Cook, Gibbons and Cox claim PNGA titles this week
DuPont, Wash. – After three days of stroke-play championship golf, Rosie Cook of Redmond, Ore. hung on to win the 37th PNGA Senior Women’s Amateur; Penny Gibbons of Vancouver, Wash. pulled away to win the 12th Super Senior Women’s Amateur; and Kendall Cox of Fife, Wash. won the 22nd Women’s Mid-Amateur in a playoff.
The three championships were held concurrently this week at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., and featured many of the top senior, super senior and women’s mid-amateur golfers from around the Pacific Northwest.
Championship links:
Senior & Super Senior:
Women’s Mid-Amateur:
In the Senior Women’s Amateur, Cook shot rounds of 75-76-76 to win by a single shot over second-place finisher Kim Shek of Bellevue, Wash. Cook had stood on the 18th tee in today’s final round with a two-shot lead over Shek, the same margin at which she had started the round, and this lead was enough cushion to give her the title despite a bogey on the final hole.
This is the second title in this championship for Cook, who also won it in 2021. This victory should provide some momentum for Cook, who had earlier qualified for next week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, to be held at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle.
In the Super Senior, Gibbons began the final round with a four-shot lead over defending champion Karen Madison of Spokane Valley, Wash., and built an insurmountable lead after today’s front nine, shooting a 1-over 37 despite a double-bogey on the par-5 seventh. She coasted to a 79 on the day, which followed consecutive 75s over her first two rounds, and finished 12 shots clear of second-place finisher Kristine Adams of Bonney Lake, Wash.
Cox won the Women’s Mid-Amateur with a par on the first playoff hole. She shot rounds of 71-73-69, with birdies on two of her last four holes in today’s final round to catch Sarah Lawrence of Snohomish, Wash., who had started the day with a one-shot lead over Cox. Lawrence birdied the par-5 16th to again take a one-shot lead, but Cox responded with a birdie on the par-4 17th to tie. When the two players each made par on the 18th, they went to the playoff.
This is the second PNGA title for Cox, who previously won the 2013 PNGA Junior Girls’ Amateur. She played four years on the University of Idaho women’s golf team, and briefly served as that program’s assistant coach after graduating. Her husband, Travis Cox, is a PGA assistant professional at Fairwood Golf and Country Club in Renton, Wash.
Last year, Lawrence was named the WA Golf Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year.
The PNGA Senior, Super Senior and Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships are three of 11 major, regional amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
Entries for Senior and Super Senior championships are open to female amateur golfers who are members of a PNGA Member Association with an up-to-date USGA Handicap Index or Golf Canada Handicap Factor not exceeding 12.4. Players in the Senior Championship must be 50 or older, while players in the Super Senior Championship must be 65 or older.
Entries for the Women’s Mid-Amateur are open to female are open to female amateur golfers who are 25 or older and are members of a PNGA Member Association with an up-to-date USGA Handicap Index or Golf Canada Handicap Factor not exceeding 12.4.
