The Canadian Mid-Amateur and Senior Women’s Championship wrapped up last week in Bromont, Quebec and a pair of Saskatchewan players are reminiscing about the experience.
Rosetown’s Sue Skinner has participated in several national championships throughout her amateur career. She said going into the Saskatchewan Senior Championship her game needed some tweaking.
“Pivoting from playing my home course that has struggled with drought conditions to playing provincials on a prime course with great green conditions at The Legends, but I managed to adapt with extra practice time. Luckily for me the week before nationals I played at the Ladies Lobstick in Waskesiu, that provided me an opportunity to play a wonderful course with great green conditions. That was a perfect warmup and confidence booster before nationals,” Skinner told Golf Saskatchewan.
Skinner shot rounds of 83, 86, and 85 at the championship played at Golf Château Bromont, she placed in a tie for 21st at 35-over par. Admittedly Skinner wants a few shots back from the 54-hole tournament but she did achieve her goal of a top-30 finish.
“The course set-up, length, and wet courses conditions the first couple days made for some tough conditions,” she said. “My first two rounds were pretty steady, not to say that I wouldn’t have liked to get some of those shots back, but I was pleased with my scores overall after day two. My final day I did struggle on the front nine with a couple blow up holes and penalty troubles but managed to finish strong, so I was delighted to turn the round around.”
Skinner added the overall experience was positive including the safety of the players as COVID-19 measures continue to be in place.
“In a word, it was amazing,” she said of the week. “The course was in a beautiful tourist area with ski hills, hiking and bike trails, a beautiful golf course on the foot of a mountain. The vistas were absolutely breathtaking. It’s always enjoyable to meet golfers from all over the country.”
You can hear more from Skinner below who chatted with Golf Saskatchewan’s Clark Stork after returning to Saskatchewan.
Regina golfer Shannon Scott echoed many of Skinner’s sentiments.
New to the provincial competition circuit Scott was ecstatic to make the trek to the Montreal area. She said despite keeping COVID-19 guidelines intact the event went off without a hitch.
“Even with COVID people were friendly and outgoing,” Scott said. “I think because everyone has been couped up for so long everyone wanted to talk and socialize. Even though there were no events to socialize everyone was very friendly, the service was awesome there.”
Making her national appearance debut, Scott admitted the course conditions were difficult, but she played hard and made the most of the opportunity.
“I felt sorry for them because they had three days of rain before we got there so the course was wet, we had very little roll on our drives. That made a couple of the long par fours hard to get on in two. It seemed to dry up and the people that used carts were able to drive on the course, so everything was timely and worked out well for everyone I thought,” Scott added.
The Royal Regina Golf Club member ended up in 54th place at 57-over. Scott said she’s pleased with the result and has a new-found admiration for the game and hopes to work on her skills and return to nationals. An 11-handicap, she wanted to provide some comfort to other players on the fence of chasing opportunities like a Canadian Championship appearance.
“When I went to nationals it wasn’t just the low handicappers, there was others like me, around that 12. I was kind of in the middle of the pack. Just a few strokes difference I’d be up 20 places. If the opportunity is there, it doesn’t matter where your handicap is. It’s hanging out with a bunch of girls doing what you love,” she concluded.
You can hear more from Scott below, she also chatted with Golf Saskatchewan’s Clark Stork after returning to Saskatchewan.