Walker, Orr no strangers to seniors championships

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This article was published 31/07/2019 (2574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Countless hours of hard work have paid off yet again for 57-year-old Rhonda Orr.

For the sixth time in seven years, Orr is the Manitoba Senior Women’s golf champion.

She nabbed her sixth title in a landslide victory on Wednesday at Rossmere Country Club, finishing at 13-over on the tournament — 18 strokes ahead of second-place finisher Tammy Gibson.

While some may chalk up Orr’s bundle of wins to a natural talent, she says that isn’t the case.

“I work really, really hard. I said to Tom (Orr’s golf coach) on Saturday that I was frustrated after not doing well in a past championship. I said ‘next time I may not win, I might not be good, but there’s nobody there who’s going to work harder than me.’”

And work hard, she does. As if three days of 18-hole golf wasn’t enough for Orr, she got some extra practising in at her home golf course, Southwood Golf & Country Club, following Days 1 and 2 of the tournament.

“My game was really solid. Went and worked every night at Southwood after because I wasn’t happy with some of the drives. It’s definitely different (at Rossmere) visually. This course is extremely narrow in some spots. I play the ball predominantly right to left and some of the tee boxes are lined right against the tree line, so it makes it really tough,” Orr said.

Orr, Gibson and third-place finisher Diane Eyford will represent Manitoba at the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship in Osoyoos, B.C. from Aug. 18-20. Orr is hoping to beat her personal best of a fourth-place tie at this year’s nationals.

On the men’s side, it was a tight race for first place. Defending champion Bruce North shot two birdies and an eagle over the final four holes of the tournament, but it wasn’t enough to catch St. Boniface Golf Course member Mike Walker.

Walker finished nine-over on the tournament, earning his third Senior Men’s Championship title in four years. North wasn’t far behind, shooting an 11-over three-day total.

“I just kind of feel a sense of relief. I didn’t exactly finish in style, but that’s how it goes. I feel relieved. A little bit of pressure off,” Walker said.

Walker got into some hot water with a double-bogey on Hole 15, but balanced things out when he was able to make a nice putt for an eagle, just a hole later.

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He, North and third-place finisher Garth Collings will represent Manitoba at the Canadian Senior Men’s Championship in Scarborough, Ont., in August.

Collings and Walker have known each other and golfed together since they were 12 or 13, making this year’s provincial team makeup very special to Walker.

“I guarantee you there’s going to be some fun in Ontario. That’s a veteran team, for sure. I guess I’ve been pretty fortunate, been lucky, in a sense, to maintain my health. I feel really good for someone 62½ years old. I can’t believe I’m that old, but I’m really looking forward to that,” Walker said. “I will try and compete as long as I can. I think I’ve got many years ahead of me. It was a great week, just fabulous.”

devon.shewchuk@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @devonshewchuk