Good weather and lots of entertaining action could be found at the Westlock Golf Course during the Ladies' Open last weekend. The two-day event Aug. 11-12 was a spirited affair that saw 22 women challenge for this year's title.
Good weather and lots of entertaining action could be found at the Westlock Golf Course during the Ladies' Open last weekend.
The two-day event Aug. 11-12 was a spirited affair that saw 22 women challenge for this year's title.
In the end, it was local golfer Debbie Shoemaker who emerged victorious, but it wasn't easy, said course pro Kevin Lynes.
"The end was quite exciting," he said. "We had a playoff for the championship."
Through 36 holes, Shoemaker was tied with Edmonton's Lynda Schuler, requiring a playoff. A playoff is a simple means of breaking a tie - the golfers play holes one-on-one until one golfer records a lower score than her opponent.
In the case of the Ladies' Open, only one extra hole was needed, Lynes said. On the first playoff hole, Shoemaker took five strokes to put the ball in the cup. It took Schuler six.
While the playoff was a tight, one-shot affair, so to were the final few holes for Shoemaker and Schuler.
"It was a close match the whole way going," Lynes said. "They both knew they were within a shot of each other coming down to the last few holes."
With three holes remaining for each woman, Shoemaker held a one-stroke lead. On the third-last hole, Schuler recorded a par while Shoemaker carded a bogey, rendering both women tied. Both women then bogeyed the second last hole, meaning whoever had a better result on the final hole would be the winner. After Schuler bogeyed the hole, Shoemaker only needed a par or better to win outright, which she was unable to do. She bogeyed the hole, sending the tournament to its sudden-death conclusion.
Lynes suggested the pressure of knowing one shot could make all the difference may have led to the playoff being necessary.
"The nerves, I guess, came into play a little bit," he said.
The win was Shoemaker's third Ladies' Open title; she had come out on top in back-to-back years 2008-2009.
In total, the 22 golfers was a drop from the 35 who competed in 2011, Lynes said. Although he couldn't figure out why so many fewer golfers came out to play, he did say he and his colleagues at the course are working to build more interest for next year's event.
Debbie Shoemaker won the tournament with a two-round score of 181 to lead the championship flight.
In the first flight, Shelly Swingen's 194 was the low score.
Gail Hrycak's 198 was the top score in the second flight.
The next major action at the golf course is the Club Championship Aug. 25-26.
