Ladies Northern tees off Saturday; launches 2022 Order of Merit season

The Ladies Northern tees off Saturday in Prince Albert at Cooke Municipal Golf Course.

The 2022 Ladies Northern in Prince Albert at Cooke Municipal Golf Course takes place this weekend, marking the start of the Women’s Order of Merit (OMT) Tour.

The Northern series of events held at Cooke are favourites among golfers from all corners of Saskatchewan and beyond, the Ladies event is no different. Chair Andrea Ring said the excitement is evident for the first event since COVID-19 guidelines have been removed.

“We’re very excited, especially after the last couple years, they’ve been tumultuous with COVID and whatnot,” Ring said. “We are so fortunate that golf was able to continue, it’s just better now that we can get together more, plus we’ve kept our field about the same all through out.”

Over 60 players are in the field this year with tee times beginning at 9:36 a.m. on Saturday. Defending champion Brooklin Fry is not in the event so there will be a new champion. Ring said despite not having the young champion in the field, there are still plenty of recognizable names.

“We’ve got some good, good players, some regular players, and some people that just love to play the game. We’re very excited, we’ve got some real low handicappers, [Kathy Ziglo, Lorie Boyle, Lauren Fox] all the veterans, and we’ve got some new girls in that just want to play tournament golf and have some fun,” she said.

Coming off a very successful and sold-out Team Northern event, Cooke Municipal is in premier condition for tournaments of all levels. The 2022 Saskatchewan Amateur Championships host club will also wow the ladies competing this weekend according to Ring.

“I always get such good reviews of our course, they always say it’s in such great shape, and it is. They love the format; they love the fact they can just play golf. We see the same ladies every year and they really do enjoy our facility and our tournament,” Ring concluded.

Men’s Order of Merit

The Men’s OMT Tour will continue this weekend as well in Nipawin with the 2022 Scotia Wealth Open.

The professional and amateur combined event is loaded with talent including reigning champion Phil Jonas.

Both events will conclude on Sunday.