Edmonton’s Elaine Maloney is the winner of the 2013 Westlock and Barrhead Ladies Open golf tournament.
After seeing a decline in the number of entrants at each community’s ladies open over the past few years, Westlock Golf Club pro Kevin Lynes said the two courses decided to merge their events this year.
Round one was played Aug. 10 at the Barrhead Golf Club. Round two was on Aug. 11 at the Westlock Golf Course.
This is the first year the two communities have teamed up to host the tournament, Lynes said, and overall he’s happy with how things worked out.
“It was a learning experience,” he said.
Part of the reason why the courses opted to combine forces was to increase turnout, as well as stimulate some interest in the event.
“We hope to get the numbers up to make the tournament more popular,” Lynes explained.
Having the tournament played on two different courses added a few wrinkles to the experience.
The golfers were expected to contend with two completely different layouts over the two days, but also had a different handicap applied on each course to account for the differences between the two, which Lynes said included the fact the Westlock course is considered more difficult.
For Maloney, winning the tournament was not a new experience, as she said she’s won the Westlock event a few times in the past.
She added it was interesting playing a tournament split between two courses.
“They’re both tough courses,” she said. “They don’t let up.”
She cited one difference she and her opponents noticed — the greens. On Saturday in Barrhead, the greens were relatively so, while in Westlock on Sunday they were markedly quicker.
Although Maloney’s score of 162 gave her a nine-stroke margin of victory over runner-up Nisha Buksh, also from the Edmonton region, it wasn’t an easy win.
“Over the last four (Westlock) holes especially, the girls kept up the pressure,” she said. “It was a well fought tournament.”
Looking at the entire experience both on and off the courses, Maloney said there was nothing to complain about.
“It was a really good show; we were treated well,” she said.
Should the two-course format continue into future years, Lynes said there are a few tweaks that might be made to the event. He said in the past the Westlock tournament held a horse race or scramble, and the hope is one of those side events can be added to the schedule next year.
