Southwood’s Orr top Manitoban after Day 1

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This article was published 30/08/2022 (1447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The first round of the Canadian women’s mid-amateur and senior championships teed off Tuesday.

Southwood Golf & Country Club’s Rhonda Orr didn’t have the start to the tournament she wanted but paces the 24 Manitobans in the field after shooting a 7-over par 79.

“Definitely disappointing, but, that’s golf,” said Orr after her round.

“The course is beautiful, the event has done an awesome job. The wind was up a little bit, got caught in it a couple of times. The greens were beautiful but if you were on the wrong side of them there could be a lot of break and speedy.”

Leanne Richardson, from New Brunswick, leads the tournament by one stroke after shooting an even-par 72 that featured two birdies in the opening round.

A pair of B.C. representatives, Jackie Little (1-over) and Shelly Stouffer (2-over), trail closely with 36 holes remaining in the tournament.

If someone from the host province is going to pull out a win this week, Orr is certainly among the favourites to do so after she captured her ninth provincial senior’s title in 10 years and seventh in a row earlier this month.

Now seven strokes behind the pace, it’ll be a tall task for Orr to accomplish, especially at Breezy Bend, which is hosting a national even for the first time since the 2004 Canadian men’s mid-amateur championship.

Orr knows anything can happen, though.

“You have to play extremely good golf and make some putts, maybe be a little more aggressive,” she said.

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“If they make a mistake, they’re going to get out of trouble and minimize it. Everybody’s going to make a bogey or two. The people leading are not going to make any big numbers and definitely make a few putts to make up for when they do have a bogey.”

Michelle Gisiger and Tammy Gibson are the next closest Manitobans at 11-over par, while Shelley Muir, who is a member of the host course, sits at 12-over par.

Following tomorrow’s round, the field will be reduced to the top 70 players (and ties).

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.