Blinn retains title at Price Memorial
in OSWGA opener
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 12, 2005
NORTH
KINGSTOWN --
Valerie Blinn was the winner, once again. But Trudy Dufault was the player with
the biggest smile yesterday when the Ocean State Women's Golf Association held
its season-opening tournament at Quidnessett.
The event was the Nathalie
Price Memorial, a gathering that has become the traditional launching point for
the OSWGA season. It is held in memory of Price, the late Providence school
teacher who organized the OSWGA with Dufault 11 years ago.
It offers women from all over
the state the chance to take part in organized competition. In that respect,
there was no surprise at all. Crestwood's Blinn, the player of the year last
year, picked up where she left off, battling chilly and windy conditions to
shoot a 79 and easily take the overall championship.
"Never did we expect this
in a thousand years," Dufault said as she checked scorecards.
"Everything is going so well."
She was not referring to
scoring. The majority of the 68 players were not able to break 100. But that is
not the big reason the OSWGA was founded. It was founded to give women a chance
to play one of the state's outstanding private courses, an opportunity that had
been available to men for many years, but not for many women until the OSWGA
came into being.
"What a great place this
is," one player said as she turned in her scorecard. "Would I ever
love to be a member here."
Blinn agreed. "I always
say it is one of the best courses to play. It's in great shape already."
It is the start of a big year
for the OSWGA, which also has events scheduled at Rhode Island Country Club,
Alpine, Warwick, Ledgemont and Wanumetonomy, among others. While Dufault
carried the ball at the start after Price's death, others have stepped forward
to help build the organization. Carol Clarey has taken over as the new
president.
"We have a great board,
great people to work with," Clarey said. "Everything is going well
for us."
While many play for the sheer
pleasure of it, some, like Blinn, use it as a boost to build their games toward
the highest levels. Blinn, 23, spent most of her winter working. She has taken
a job in the insurance business and works tending bar a couple of nights a
week.
"I'm working on my
finances, paying off my student loans," said Blinn, a graduate of St.
Francis College in Pennsylvania. "And I need money to support my
golf."
Blinn made a couple of trips
to Florida over the winter to work on her game, but did not play in any
competition. She worked harder, she said, on becoming more physically fit and
it shows. She has lost weight and looks great.
"I'm still working on my
game full force to get to the next level," she said.
The OSWGA, and tournaments
like the Price Memorial, allow her to do what many women before her could not.
Other winners behind Blinn,
were, in the Championship Division: Kibbe Reilly 87; Jennifer Hendrick 78; net,
Nancy Diemoz, 76; Maureen Ford 78; Cissy Grady 80. A Division: Kristin Kennedy
93, Kathy Mis 96, Maureen Derolet 98; net, Diane Kelly 77; Annie Corio 81;
Brenda Paris 82.
B Division: Luanne Googins 98;
Susie Kim 99; Ellen Stensing-Woods 100; net, Rosemary Richardson 72; Patti
D'Ambrosio 77; Susan Souza 78.
C Division: Liz Duguay 109;
Eileen Rondeau 110; Janet Heide 111; net, Stephanie Rego 78; Judy McAuley 82;
Joan Jackson 84.