2010 Senior Women’s Championship

Brenda Pictor Successfully Defends GSGA Senior Women's Championship
Mariettan wins third title by four strokes over Perry's Riley

 

Scoring Menu (includes players' full scorecards)

PERRY, Ga. ---- After a rough start in which she was 5-over-par through three holes, defending champion Brenda Pictor of Marietta posted a final-round 78 and held on for a four-stroke victory over Mary Riley of Perry to win her second-straight and third overall GSGA Senior Women's Championship, which took place at Houston Lake Country Club, August 30-31.

First-flight competitor Deborah Agran of Greensboro finished third at 156, while Mary Helen McElreath of Augusta placed fourth at 158. Greensboro's Susan Rheney was fifth at 159. Gayle Gibson of Dacula came out of the first flight to finish sixth at 161. Second flight winner and past champion Darlene Werhnyak of Lawrenceville placed seventh at 163. Sue King of Chatsworth and first-flight competitor Betsy Butler of Atlanta tied for eighth at 164. Three players – Jane Duggan of Atlanta, Liz Butler of Greensboro and Mary Holmes of Cleveland – tied for 10th overall at 165.

Pictor, who scored 1-over 73 on Monday, led Riley and Agran by three shots heading into the final round. But the three of them were dead even at 6-over-par after three holes (Agran was playing four groups ahead of the final pairing of Pictor, Riley and McElreath.) Pictor posted bogey on No. 1, triple bogey on No. 2 and bogey on No. 3 to drop back, acknowledging that she "certainly gave them a chance."

Agran turned at +8 for the tournament, while Pictor and Riley were still deadlocked at +7 when they made the turn. Riley then ran into trouble of her own with a double-bogey at 10, and bogeys at 11, 13 and 15 to drop to 12-over-par. Pictor, meanwhile, had steadied her game, with just one bogey and one birdie over the inward nine to remain at 7-over. Riley birdied the par-3 17th to close the gap to four shots at the end of the round.

Pictor, who is the reigning GSGA Senior Women's Player of the Year, became just the second player in event history to win three titles, matching Claudeen Lindberg of Atlanta (1999, 2003, 2006). Pictor won her first title in 2007.

In the third through ninth flights, all but one of the first-round leaders held onto their spots to win. Jean Franks of Peachtree City won the third flight (170), Dawn Young of Douglasville took the fourth (170), Brenda Duke of Perry the fifth (166), Kate Smith of Marietta the sixth (181), Sissy Smith of Albany the seventh (178), Jackie Beeland of Perry the eighth (179) and Cheryl Stafford of Kathleen won the ninth flight (182).

Houston Lake Country Club played to 5,569 yards and a par 72 for the Championship through third flights, which were eligible for the overall title. The fourth through ninth flights played the course at 5,020 yards.

The GSGA Senior Women's Championship is conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association. Entries were open to female amateur golfers at least 50 years old as of August 30, 2010, who belong to a GSGA Member Club. The field of 119 was divided into 10 flights based on USGA Handicap Indexes.