Glendale Golfs – Winnipeg

The Burin Peninsula will be well represented at two national golf championships for female golfers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the days ahead.
Marystown native Lacy Cribb, a former junior player from the Grande Meadows Golf Club in Frenchman’s Cove now playing out of Glendenning in St. John’s, will lead the Newfoundland and Labrador Golf Association’s (NLGA) Amateur Team. That squad will play at the Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which gets underway today at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club in the Manitoban capital, wrapping up this Friday.
Joining her on the team is Erin Lundrigan of Burin, who is a current junior golfer at Grande Meadows. The two young women placed first and second respectively at the NLGA’s Ladies Amateur Championship Team Trials at Bally Haly two weeks ago.
Lundrigan’s finish made her the first junior member to ever qualify for the provincial women’s amateur team.
Kanani Penashue, formerly of the Amaruk Golf Club in Goose Bay, Labrador also playing out of Glendenning, and Clair Belanger of Clovelly Golf Club, round out the final two members of the team.
JUNIOR CHAMP
It won’t be the only golf Lundrigan plays while in Winnipeg.
Earlier this month, she captured her second consecutive NLGA Junior Girls Championship in Grand Falls-Windsor, beating her nearest competitor fellow Grande Meadows club member Catherine Kenway of Winterland by 26 strokes.
Both golfers earned the right to represent the province – along with Taylor Marsh of Gander and Danielle O’Conner of Corner Brook’s Blomidon Golf Club – at the Royale Canadian Junior Girls Championship, which takes place at Winnipeg’s St. Charles Country Club Aug. 5-8.
Lundrigan, who is 17 years old, and will enter Level 3 at Marystown Central High School this fall, was pleased by her play at the junior championship.
“I was pretty consistent. I felt like I played pretty well … I had a confident lead going into the last round.”
Lundrigan indicated she has been playing the game for the past five or six years, getting her start in the junior program at Grande Meadows. She played her way – to her own surprise – on to the provincial junior team for the first time back in 2005, and made the team again the following year. Last year, she decided to step up her game, practicing more.
“The first year I made the team I went into St. John’s, and I wasn’t expecting to make it at all.
“I was young and I didn’t realize that I could play well enough to make the team. Then the next year I made the team again and I started to realize this is something I really enjoy and really want to succeed at.”
Lundrigan acknowledged becoming the first female junior player to make the amateur team was an honour.
“Golf history, as they say … so, I’m pretty happy with that.”
DEDICATED
Lundrigan credited NLGA provincial junior coach Jim Stick with helping her improve her game.
“He’s a big part of where I am now … he does a lot.”
Stick, who has worked with her for the past three years, offered glowing praise of the young golfer and her game.
“She’s a very, very talented girl, but not only that she’s very dedicated. She has goals put in her head that she wants to accomplish, and then she’s striving to reach them and working very hard at it.”
Lundrigan revealed one of those goals is making the provincial women’s team, which will compete at next year’s Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island.
Stick indicated Lundrigan’s strength is her long game.
“She needs a bit of improvement on her short game, but over and above, she’s got a great head for the game. She plays very conservative and plays the game of golf the way it should be.”
He suggested her spot on the amateur team is well deserved.
“She’s that good a golfer that she’s going to be representing this province for an awful long time, I think.”
MAKE THE CUT
Cribb returned to the provincial golf scene this year after a two-year stint in the United States, at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, which she attended on an athletic scholarship.
Prior to that, she came up through the ranks, competing on the national stage, at both the junior and amateur levels, on a number of occasions.
Cribb was second overall to Jan Peters at the provincial Ladies Championship, the second time she has finished in the position.
The 24-year-old has been playing golf since her father, Ches, got her into the sport when Grande Meadows first opened in 1996. She knows what to expect from the other golfers and has set a goal to make the cut, which means the team needs to be in the top 70 after two days.
“It’s tough competition. You’re up against a lot of girls who train all year round. They live and breath golf all year round.
“So, it’s a little hard to contend, but we do. I think we’re able to show our best. I think people are usually surprised how well we do play up there, considering we’re the ones that get the lack of coaching.”
SUCCESS
Cribb and Lundrigan are among a number of young female golfers to emerge from Grande Meadows.
Along with Kenway, two other young women from the club, Deanna Moulton and Heather Drake placed in the top 10 at the NLGA Junior Girls Championship. As well, Brittany Cluett of Garnish is a past provincial junior champ.
Lundrigan indicated Grande Meadows has been very supportive and pointed to the junior program there.
“I just had fun in that program and just kind of kept working at it until I decided that I wanted to play competitively.”
Cribb agreed.
“I’d have to say Grande Meadows has a great junior program there … it’s just a well constructed program and they’ve had some good helpers there.
“The course itself helps you a lot because it’s very narrow. You have to learn how to hit a straight ball.”
Stick indicated the junior program in Newfoundland and Labrador is doing well overall.
“On a whole in the province, the numbers are a bit down, but the golfers are getting better.

