Port St. Lucie Florida is the place to be this week.  Good friends, good fun and good golf is what will be had at the PGA Golf Club for the 14th Anniversary of the EWGA Championship Finals.  With 205 players representing over 100 different EWGA Chapters in 37 different states, it is a tournament to mark in the record books. 

Preparing to defend her title from 2008 is Lori Whitaker from the Atlanta GA Chapter who will be paired with some stiff competition in Sarah Dekraay (Madison WI Chapter), Pat Ayers (Port St. Lucie/Treasure Coast FL Chapter) and Kip Malick (Dallas TX Chapter).  The total handicap index of these four ladies is 7.6, so we may see some very low scores this year.

On the scramble team side, the Port St. Lucie/Treasure Coast FL Chapter is in their back yard, so the pressure is on.  It’s definitely any team’s tournament to win this year.  With one team representing each Semi-final District, the competition will be very good.

Also, the stroke play winners from the 2008 Finals have exercised their exemption to play in the 2009 Finals, so along with Lori Whitaker, watch out for Robin Banner (Knoxville TN Chapter), Julie Shore (Raleigh Triangle NC Chapter), Christine DeRienzo (Long Island NY Chapter), Stacey Weitzel (Baltimore Regional MD Chapter), Bridget Albosta (Northeast Bay CA Chapter), Jackie LeBlanc (Greater Toronto CANADA Chapter), Diane Madigan (Fort Worth/Metroplex TX Chapter), Lisa Lowe (Kansas City Metro Chapter), & Michelle Boyer (Miami FL Chapter).

The weather is only calling for a small percentage of rain and lots of sunshine, so we’ll see what PGA Golf Club presents to the players on Friday and Saturday. 

Follow EWGA Championship posts on TWITTER – www.twitter.com/ewga, or look for round one results on www.EWGA.com under “In the Spotlight”.

The Central Plains Semi Finals at Shoal Creek in Liberty Kansas is now one for the record books.  Since we had 98° temps and 90% humidity, there were lots of “Hotties” out on the Course.  Since the Kansas City Metro Chapter provided extra water, hydration drinks, and snacks out on the course, no one perished from the heat, everyone was grateful for their contribution.  The course was in great shape and the staff did a wonderful job in making this a successful event.  Look for these “Hotties” as the winners now look forward to Port St. Lucie and hopefully some cooler weather.

Please click here for complete results of the Central Plains Semi-Final Championship

After playing in downpours last year, the ladies in the Carolinas Semi-final were not deterred by near-record temperatures in the 90’s.  The Kingsmill Resort Woods Course designed by Tom Clark and Curtis Strange presented quite a challenge.  Low gross for the tournament was Judy Hillhouse of the Championship Flight with an 84.

Both the second and third flights had ties for low gross, Darla Huff and Cass Johnson in the third flight and Geri Miller and Galen Grant in the second flight.  All 4 ladies advanced to the championship round.  Geri Miller had quite an exciting day.  On her 8^th hole (#17), she scored a hole in one.  Already at the awards luncheon celebrating when she got the call to return to the golf course, Gerri made the 10 minute return ride very quickly and then prevailed over Galen in a 2 hole play-off.

While the Carolinas ladies ate lunch and bided their time until the playoff was completed and the awards could be presented, they were entertained by the music of Steve Ambrose (husband of EWGA member Ginny Ambrose) & friends.  Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the ambiance of the Kingsmill Resort.

The volunteers, led by Betty Reynolds (the site administrator) from Charlotte, were invaluable in making the event a real success.  Thanks to: Fae Mungo, Lydia Simmons, Mariah Johnson, Annette Toner, Kitty Allen, Alice Queen, Kim Russell, Mary Tijerina, Charlotte Briggs, Rivia Brown, Joyce Sharples, and Lydia Simmons.

Beautiful skies and very warm temperatures were the norm for the Northern California District Semi-Final.  Located just north of Sacramento at the Lincoln Hills Golf Course, this was a perfect location for our event.  Friday brought many competitors to the course for practice rounds prior to Saturday morning’s early start.
 
Our Championship flight started us off and set a great pace.  The ladies were excited to get out onto the course and compete!  While Rachel Moreaux was our only Championship flight competitor, AND was playing on a bad hip, she came in first with a nice score of 81.  The Sonoma-Marin-Napa, CA Chapter’s Scramble team placed first, but it was a very close decision.  All three of the top Scramble teams shot the same gross score of 70.  It was the team factor that decided who would advance.
 
This was one of the closest Semi-Final results that I have been a part of in a very long time.  We had 5 scorecard playoffs to determine our winners.  It is great when competitors are that close with their game as it makes the competition that much more fun!
 
Many thanks to Lauri Martin of the Sacramento Chapter as our Semi-Final Site Administrator.  Her organization of the volunteers, help in securing Rules Officials and wonderful positive approach to the entire weekend made the event go very smoothly.  And a special thank you to the following volunteers who helped out:  Liisa Niemi, Cari Vinci, Nita Chorneau, Felicia Mitchell, Sharon Blume, Kathy Copelin, Lora Lee Rosario, Deana Frandsen, Linda Reid, Sherry Bell, Clare Payne, Kris Corbridge, Pam Katros, Theresa Stamey, Ursula Whitfield.
 
Congratulations to all who participated!
 
Janet Young – N.Cal Semi-Final Director

Click here for complete results of the Northern California Semi-final Championship.