The board of directors of the Ocean State Women's Golf Association has written a response to a Paul Kenyon story entitled "R.I. women golfers can't seem to get their act together," in the May 9 Journal.
Rhode Island has two women's golf associations -- the Ocean State Women's Golf Association and the Rhode Island Women's Golf Association, both of which are recognized by the United States Golf Association.
The OSWGA was founded in 1995 by two friends, Trudy Dufault and Nathalie Price, and its mission statement is to promote friendly, competitive golf among all women, regardless of handicap or club affiliation, in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. The organization's intentions were to bring together women from the private and public sectors to play golf and establish a true R.I. Women's State Amateur Championship and be recognized by the USGA as the primary association for all state level events.
Over the last 11 years, the OSWGA has built a reputation among R.I. women golfers of all handicap levels and economic backgrounds as being the state association with no barriers. Juniors were allowed to compete with the field. The current membership stands in excess of 350 members.
A junior program and scholarship fund were created to provide opportunities for growth and achievement for deserving young female golfers. It is named in memory of our late co-founder, Nathalie A. Price. To date, 22 young women golfers have received scholarships. Notables include Becky Mailloux (public course member), whose résumé includes winning the R.I. State Amateur Championship four times and who advanced to the Futures Tour; Amber Weller, now the assistant pro at Potowomut; Elizabeth Caffrey of Wannamoisett, the State Amateur medalist in 2004 and 2005, and Carolyn Woishek of Green Valley, just to mention a few.
Valerie Blinn's golf achievements, which include winning the R.I. Women's State Amateur Championship from 2003 to 2005, came to the forefront with the OSWGA. She, Anna Grzebien and Becky Mailloux have advanced to the sectional qualifier of the U.S. Women's Open, to be held at Rhode Island Country Club on June 13.
The OSWGA was structured after the Massachusetts Women's Golf Association, which is open to all women golfers. The two co-founders played most of their competitive golf with this association, due to the lack of opportunity in Rhode Island.
To complement what the organization has already accomplished for women's golf in Rhode Island, the OSWGA was chosen to host the first hole of the upcoming 2006 U.S. Women's Open at Newport Country Club. This prestigious honor has been bestowed upon the OSWGA for the recognition it deserves.
To date, neither the OSWGA nor the RIWGA have discussed any attempts to merge the organizations. In its infancy, the OSWGA was optimistic when the two organizations held a joint event and eventually formed some common ground by incorporating OSWGA players to participate in the New England Women's Golf Association and the Endicott Cup.
(The OSWGA has requested several times to join NEWGA. On May 15, the OSWGA received the following response: "We have discussed membership from OSWGA . . . at great length -- it is felt that the originating associations should open up spots to other associations at this time. We do this review every six years, so . . . we will put it on the agenda again.")
All statewide events sponsored by the OSWGA remain open to everyone who is a R.I. resident or a member of an affiliated club. When the RIWGA opens its doors to everyone, the elected officers and members of the OSWGA and the RIWGA will have much more to discuss about the future of one organization in Rhode Island. Until such time, we will continue our mission of promoting women's golf.