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Nobody, however, was beaming brighter than former four-time champion Todd Fanning, who rediscovered an old friend — amateur golf.

“I was curious as to how I would play, not really what I would shoot, because even when I’ve been hitting the ball poorly, I’ve been scoring OK,” said Fanning, who shot even-par 72 in his first major competition since regaining his amateur status in January. “I’m ready to go. This is good. I hit the ball very solid today. I impressed myself.”

Fanning, 40, played as a touring professional for 10 years. He’s a four-time Manitoba golfer of the year and a member of the province’s golf hall of fame.

But it rained and blew on him like everyone else at Links on Monday, creating an unusual challenge at the 6,590-yard David Grant-designed course near the shore of Lake Winnipeg.

“This course was designed for a west wind and it blew out of the southeast and it rained and it was cold so I’m quite happy with 72,” said Fanning, who stood in a tie for third, four shots back of Mancini’s smart 68.

The only player between them was the only other player under par, former two-time champ Garth Collings of Breezy Bend, who was grumpy after a 71 because he bogeyed the last two holes by going in the water.

Mancini, 24, has been a top-10 finisher at the last three amateurs and showed Monday he means business again.

None of the top-10 players after Monday action had a worse start but Mancini recovered with gusto after making a double-bogey six at the par-4 second, a driveable 347 yards with the wind.

“I was two-over after two but I realized this is a marathon,” Mancini said after blading a sand wedge out of the greenside bunker out of bounds. “I’m proud of myself for staying with it.”

He rallied with four birdies in a row between Nos. 5 and 8, and nearly birdied the ninth. In all, he had seven birdies to set the pace.

Tied with Fanning in third spot are Breezy’s Brad DePape, Glendale’s Michael Goldberg, who birdied the last hole, and Southwood’s Shawn Baker.

Defending champ Brad Kirton of Pine Ridge was in a large group at 73 that included Niakwa’s Scott Markham, Pine Ridge’s Scott Loewen, Derek East of St. Charles and Eric Johnson of Breezy Bend.

“If you’d told me I’d be 71 at the start of the day, I’d have thought that wasn’t good enough,” Collings said after his stumbling finish. “This golf course, somebody will kill it. Maybe not in this wind, but Tyler was 68. I had a 66 on the board, four-under after 12 …and I just hit a couple of bad shots coming home.”

Fanning had said prior to his first amateur in 16 years that he was worried about his play from the tee.

“I was nervous on the first tee and overall, I chipped out twice and had one penalty stroke today, so the tee shots cost me a little bit but for the most part it was pretty solid,” he said. “And the course is just immaculate. The fairways are cut super short and the greens are perfect. We are going to have a good championship here.”

