B.C. Golf’s Zone 1 Women’s Championship tees off at the Birchbank Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday with a little Trail Italian flavour.
Dressed in their best il Tricolore (Italian flag colours: green, white, and red), about 50 golfers will hit the fairways at the Zone 1 championship on Friday for a practice round before teeing off Saturday and Sunday for the 36-hole Kootenay championship.
Competitors from 23 golf clubs across the East and West Kootenay will compete in the Zone 1 qualifier for a chance to play in the BC Amateur, the BC Seniors, and BC Junior championships.
The Women’s Amateur and Senior Women’s Amateur champions, along with the Team champions will be crowned on Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m. following the final 18 holes. In addition, the Zone net and the top three in the various flights will also receive awards for low gross and low net.
The competitive but fun event boasts a myriad of door prizes, raffles, gifts and goody bags courtesy of Gold Sponsors Teck and Kootenay Savings, highlighted by an Italian dinner and entertainment on Saturday night.
At last year’s Zone 1 championship, Balfour’s Jackie Little shot rounds of 72 and 73 for a 5-over par score of 145 to win both the Ladies and Senior Ladies titles at the par-70 Fernie Golf and Country Club. Little finished in third place at the BC championship and tied for third at the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship at Humber Valley Resort in Little Rapids, NL.
Little is no stranger to being in contention. She won the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009.
The BC Women’s Amateur Championship goes in Golden July 10-13, while the BC Seniors and Super Seniors championship tees off in Courtney June 19-21 at the Crown Isle Golf Resort.
The Canadian Women’s Amateur Golf Championship is among the oldest golfing competitions in Canada.
During the 1901 season, the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Que. hosted the first competition which was won by Canadian Lillas Young. From there the championship grew and has spawned a long list of great champions who have gone on to see international success including Dawn Coe-Jones, A.J. Eathorne, and current LPGA phenom Brooke Henderson.
The winner of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship earns an exemption into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.
