CANMORE – A 15-year-old golf prodigy and local fairway fanatic were two of the biggest winners at the 2022 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship in Canmore.
Taking place in between towering mountains, the provincial golf championships got underway at the Canmore Golf and Curling Club from July 5-7 with a few tournaments in one.
Kelly Smith, who’s almost always winning Canmore club titles, won the Net Stableford Championship, scoring 100 points over three rounds (27, 36, 37) – five points ahead of the runner-up.
“I’m very impressed with Alberta Golf because they are trying to grow the game of golf and make it more available for all types of golfers,” Smith said. “For me, my handicap is not great enough to compete with the really good golfers, so they have the category of Net Stableford, which brings in a lot of other ladies to keep playing.”
The Stableford format is a point system based on the number of strokes taken at each hole.
“The best thing about it is if you have a bad hole it doesn’t affect you very much, so that’s really nice because it helps you to relax and you just have fun,” said Smith.
Smith’s short game was burning up the greens. On the last four holes at her home course, Smith zoned in and finished strongly with three pars and one bogey to pull ahead of Candace Wickins (95 points) in a close duel.
“It makes me feel really good,” Smith said. “Our volunteers on the course, they encourage you so much and cheer for you. I came into the scoring tent and they all clapped, even though they didn’t know how I did, but they were just supporting me, so that’s lovely, being at your hometown course.”
Canmore’s Mary-Anne Kamenka finished fourth with 82 points, and April Callow was seventh with 72 points.
While Smith was being crowned the Stableford title, a teenager was turning heads in her pursuit of the tournament’s top prize.
Winning the Alberta Ladies Amateur championship was Vancouver’s Ling Yu (Katherine) Hao, an incredible athlete who celebrated her 15 birthday with a victory in Canmore.
The teenager shot three-under 69 and was seven strokes ahead after three rounds.
Congratulations! And happy birthday! https://t.co/qfdUKJoh36
— Canmore G&CC (@CanmoreGolf) July 7, 2022
“Play was a lot faster with all the volunteers with all the spotters,” Hao said to Kevin Smith of Alberta Golf. “They were really helpful, they were really nice; they said ‘good shot’ and ‘good luck’.
“It was so nice seeing such a wide range of ages in this tournament, like, the youngest from like 13 years old and a lot of older ladies.”
Canmore’s Vicki Young of CGCC shot 11-over, and Sharon Phillips of Banff Springs Golf Club shot 14-over.
To round out the provincial championships, Meaghan Leblanc of Country Hills Golf Club was crowned the Alberta Mid Amateur champion; and Andrea Kosa of Glencoe Golf and Country Club won the Mid Master Championship.
