ladies made the trip down south to participate this year:  Martha Lawhorne, Donna Cobb, and Kathleen McCoy, all BWGA ladies.  Martha and Donna were partners while Kathleen teamed up with a Lafayette member DiAnn Montgomery.

Although neither team won a prize, everyone had a great time on the really nice course which is still getting over lots of damage from Hurricane Gustav a few years ago.  There are hundreds of young oaks where mature oaks had been.  I can't imagine what it would have been like with the big ol' trees! 

Fabulous weather, great course, good food, good friends.....golfing Louisiana style!

2010 Team Matches

Let the games begin!!!  This year's Team Matches (The Barbara Fay White Cup) will be held at Shreveport Country Club on October 19 and 21.  We have dropped the A, B, C and D divisions and everyone will be paired with a team mate according to like handicaps.  On October 19 the format is Best Ball, where both team mates play their own ball and who ever scores the lowest on the hole uses that score for the team.  The second day is a scramble.  Both days are match play, so you play to win the HOLE, rather than the GAME.  That means you can have a really bad hole and still win the match.  It's great fun.

The West Team (Green shirts/khaki bottoms) are ladies from Eastridge, Broadmoor, and Southern Trace.  The East Team (Light Blue shirts/black bottoms) are Fox Run, Stonebridge, and Palmetto.  Unlike several years ago, if you want to play in team matches, you get to play in team matches....even if it's just one of the days.  Everyone gets a chance to play.

You need to sign up with your Club Rep and pay your fees by October 12.  The golf is $25 each day and the awards luncheon is $15.  It will be a 9:00am shotgun start both days.  I played the course yesterday and it was in very good condition.  The greens had been aerated a few weeks back, so that shouldn't be a problem.  The fairways are still green in spite of the draught.  The sand traps are in good condition and I got to sample a few myself. 

Please sign up as soon as possible so we'll know how to plan.  If you've never played, give it a try.  I think you'll like it.  It's super competition and great camaraderie.

Squire Creek Invitational

The Annual Squire Creek Invitational was held on September 21-23 this year.  Approximately fourteen of our SWGA ladies participated in the noteworthy event.

Of those fourteen, twelve ladies actually placed in the event.  That's a pretty darn good percentage!  Here are the entire results:

FLIGHT ONE

First Gross - Corre Stegall – Marge Richters
Second Gross - Lisa Russell – Lillian Granger
First Net - Teri McGuire – Kim Darnell
Second Net - Sandra Smith – Sandy Renner

FLIGHT TWO

First Gross - Debbie Haddad – Ilene Jenkins
Second Gross - Cathy Campbell – Terry Theirot
First Net - Carolyn Elliot – Brenda Pettis
Second Net - Anne Ridley – Moise Allen

FLIGHT THREE
First Gross - Linda Scott – Alice Hunt
Second Gross - Elaine Deming – Karen Koen
First Net - Marge Snyder – Jill Litton
Second Net - Melissa Jerry – Brenda Wales

FLIGHT FOUR
First Gross - Bess Hensel – Carol Graham
Second Gross - Dot Henson – Susan Harkins
First Net - Donna Phillips – Jimmie Zey
Second Net - Sharla Kaiser – Jean Hebert

FLIGHT FIVE
First Gross - Gayle Gansfuss – Charlotte Calhoun
Second Gross - Ada Bryant – Nancy Abrusley
First Net - Freddie Satterfiel – Cindy Weems
Second Net - Mary Morton – Dana Agnew

See the right column for a few slideshow pictures.  Click on any picture to get a larger view.

2010 SWGA Championship

The SWGA Championship is now history, and now Joanna Ward of Palmetto Country Club is part of that history, winning the tournament for the second year in a row.  Her rounds of 80 and 84 were a whopping eleven strokes better than the nearest competitor.  In addition, she was the first day Medalist,while Hui Bordelon was the Handicap Medalist with her net 66.

The Overall Net Champion this year was Marge Snyder, currently a member of BWGA, with her net scores of 67/68.  Marge is hoping to be back to her home course at Northwood by next year, but obviously, she can play good golf wherever she plays.

Stonebridge was in great shape and did an excellent job of hosting the 32 ladies that entered this year's Championship.  The weather was unusually hot for this time of year, but the ladies toughed it out like trojans.

Unfortunately there was some confusion and lots of discussion regarding  the "One Ball Rule".  I don't know or understand  how the question started, but I want to clarify with this:

USGA Rule 15-1:   When changing balls, the player is permitted to substitute a ball of another brand or type unless the Committee has adopted the One Ball Condition of Competition (see Appendix I; Part C; Section 1c). This optional condition (usually referred to as ‘The One Ball Rule’) is generally adopted only in events that are limited to professional golfers or highly-skilled amateur golfers. Generally, this condition of competition is not adopted in club-level competitions.

According to the SWGA old-timers, SWGA has never used "The One Ball Rule" and I don't suspect that we ever will, so this is no longer an issue.
 
