At this point it might be easier to just leave the trophy with Anna Young year-round.
The 19-year-old Saskatoon native won her fourth straight provincial championship on July 4 at the Humboldt Golf Club. Young finished the three-day tournament at +3, three strokes ahead of Thea Hedemann and a whopping 25 strokes up on third-place finisher Kimberly Risulmi. Young shot an even par 72 on the last two rounds of the tournament after opening with a three over 75 on the first day.
Unlike in past years, there was a little bit of drama this time around. Young entered the final round only one stroke up on Hedemann and actually found herself behind through 13 holes, but came from behind to seal her victory.
"This one was closer than the last couple," Young said afterwards. "It was good because I love playing under pressure and I love being in that situation, so it was awesome for me."
During the school year, Young plays at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She said that being able to play through the winter months has helped her to improve dramatically since she first won the provincial championship in 2010.
"My short game has improved a lot since I've been playing down in the States and that's huge, being able to play all year," Young said. "It's great being able to play all year against my teammates because they're awesome players. It's really helped my game both mentally and physically, all the stuff we do at college and everything that I do on my own."
The Humboldt Golf Club offered its own set of unique challenges to the 23 golfers who took part in the amateur and senior championships. Given that the front and back nines were built over 50 years apart, the differences between the two are much greater than on a normal course.
"It was very interesting having to change your game plan between nines," Young said. "I really liked the front nine because the greens were awesome; the greens were great on the back nine too but it was a little more open on the front. I liked the back nine a lot because it really challenged you and really made you place your shots."
Outside of a brief delay on Wednesday due to thunderstorms, the weather for the three-day tournament was dry and hot, a welcome change for a course that had been drenched with rain in recent weeks. At a trophy presentation following the tournament, course general manager Cam Koski thanked the grounds crew for getting the course ready on time.
Denise Wilson won the senior championship by five strokes over second-place finisher Tammy Bezaire. Third place went to Ann Kirkland. The top three finishers in both the amateur and senior championships qualified for the national events later this summer. The amateur tournament will be held July 23-26 in Beloeil, Que. The senior women will tee off Aug. 20-22 in Vernon, B.C.
For Young, it's been four years of nothing but success. The upcoming national championships in Quebec will be great, but her goals are even bigger and include eventually playing on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
"That is my goal right now," she said. "Obviously things can change but that is exactly my goal and where I want to be. I want to be playing on the Tour and I want to be one of the best."
