Nancy Mendelsohn Wins First Two OSWGA Events

 

     By BOB DICK Ocean State Golf

 

     At the end of the 2008 Rhode Island women’s amateur golf season, Nancy Mendelsohn said she felt good about herself. “I finished a lot of tournaments in the top 5, so it was a better year for me than 2007,” Mendelsohn told Ocean State Golf after finishing in a tie for second at the OSWGA Player-of-The-Year Tournament.

     Now, the Woodland Greens standout must be thinking that 2009 may turn into some kind of banner year for her after teaming up with Kibbe Reilly to win OSWGA’s Natalie Price Memorial at the Pawtucket Country Club and then following that up by capturing  OSWGA’s R.I. Women’s State Open Championship at Rhode Island Country Club.

      Mendelsohn and Reilly (RICC) dinged and donged to perfection and won the Price event with a nifty 75. A week later Mendelsohn carded an 85 to win the State Open.

     Prior to this season Mendelsohn had managed only one major victory in the OSWGA competition. This season she already has won twice in two weeks including her first individual stroke play event. Not bad.

     “Oh, sure, it feels great to win,” said Mendelsohn. “I worked all winter on my short game inside the Eagle Quest Golf Dome in West Warwick and I think it already has helped. I also hit my drives well in both tournaments.”

     Still, Mendelsohn was actually surprised her 85 held up for the victory at RICC. “No way did I think I would win that,” said. “I kind of lost focus for a few holes and I thought that would hurt me. I thought that with Kibbe being such a good player that she would win it, but I held on.”

     Reilly, Ocean State Golf’s Female Player of the Year last year, actually finished third in the Women’s State Open when she ended up with a disappointing 89, one stroke behind Montaup’s Nancy Diemoz.

      Mendelsohn started out on the 8th hole under the tourney’s shotgun format. She bogeyed that hole but made it up with a birdie on the ninth. After a couple of bogies and a par, Mendelsohn birdied 13 and parred 14.

       Then trouble showed up big time on 15, a hole she tripled. That was followed by a bogey on 16. “By then I was trying to force things,” she said. A pair of pars followed on 17 and 18 before Mendelsohn bogeyed the first, doubled the second, parred the third, doubled the fourth and bogeyed the 5th before parring her final two holes.

     “I didn’t think I would win, but I did and it felt good,” she said.

      In the Price Memorial, the first event of the Rhode Island amateur season, Mendelsohn said she and Reilly worked well together. “I think I had three birdies. I putted well and I kept my drives in the fairway. Now I’m focused on playing well in the OSWGA Stroke Play Tournament at Valley C.C. (May 18).”

     Ann Moran and Maureen Ford, both from North Kingstown G.C. finished second at the Price Memorial with an 83; Crestwood’s Kay Bullock and Wannamoisett’s Ann Corio were third with an 85.

        The Championship Division first net winners with a 68 were Swansea’s Cindy Silvia and Meg Schiageter.

      At the Women’s State Open, Moran was the net Championship Division winner with an 80 followed by Ford with an 85.

     In the A-Divison, Jackie Booth from Green Valley had the low gross score of 88 while first net honors went to Swansea’s Danielle Gamache with a 76. In the B-Division, Carolyn Brown from Winnapaug carded a 102 for the low gross title while Triggs’ Tracey Higgins won the first net crown with a 75.