2018 Yearbook

56 Iowa Senior Women’s Amateur Sunnyside CC, Waterloo August 27-28 The pristine conditions of Sunnyside Country Club provided a great test of skill for the thirty-seven ladies contesting in the 53rd Iowa Senior Women’s Amateur. The low scorer of the first round was Michelle Klein of Jesup with an 82 (+10), but the leaderboard was stacked behind her with 11 other competitors within six shots. Klein started her 82 off a little rocky with a 45 on the front, but regrouped and fired back with a one-over-par 37 on the back nine. Janis Owens of Creston was one shot off the lead with an 83 and was holding strong as the low Super Senior. Just one stroke behind Owens and within two of the leader were Kathy Fortune of Rockwell City and Laura Leszczynski of Saint Marys. Ominous dark clouds gathered overhead during the second day of competition and a storm was certainly brewing at the top of the leaderboard as well. Robin Webb’s climb commenced with a birdie in her first two holes and a front-nine round of 38. This was a two stoke improvement on her previous front nine score, but the true move came in the final six holes. Webb played holes 12 thru 17 at 1-under par and posted a back-nine score of 37. This propelling her up the standings from tied for fifth to tied for first. Laura Leszczynski was also determined to improve on her first round score. She was disappointed with her putting after the first day and thought it was a major contribution to her 84. She was determined to fix it in the final round. “I had seven three putts and one four putt and knew I wanted to work on my short game. It really paid off to- day because I got up and down from all over the place and missed very few putts.” During a 15-minute weather delay Leszczynski heard that Robin Webb was playing well, but she wasn’t sure of an exact number since Webb was in the group behind her. Leszczynski earns first win at Senior Am After finishing with a 76 (eight strokes better than her previous round) Leszczynski put her clubs in her car and waited for results. Once she learned that she would be a in a playoff against Webb she rushed to her car and the nerves kicked in, luckily she had support. “I was a little anxious so I grabbed Kathy Fortune (fel- low competitor and low Super Senior) and said I just need you to come with me to talk to me. She just tried to distract me which is perfect and just what I needed.” Webb was first to tee off on hole 18 for the playoff and hit it down the middle of the fairway. Leszczynski was next and her tee shot ended up in the left rough. To most this would seem like a poor lie but with 113 yards to the hole Leszczynski saw it as the perfect opportunity to attack the hole. She hit her second shot with force and ended up with a 15 -foot putt for birdie from the fringe. The pressure was now on Webb to hit it close. Webb’s second shot was pure off the face but slightly left of the green and resulted in an extremely difficult lie in a greenside bunker. After her shot from the sand ended up over the green and she had another unsuccessful attempt to get up-and-down Webb conceded the playoff, naming Laura Leszczynski champion. When asked about her general thoughts of the day Leszczynski raved about Sunnyside Country Club. “The course was in fabulous condition,” she said. “It was one of the nicest golf courses I’ve played all summer and I’ve played a lot of courses outside of Iowa. It was fun to grind it out today on a really good golf course.” Kathy Fortune posted an 83 for the day, naming her low Super Senior. Other top finishers included first flight winner Beth Duenow and second flight winner Bonnie Jones.