Burkey and Norman run away with PNGA Women’s Senior Team title; Ryan and Douthit repeat at Super Senior

Ginny Burkey and Leilani Norman, both of Eugene, Ore., combined for a final round of 5-under 67 in four-ball competition to win the 35th Pacific Northwest Women’s Senior Team Championship; while Mary Ryan of Renton, Wash. and Sun Douthit of Steilacoom, Wash. came from behind to successfully defend their title in the 2nd PNGA Women’s Super Senior Championship.

Both championships were held concurrently on the Cascade Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., and conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.

The two 54-hole championships were shortened to 36 holes, after yesterday’s second round, which was to be played in the Chapman format, was washed out due to heavy rain.

Click here for complete final scoring of the PNGA Women’s Senior Team, and here for the Women’s Super Senior Team. To stay connected on social media, follow @PNGALIVE on Twitter and use the hashtag #PNGASeniorTeam.

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For Burkey, this is a record seventh time she has won this title, and the third playing partner she has won with. Norman was named the 2015 PNGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year.

Burkey and Norman began the day one shot behind first round leaders Gretchen Klein and Yasue Alkins, but the duo poured it on in today’s final round, and their rounds of 70-67 put them five shots clear of Klein and Alkins and also of the team of Jackie Little and Kathryn McGarvey, who tied for second with Klein and Alkins.

Little and McGarvey won last year’s title. Earlier this year, Little was inducted into the PNGA Hall of Fame.

­“Today we were both in most of the holes,” said Norman, “so we each had a shot at birdie on the greens.” Despite the five-shot victory, Burkey believes there is plenty left to learn. “We want to play a couple other four-balls, we played in the Oregon Four-Ball together and we still have a little learning to do about each other’s games.”

In the Women’s Super Senior Team, Ryan and Douthit began today’s final round one shot behind first-round leaders Carol Dick and Mary O’Donnell. The two teams were paired together in the final round, and O’Donnell and Dick held their slim lead after the first nine, but Ryan and Douthit tied it with a birdie on the par-4 10th, then took the lead on the 12th and held on for the one-stroke victory.

After defending their title, Ryan and Douthit are the only duo to have won the Women’s Super Senior Championship. “We intend to play until we drop dead, and we will be here winning,” said Ryan. “We’re going to win next year.” The shot of the day came on their final hole of the day, number nine, when Douthit hit a shot pin high from 175-yards out. “I couldn’t see, but I just aimed at the trees and I hit it,” said Douthit, leading to a birdie on the hole and one-shot victory.