NOTES: It’s the first time since 1997 at Rossmere (when Jamie Wilkie beat Collings by one) that the championship is being played all four days at one course… This year’s tournament, save for the weather, has a solid leaderboard to start but it will take plenty to match its last appearance here in 2005. In the most thrilling finish in decades, Jordan Krantz shot a final-round 65 to edge Scott Markham and Stew Bannatyne by a single shot… Late-day lightning and thunder, plus some pooling water forced a suspension of play at 6:30 p.m. Monday with 69 players still on the course. The restart will go at 6:30 a.m. this morning and today’s tee times will likely be delayed by an hour.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/golf/story/4195969p-4787331c.html


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Kingston district will be well represented at the 93rd Ontario Woman’s Amateur golf championship, which begins today at the Bay of Quinte Country Club.

Six of the top players from Cataraqui Golf and Country Club, led by Augusta James, are set to tee it up at the provincial championship.

Joining James, who won her second consecutive Eastern Provinces championship

last month, in the 54-hole Ontario championship are clubmates Patti Hogeboom, D a n i e l l e Greene, Andrea Blackwell, Christina Thorne and Lindsay Hagerman.

Paige Esford and Helene Corcoran of Loyalist Golf Club in Bath, Christine Fraser of Camden Braes and Casey Ward of Picton are also playing.

The field of 106 will be trimmed to the top 54 players and ties following tomorrow’s play.

Stephanie Sherlock of Barrie comes into the Amateur following a win last month in a CN Canadian Woman’s Tour stop at Winnipeg.

Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto is the defending champion. If she scores a repeat win, it will be the first since Mary Ann Lapointe of Georgetown captured three straight from 1995 t0 1997.

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1104295

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Victoria’s Stacey Keating has won her US Amateur sectional qualifying tournament in Colorado shooting an even par 72.

Stacey Keating

(Photo: Jason Savidge)

The outstanding result against a top quality field of 40, has catapulted the 21-year-old into one of the world’s toughest Amateur championships to be played next month. And in good news for Australia she will be joined by Adelaide’s Stephanie Na who also qualified today at a separate sectional event in Georgia.

“It was great to win today,” Keating said.

“I was one of the first ones out so it was a really long and nervous wait to see if I had made it through.”

Keating was happy with her game especially from tee to green.

“I hit it really well today, the only thing was that I didn’t get anything to drop but I didn’t make any three putts either which was key.”

“The greens had a lot of break in them and it is a fairly new course, it was pretty tricky out there.”

“I was lucky because I had a great caddy, who kept me very calm throughout the round, that helped me a lot.”

Royal Adelaide’s Stephanie Na also shot an even par score to finish equal fourth at the famous Horseshoe Bend course in Roswell, Georgia. The winning score was a four under round of 68.

“The course was playing really long today, we were back on most of the tees, so it was pretty tough,” she said.

Na started her round on the back nine and was playing a steady game until she hit the 18th – her ninth hole of the day.

“I had a double bogey but I knew I had to get over it,” she said.

“I told myself I was playing well so I kept my cool and then parred the first and had three birdies in a row.”

“I held it together and got it back and ended up square. I feel that I played much better than my score.”

Na said she was hitting the ball well but felt her short game needed a bit of work.

“Being with Karrie at the US Open and all the excitement around that we didn’t really get to practice much,” she said.

“I had a hit yesterday with Kristie (Smith) but I just need to do a bit more chipping. I am just a bit out of touch.”

“Today I made my bogeys when I got into trouble and I wasn’t able to get any up and downs.”

Unable to get her round going at all today was West Australia’s Kristie Smith. She played at the same course as Na and posted a disappointing 80 to finish out of qualifying contention.

While Na is taking a break from competitive golf until the North and South next week, Stacey Keating is getting straight back on the horse.

Tomorrow she will head to another Colorado Course, Buffalo Run, to contest the 54-hole Colorado Stroke Championships.

“It was my first look at the course today. After I finished my qualifying today I headed 20 minutes down the road to check out the course. It looks pretty good.”

Na is enjoying her first travelling trip solo.

