2006 Senior Women’s Championship

Lindberg Captures Third GSGA Senior Women's Championship in Playoff

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - Claudeen Lindberg of Atlanta birdied the first playoff hole to hold off Lawrenceville's Darlene Werhnyak and capture the ninth annual GSGA Senior Women's Championship, which was contested on the Mountain View course at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, August 21-22. Werhnyak fired a four-over 76 to Lindberg's final-round 79 to force the playoff. Defending champion, Ena Harvey of Greensboro, carded a championship-low 75 to finish third with a total of 157.

Ginette Spinucci of Stone Mountain, who won the Senior Women's title in 2001 and 2002, finished fourth at 158 after shooting a final-round 77. Sue King of Chatsworth and Mary Riley of Perry totaled 162 for the championship and share fifth place overall. Tied for seventh at 163 are Elaine Carsel of Athens and Phyllis Foisy of Statham, the winner of the first flight. Cleveland's Dorothy Brookshire and Jean Franks of Peachtree City finished in a tie for ninth overall, while splitting honors for the second flight.

Lindberg entered the final round with a three shot cushion but Werhnyak, who was playing in the final group with Lindberg, picked up two strokes when Lindberg found trouble off the second tee. Lindberg double-bogeyed the par 5 second hole and her lead fell to a single shot. Werhnyak gave a stroke back, however, on the third settling for a bogey. Trouble struck Lindberg again on the 164-yard fifth hole. She pulled her tee shot left of the green and it came to rest near a pile of rocks. With Lindberg carding another double-bogey, Werhnyak was able to completely close the gap and the duo took to the sixth tee tied.

Lindberg, a former GSGA Senior Women's Player of the Year, was able to refocus and drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole to move back into sole possession of the lead. Both players would record par on the par-5 seventh and Werhnyak capitalized on a Lindberg-bogey at the 130-yard, par-3 eighth to move back into a tie. Werhnyak then posted a birdie to finish front side and carried a one-stroke lead to the inward nine.

The players exchanged pars on the tenth, eleventh and twelfth holes but Lindberg tallied a bogey at number 13. After the duo collected pars at 14 and 15, Werhnyak held a two-shot advantage with just three holes to play. Lindberg applied the pressure, carding pars on each of the last three holes. Werhnyak, however, bogeyed her only par-3 of the round at 16 and could not connect on a par putt at 17. Her par at 18 left her in a tie for the overall lead with the two-time former champion.

Lindberg and Werhnyak took to number ten tee for a sudden-death playoff. Werhynak hit a strong tee shot down the left side of the fairway which came to rest in first cut of rough. Lindberg followed by hitting the fairway.

"I didn't hit a great tee shot there," Lindberg explains. "I got a little under it and left myself with more yardage on my approach than I would have liked."
Lindberg proceeded to land her approach just over the right, green-side bunker, leaving her with a ten-foot birdie attempt. Werhnyak's second shot came to rest on the back side of the green approximately 30 feet from the hole. Werhnyak ran her downhill putt past the hole and Lindberg made the ensuing birdie putt to hold off Werhnyak and take the title.

Lindberg becomes the first champion in the event's history to capture three titles. Spinucci (2001, 2002) and Harvey (2004, 2005) are the only other repeat winners at the Senior Women's Championship.

Other flight winners include Rochelle Weaver of Resaca, the 2000 Senior Women's Champion, in the third flight (166), Sandra Moody of Waynesboro in the fourth flight (160), Nancy Freeman of Atlanta in flight five (164), Carrollton's Dale Perry in flight six (166), Dalton's Marcia Evans and Greensboro's Judy Meredith in the seventh flight (184), in the eighth at 174 is Carol Fitzgerald of Leesburg, Kathleen's Cheryl Stafford and Atlanta's Nancy Huff in the ninth flight (183), Loma Young of Oxford (187) and Jean Glover of Gray and Macon's Jean Hagood shared flight eleven (209).

The championship through third flights played the course as a par-72 and to approximately 5,321 yards and were eligible for the overall title. The fourth through eleventh flights played to approximately 5,011 yards.

Entries were open to female amateur golfers who are GSGA members, Georgia residents, and age 50 and above as of August 21. The field of 137 was divided into flights based on handicap index.

GSGA conducts 18 statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups, four interstate matches and 17 USGA qualifying events each year. Other services include computerized handicapping, course rating and measuring, a summer-long junior sectional competitions program, Golf Georgia magazine and two college scholarship programs.

 

Final Results

Top Ten Overall
1 Claudeen Lindberg, Atlanta 77 79 156
2 Darlene Werhnyak, Lawrenceville 80 76 156
3 Ena Harvey, Greensboro 82 75 157
4 Ginette Spinucci, Stone Mountain 81 77 158
T5 Mary Riley, Perry 83 79 162
T5 Sue King, Chatsworth 81 81 162
T7 Elaine Carsel, Athens 82 81 163
T7 Phyllis Foisy, Statham 79 84 163
T9 Dorothy Brookshire, Cleveland 84 80 164
T9 Jean Franks, Peachtree City 81 83 164