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Anita Wicks of Roseburg, Ore. survived a two-hole playoff to successfully defend her title at the 31st Pacific Northwest Senior Women’s Amateur; while Holly Horwood of Vancouver, B.C. won the 6th Super Senior Women’s Amateur, shooting the low round of both championships in today’s final round to claim the title.
Both championships were contested over 36 holes of stroke play and were held concurrently at Overlake Golf and Country Club in Medina, Wash. They were conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).
For complete final scoring for the Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, click here, and for the Super Senior Women’s, click here.
Wicks led in both rounds of the Senior Women’s Amateur. She opened with a 2-over 75 in yesterday’s first round on the par-73 layout, holding a slim one-shot lead over four competitors on a crowded leaderboard heading into today’s play.
The 333-yard par-4 18th was the wild and pivotal hole of the championship. Wicks, Leslie Folsom, Ginny Burkey and Alison Murdoch were paired in the same group, with Sandra Turbide playing in the group behind them. Standing on the 18th tee, Folsom held a one-shot lead over Wicks, but she triple-bogeyed the hole, while Wicks double-bogeyed it, which sent to the two competitors to a playoff. Burkey bogeyed the hole to finish one shot out of the playoff, while Murdoch and Turbide both double-bogeyed the hole to finish two shots out of the playoff.
“Yesterday, everything kind of went my way,” Wicks said. “The putts were falling, and I was chipping well. Today, it seemed like I was burning the edges all day, with no putts going in. I was just trying to play my game and not over-think everything. I was really shocked to be in the playoff.”
In the playoff with Leslie Folsom of Tukwila, Wash., Wicks was able to save par on the first extra hole to extend the playoff. “On the second hole, I played it just like I played it earlier in the day, a drive and a wedge, and two-putted for par.” When Folsom couldn’t get up-and-down to save par, the title belonged to Wicks.
“I didn’t think too much about trying to defend my title,” Wicks said. “We all started at square one this week, and I just wanted to go out and try hard.”
In 2016, Wicks was named the PNGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year.
In the Super Senior Amateur, Horwood had started today’s final round tied for the lead at 7-over with Sue Ursino of Sammamish, Wash. But Horwood proceeded to shoot the round of the championship, a 1-under 72 on the par-73 layout, with five birdies against four bogeys. It was the only round under par of either championship. She won by an astonishing nine shots over second-place finisher Phyllis Laschuk, also of Vancouver. Last year, Laschuk finished second in the Senior Women’s Amateur.
Of her great second round, Horwood said things went her way. “No doubt,” she said. “If I happened to hit a shot in the trees I had a clear shot out, if I was headed for a bunker the ball stopped short. It was that kind of day. I made some nice putts, and I kept my head from a mental standpoint, was able to stay on an even keel.”
Next year Horwood will attempt to defend her title when the championship will be held at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, B.C., Horwood’s home club. “I hope to see everyone there, it’s going to wonderful.”
Last month Horwood competed in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur held at Portland’s Waverley Country Club. She won the PNGA Senior Women’s Amateur in 2012, before competing in the Super Senior level.
The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its allied associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a century, the Association has been a pioneer in developing competitions and services and its mission has grown and evolved. Today, the PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and services to its members and member clubs throughout the Northwest.