“I am really loving it. It has been almost four weeks and it has gone so quickly. Everywhere we have been we have been so welcomed and well looked after, it has been a great time.”

Tomorrow she is going to practice with Kristie Smith and gear up for the North and South being played at Pinehurst from July 13.

“It’s another great tournament on a good golf course, it is just so much fun to play in these events.”

Kristie Smith will also play in the North and South and will be hoping to turn her fortunes around at Pinehurst. Her tour started on a positive note at the British Amateur last month where she made the matchplay but despite a long break couldn’t find her range today.

One of Australia’s leading amateurs, Smith is a great competitor and will no doubt be working hard with her Dad, former pro Wayne, to iron out the kinks in her game.

After the North and South, all three girls will then head off to Winnipeg in the Manitoba province of Canada, to contest the Canadian Amateur.

The event should be a great lead up for Na and Keating who will then contest one of the world’s most prestigious Amateur titles, the US Amateur at the Eugene Country Club in Oregon.

156 players will take to the course with the top 64 then moving on to the matchplay stag.

http://www.iseekgolf.com/news/7549-keating-na-qualify-for-us-amateur

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Little successfully defended her title at the B.C. Women’s Mid Amateur golf tournament in Williams Lake with a three-under par 70 for a three-round total of 221, seven strokes better than runner-up Kim Evans of Terrace.

Little won the 2007 Mid Amateur title held at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum.

“I’m very happy with my play,” said Little. “I played nice and steady. If I missed the green, I got up and down. I’m feeling good and everything went as I wished it to go. My goals are being met – everything is falling into place.”

Little sits in a tie for seventh in the B.C. Women’s Amateur tournament, held in conjunction with the Mid Amateur.

Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John is the overall leader at 12-under 207. She’s two strokes ahead of defending champion Kira Meixner of Delta. Meixner made a move towards the top with a five-under 68 Thursday. She had an eagle and six birdies in her round.

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Richmond’s Kira Meixner shot a seven-under par 66 today at Williams Lake Golf Club and successfully defended her B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Meixner finished the 72-hole event at 17-under par. That was five shots clear of third-round leader Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John. Dreher closed with an even-par 73.

Meixner had started the day two shots behind Dreher, her former college teammate at Kent State University in Ohio, but used a hot start to quickly grab the lead. Meixner birdied three of her first four holes and was seven-under through her first 11 holes.

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Pine Ridge’s Tyler Mancini conquered the wind, rain and some early bad luck to post the best score mid-way through the first round of the Manitoba men’s amateur golf championship today at Links at the Lake.

Despite a double-bogey six at the second hole, Mancini shot a four-under-par 68 to lead the pack on Day 1 of the championship.

That’s three better than the next-best score posted, a one-under 71 from former two-time champ Garth Collings of Breezy Bend.

“I was two-over after two but I realized this is a marathon,” Mancini said after making seven birdies on a miserable day. “I’m proud of myself for staying with it.”

Mancini’s second shot at the par-4 second went out of bounds after he bladed a sand wedge from a greenside bunker.

Also in the hunt in the early going is former four-time champion Todd Fanning of Niakwa, who shot even-par 72, the same as Breezy Bend’s Brad DePape and Glendale’s Michael Goldberg. Defending champ Brad Kirton of Pine Ridge was in at 73.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4195833p-4787222c.html

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Despite falling well below the horizon, Alyssa Moon still enjoyed the orbit.

Moon, 15, was full of hope as she took on the Manitoba Woman’s Amateur Senior Championship at the Transcona Golf Club on July 2 to 4, but an uncooperative course in the opening round put her out of contention early making it nearly impossible for her to recover.

“Everyone had high scores on the first day because of high winds,” said Moon. “The greens were so fast. The course conditions just weren’t the greatest.”

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A lot of people are still complaining about last winter, how cold and long it was. But not me.

