The 2021 Ladies Northern tournament almost had an extra bit of drama on Sunday afternoon at Cooke Municipal Golf Course.
Following two closely contested rounds in the championship flight, the initial tally had Brooklin Fry of Shell Lake and Ella Kozak of Yorkton in a tie for first place and set for a playoff on the 12th hole.
However, following a closer inspection, it turned out that Fry was the winner by two shots over Kozak and Kim Brown of Saskatoon, who had won four straight tournaments before the 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had no idea who won,” Fry said after receiving the championship trophy. “It was a really close battle throughout the whole day and I was just crossing my fingers.”
The 16-year-old Fry, who won the provincial junior women’s and women’s amateur title last July and was second in the Ladies Lobstick tournament at the Waskesiu Golf Course this past August, shot a round of 75 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Kozak, Brown, Autumn Neiszner of Regina and Kathy Ziglo of Saskatoon.
Although Ziglo had to withdraw from the event, Fry still had other golfers to worry about as Moose Jaw’s Lorie Boyle and Saskatoon’s Sarah Grieve entered Sunday just two shots off the lead.
“Saturday was a little bit rough as I had a bit of jitters for my first tournament of the year,” said Fry, who finished off the weekend with a round of 77. “I started off really strong today (Sunday) and I got back to my game over the last couple of holes.
“My driver was better for the most part along with my putter, which was probably the worst part of my game yesterday.”
Boyle would win the senior title and Dianna Sutton was the recipient of the Nadia Gisi Memorial Spirit Award, which is given to the participant that best exemplifies the spirit of the event.
The other flight winners on Sunday were as follows:
- First Flight: Abra Thompson
- Second Flight: Cindy Pittman
- Third Flight: Cheryl Reichel
- Fourth Flight: Joyce Boyers
- Fifth Flight: Audrey Perra and Donna Dyck
- Sixth Flight: Kathy Reis
- Seventh Flight: Gillian Gracie
