Some of the best female golfers from across Saskatchewan will make their way to Prince Albert at the start of next month.
Cooke Municipal Golf Course will host the Ladies Northern on June 7 and 8. Andrea Ring, one of the organizers for the tournament says the tournament will be following a similar format to year’s past.
“It pretty much stays the same year to year. It’s a two-day stroke play tournament. You’re flighted after the first day and there’s two winners that we choose. One is the overall winner of the Northern, and the other one is a senior division winner of the Northern. The Northern has been around for years. Forty-seven consecutive ones lately. It usually holds about 60 to 65 players. They come from all over the province and it’s really a nice get together at the beginning of the season to see old golf buddies and play a little golf.”
In addition to running for 47 consecutive years, Cooke also held a version of the Ladies Northern from 1927-1955.
Last year, Saskatoon’s Kim Brown captured the overall Ladies Northern title. In the senior division, Regina’s Kim Walker took home the title.
With the tournament expected to draw players from all over Saskatchewan once again, Ring says the Northern is a good opportunity for players to make connections early in the golf season.
“We’re very fortunate to have ladies come from all over the province. It’s nice to see a healthy dose of ladies in the sport of golf. Some of them continue on to Canadian championships and provincial championships. It’s a good tournament to start the year off and we usually see them again at other tournaments, our friends and our fellow golfers.”
In terms of the overall state of women’s golf in Prince Albert, Ring says she feels it is in a good spot.
“I think it’s pretty healthy. We do have a lot of senior golfers and some regulars. However the junior program is really taking off and there’s lots of little girls starting up golf, so we need to keep them engaged and wanting to play. High school is a good area to continue your golf if those young girls want to. We also have some young working moms wanting to golf. With little kids and working, we’ve got to find a way to get them coming out a bit more, but I think it looks really good, our future for ladies’ golf in Prince Albert and hopefully it’ll stay that way.”
In order to register for the Ladies Northern, contact the pro shop at Cooke Municipal Golf Course.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
