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Sep 16, 2015

Smego and Burkey Successfully Defend Title at Pacific Northwest Women’s Senior Team Championship

The duo of Lisa Smego of Olympia, Wash. and Ginny Burkey of Eugene, Ore. successfully defended their title by winning the 33rd Pacific Northwest Women’s Senior Team Championship. Smego and Burkey had paired together last year in winning the championship. They won by 16 strokes last year and 22 strokes this year.

Lisa Smego (L) and Ginny Burkey
Lisa Smego (L) and Ginny Burkey, winners of the 33rd Pacific Northwest Women’s Senior Team Championship.

The championship was held at Sunriver (Ore.) Resort, and was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

Burkey has now won this event six times. She won four in a row with Loree McKay (2008-11), and then 2014 and 2015 with Smego. Her sixth victory surpassed Pat Harrop-Schumacher of Sequim, Wash., who has five titles from 1991-2001. Harrop-Schumacher still plays in the event every year, finishing tied for 16th this year with partner Sharon Johnston of University Place, Wash.

Smego has won three times now. Along with her back-to-back wins with Burkey in 2014 and 2015, she also won in 2012 with Karen Brannon.

“We’ve known each other since college,” said Smego of Burkey. “So we enjoy playing with each other. This year, when we got here, our goal was to improve on what we did last year, and I think we did that. It was a fun week. We got Ginny her record-breaking sixth win. I still enjoy team events. I’m pretty much retired from amateur golf because of my back surgery, but I still try to play in the team events.” Smego had been named the 2013 PNGA Senior Women’s Co-Player of the Year.

“We play well together,” Burkey said. “And it’s great to see a lot of the other women in these team events.”

The championship consisted of 54 holes, with the first and third rounds being played in a Four-Ball stroke play format, and the second round was played in the Chapman format. Round one was held on the resort’s Woodlands Course, while the second and third rounds were played on the resort’s Meadows Course. Entrants into this championship must be 50 years of age or older by the start of the championship.

For more information on the PNGA Women’s Senior Team, including complete final results, click here.