Congratulations to all the winners and a giant thank you to everyone that participated in the event.  The list of winners is in the right column as well as two sets of slideshow presentations.  Click on any picture to go to larger pictures.

Fun-tini Tournament

Jeanie Ward and Gayle Gansfuss were the only local girls to make the trip down to Alexandria to play in the Fun-Fini Tournament on September 11, but they say it was well worth the trip. 

This 6/6/6 (best ball/scramble/alternate shot) format was loads of fun and the pool party that followed the golf was no slouch either.  They highly recommend the tournament so be on the lookout for it next year.

Women's Southern Senior Amateur Championship

The WSGA consists of players from fifteen southern states from Texas to the District of Columbia, and from Florida to Oklahoma.  The annual tournament moves to a different site each year.  This year it will be as close to us as it can get without being IN Shreveport.  It's being hosted at the Texarkana Country Club, just over an hour north of Shreveport.

This is a 54-hole stroke play tournament with players being flighted after the first two days of play.  After playing in last year's tournament in Houston, I can tell you this is the closest thing you'll get to an LPGA tournament, complete with jacketed officials and spotters with little flags to help speed up play.

The WSGA has made it easy to enter this year by providing online entry forms and payment through paypal.  You can go to this site for more information and entry forms:  http://www.womens-southerngolfassociation.org/Senioramateur.htm.  Don't wait too long to sign up.  The field usually fills up fast and there is a waiting list.

If you'de like more information, please feel free to contact one of the following SWGA members who have attended:  Donna Cobb, Martha Lawhorne, Shirley Pettitt, Kathleen McCoy, or Billie Jean Reasor.

World Am Update

Well, the Myrtle Beach adventure is history and I'm back home talking about my experiences.  Seems like I always have some drama to talk about.  But before that, let me say that it was a great experience.  After starting in first place in my flight on the first day, I had serious doubts that it could get BETTER....and I was right. 

The second day was disaster at a course I disliked immensely, along with alot of other players.  The third day was better, but surely not great.  I think my brain had given up after the second day's scores, which is something that I have to overcome when I play long tournaments.  The last day ended up being a good one because I knew I was out of the running.....unless I scored a 54....so there was no pressure.  I just had fun.

I ended up in 21st place in my flight of 48, so I wasn't embarrassed.  I learned today that a 74 year old man won the tournament yesterday with a score of 74 gross/69 net.  There was also a man that got hit by a golf ball that was shanked by someone in his foursome.  He ended up with 12 stitches, but he came back and finished the tournament....with a headache!  Let me tell you, these players are DEDICATED.

Now for my disaster....On the last day of play, I had to drive to a North Carolina course, about 45 minutes north of our condo.  I get in the car and type the address into the GPS, and there is no match found.  Great.  So now I'm driving along in this foreign land, holding the Mapquest instructions and trying to read where to turn next.  I was a nervous wreck by the time I arrived.  The brochure that was provided to us with the addresses failed to show "North" in the address.

So I get to the course 45 minutes before tee time.  We have to use a bag drop area at all courses, so I stopped and left my bag which had my putter clipped to the side as I always do.  I took the rest of my stuff to the cart while waiting on my clubs to be put on the cart.  As you know, my routine includes taking lots of pictures, so now I'm looking for my camera to get some candid shots.  I found my camera CASE, but no camera. 

I go to the Pro Shop and had them call the course from the day before to see if they found my camera.  Yes they did, and they gave it to one of the 47 other ladies in my flight to give to me.  Great.  I'm relieved, so now I go down to get my putter so I can hit the putting green since I've now run out of time to trek down to the driving range. 

I get to the cart where my bag is attached.  There is NO PUTTER.  Panic.  I tracked down the dude that had taken my clubs and told him my putter was missing.  He told me that it had fallen off the bag so he just put it INSIDE my bag.  However, my putter wasn't IN my bag.  Oops! 

He must have put it in the wrong bag!  I spent the entire time going cart to cart digging in everyone's bag looking for my putter, even after they had made announcements asking people to look in their bags.  Ten minutes before tee time, I still had no putter so I went and borrowed one from the Pro Shop.  When I arrived back at my cart, someone came running with my putter and the crowd of ladies erupted in applause!  Success!  So I get to start my round with no driving range practice and not a clue about the roll of the greens.  What the heck!  Let's just enjoy. 

But what about my camera?  I was in a threesome that day, and the golf gods were with me, because one of the ladies in my threesome was the lady they gave my camera to.  What's the chances?  The other lady in that threesome was a lovely lady from Guademala.  She had no GPS or range finder, so I became her personal caddy.  She ended up winning low net for the day.  I was proud for her.

If any of you want to combine golf with a family vacation, Myrtle Beach is a great place to do it during the World Am.  There is all kinds of activities for the whole family and shopping like you've never seen before.  The tournament is held every year the week before Labor Day, so keep it in mind for next year.