Defending Champs Burkey, Smego Lead Women’s Senior Team After Round One
Ginny Burkey of Eugene, Ore. and Lisa Smego of Olympia, Wash. got off to another great start at the Pacific Northest Women’s Senior Team Championship. The Championship, in it’s 33rd year, is being hosted by Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. Today’s first round was played in the four-ball format at the resort’s Woodlands Course. Rounds two and three will be at the resort’s Meadows Course, with round two being played in the Chapman format, and round three again in the four-ball format.
This is the second time Burkey and Smego had joined forces as a team, but both had experienced winning this event with other partners in the past. In 2014, the duo won by a hefty margin of 16 strokes. Smego won in 2012 with Karen Brannon as her teammate while Burkey won four consecutive times from 2008-2011 with Loree McKay as her teammate.
Today, Burkey and Smego combined for a total of five-under-par 67 and take a three-shot lead into the Chapman round tomorrow. Burkey made birdies on holes 6 and 7 to make the turn at tw0-under-par. A bogey-free back nine with three more birdies allowed the team to put themselves in the driver’s seat after day one.
Trailing Burkey and Smego are Jackie Little of Port Alberni, B.C. and Melanie Grant of Kelowna, B.C. Playing in the same group as Burkey and Smego, Grant and Little made three birdies themselves on the inward nine to keep them within their sights, and in second place alone at two-under-par 70.
Robin Cole of Ellensburg, Wash. and Kathryn McGarvey of North Vancouver, B.C. are in a four-way tie for third place. Joining them are the teams of Barbara Gahr of Bend, Ore. with Nettie Morrison of Bend, Ore.; Carol Dick of Lakewood, Wash., with Mary O’Donnell of Bellevue, Wash.; and Beth Campbell of Bellevue, Wash., with Claudia Robbs of Mercer Island, Wash. All four teams posted four-ball scores of four-over-par 76.
For more information on the Women’s Senior Team, including pairings, news, and more, click here.
The Pacific Northwest Women’s Senior Team Championship is being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).