Sure it was cold and as long as ever, but it seemed to fly by — it started and before you knew it was over.

The reason, at least for me, is that I don’t measure winter by the depth to which temperatures fall or to which snow accumulates, but rather by the length of day and light.

The band War long ago had a hit song called Slippin’ into Darkness. It’s about falling into a life of drugs and crime, but to me it’s always been about winter. It starts looping in my brain as the days grow short in the fall and that point approaches when we “fall back” into standard time so that the commute home is always in darkness, week after week, month after month.

I find it not depressing so much as dreadful and hostile, the opposite of the joyful, warm evenings of summer.

But last year we changed the timing, “falling back” one week later and then “springing forward” three weeks earlier this, er, spring.

Altogether, a month more of evening light.

After a lifetime of winters under the old regime, I suspect timing of the season, the portents of its arrival and passing become so familiar as to be ingrained. And then this year, the habit was broken — the sun broke through three weeks early and with it winter broke, too.

The rhythms of summer likewise become ingrained.

Some years ago I was in Guyana on the equator in winter. Each day started and ended at 5:30. It was confusing and disorienting to have the sun go down so early on a summer’s day. When it’s warm and the smell of flowers and mowed grass is in the air, the sun is supposed to shine on for hours and hours.

I know many Manitobans love and embrace winter, and I’m not saying that it’s all bad, but summer is simply so much better for the basic, even primal, reason that there is both more heat and light, especially in the evening.

Which brings me to what I’m really thinking about.

Last year, by coincidence, I was on vacation June 21 when the solstice occurs, when the day is at its longest and the night its shortest.

It is also the sweetest part of summer, flowers are fresh, trees and shrubs are blooming and birds outnumber mosquitoes.

And it doesn’t get better — literally. After June 21 we start slipping into darkness again, by a few seconds a day to be sure, but slipping nevertheless.

In some places people understand and celebrate the moment.

I was in St. Petersburg once just before the solstice. The city is on roughly the same latitude as Churchill, so it enjoys even shorter days and evenings than we do here in Winnipeg. (I still wonder if it is the high latitudes that explain why depression and alcoholism are rampant in Russian life and literature.)

The Russians were gearing up for their annual “White Nights” celebrations, a week-long debauch that occurs around the solstice, when the sun barely sets and the light never entirely fades.

I experienced a bit of that the year we lived in The Pas. I thought summer would never come but when it did the evenings went on forever and you could see light in the north long after it had faded to black to the south.

I’m told Iceland celebrates the solstice with Icelanders staying up all night to witness the fact that the sun doesn’t set.

In any event, having realized the great benefits of a vacation in June last year, I booked two weeks around the solstice this year.

June 21 fell on a Saturday due to this being a leap year.

Leap years are a contrivance to rectify our imperfect system of telling time with the perfect movements of the solar system, which meant the solstice actually fell at 6:59 p.m. on Friday, about three hours before the sun, in fact, went down.

(It’s a puzzler, isn’t it? I mean, that the longest day ended a day early and before the sun went down. Science, eh!)

But I didn’t let science spoil the day. I arranged with some friends to play golf that evening. We teed off at 5:30 and finished at 10. Sunset was 9:41 and we followed our last shots to the par three finishing hole as silhouettes — black balls against a white sky.

But we finished, and it was great to be playing in the cool of the evening as the shadows lengthened as opposed to the heat of the day when shadows shrink to little pools at the base of trees.

It made me think that we should follow the example of other northern dwellers and learn to celebrate the solstice. I mentioned this to my barber and he responded that to most people the solstice marks the beginning of summer, and that’s likely true.

So why don’t we get more bang out of it? Why don’t we recognize that while July and August are “hot,” June is “cool” and the sweetest part of summer is the solstice.

I’m going to do my part. I plan to golf on the evening of June 21 next year, hopefully with an enlarged pool of players, maybe the start of a Solstice Open.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/columnists/top3/story/4195386p-4786611c.html

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