Stouffer captures senior, mid-am titles

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This article was published 01/09/2022 (1301 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Breezy Bend Country Club witnessed history on Thursday.

Shelly Stouffer, a 52-year-old from Nanoose Bay, B.C., became the first Canadian golfer in 27 years to win both the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship in the same season.

World Golf Hall of Famer and two-time Lou Marsh Award winner Marlene Streit was the first to accomplish the feat back in 1995.

Stouffer, who won the U.S. event in Alaska last month, captured not only the Canadian senior title, but also the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur crown as she finished the three-day event at the Headingley course at 74-73-72 for a three-round total of 3-over 219.

“It’s pretty, pretty awesome. I mean, it’s just incredible… I’m just taking it all in,” Stouffer told the Free Press.

“It’s almost surreal, like I said when I won the U.S. senior. I knew I could win the Canadian again, but it was tough out there today and there was some good competition. It’s pretty special to win both of them in the same year, for sure.”

Stouffer had her husband Ward, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 56 from a sudden heart attack, on her mind all week as she used a custom-made ball marker with his name stamped on it. Ward was also successful on the links as he competed on the Canadian Tour for seven years and spent three years on the Asian Tour.

“He was with me all day,” Stouffer said. “He would just be smiling from ear to ear and be so happy.”

Stouffer’s latest victory was far from a breeze. Terrill Samuel led Stouffer by a stroke heading into the 15th hole, but the 61-year-old from Toronto got herself into trouble with her putter and ended up losing by one shot. The two started the day one-back of Day 2 leader Nonie Marler of Vancouver, but Marler shot an 80 on Thursday to fall all the way down to seventh place.

“I’m a little disappointed, but I lost to a really great player, so it doesn’t hurt as much. Shelly played really well. Down the stretch I missed three really makeable putts and that was the difference,” said Samuel.

“We had the same putt on 15, she made it and I missed it. I put a terrible stroke on it. And then the next hole I was putting for par and it lipped out. And then I three-putted the next hole.”

Like Stouffer, Samuel has had a brilliant summer on the course. The retired schoolteacher enjoyed the biggest victory of her career back in July as when she won the R&A Women’s Senior Amateur championship at Royal Dornoch in Scotland.

“That’s my best win ever. That was very exciting,” said Samuel.

“I was born in England and we moved to Canada when I was three months old. My aunt, my mom’s sister, still lives there and her kids, so she came and watched so it was a lot of fun. And to play at a venue like Royal Dornoch, if you haven’t been there, add it to your bucket list.”

While none of the 24 Manitobans in the field came away with a trophy, two finished strong.

Charmaine Mackid, who calls Breezy Bend her home course, got better as the week went on and shot a 74 on Day 3 to finish at plus-14 overall and move up seven spots to secure ninth place in the mid-amateur. It was the highest finish by a Manitoban this week.

“I’m very, very happy with my results. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’ve played here so much for casual games, but the atmosphere is so different when it’s a national tournament and you don’t know how you’re going to handle it,” Mackid said.

“You can mentally prepare as much as possible, but you don’t really know how you’re going to feel until that first day. So, I think each day I felt more and more comfortable and when I came here in the morning for my rounds, I just reminded myself that everyone’s rooting for me and that they got my back and that I can just go out and try my best.”

The 45-year-old Mackid had a bit of a scare prior to the event as she had COVID two weeks ago. Despite not feeling 100 per cent, Mackid managed to have the best result she’s ever had on a national stage.

“I wasn’t super worried, but I just didn’t know. Some people are over it in a week and with some people it lingers. I had two weeks to spare but even last week, each morning I’d wake up and one day would be a good day and I’d feel better, but then the next day I wouldn’t feel as good with (a lack of) energy and lots of brain fog so I was worried about that coming into this week, for sure,” said Mackid.

“But my fiancé Darren Hayden caddied for me all three days and that helped a lot. Just having someone push your clubs and double checking the thinking with you helped a lot with the brain fog. I’m exhausted right now so I’m going to take a break from golf for a few days.”

Southwood Golf & Country Club’s Rhonda Orr, a nine-time Manitoba senior champion, managed to grab 10th place in the senior’s division after saving her best round for last. Orr shot 79-80-73 for a three-round total of 16-over 232.

“I finally put all my expectations aside and just played golf and it turned out pretty good today,” Orr said.

“You’re playing at home, and you want to do well and make Manitoba proud. I felt a little extra pressure and it took me a while to adjust. It’s certainly disappointing as the first two days were not what I was looking for, but if you look at being 10th in Canada, I guess that’s pretty good.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31