Published February 05, 2020 19:14
Kim Burke's Report from the 2020 State Championships.
President Pam & Kim Burke
To CCWGA Secretary
Hi Donna,
I was thrilled to win the District Championship back in November and as District Champion to also to receive a grant from Golf NSW to play the State Championship. I'm not sure if anyone on District Committee followed the event through the Golf NSW website or their Social media but thought I would update you on my experience.
It was held at St Michaels and The Coast golf clubs from January 20th -
24th. The first two rounds were qualifying with the top 16 players going
through to contest the Matchplay. Both courses were lengthened considerably
with us hitting off about 10 men's tees and both scratch ratings went up by
4 shots. There were many holes I could not reach so I was quite happy with
my scores of 81 at St Michael's and 82 at The Coast. The weather was very
humid and hot and it was very helpful to have my husband Michael caddying
for me both days.
There were 60 female competitors of which I was clearly the oldest by
decades. I imagine the average age to be late teens. The scoring from the
top players was outstanding with the leading qualifier Stephanie Kyriacou
shooting a 67 at St Michael's with a scratch rating of 78 and playing to a
+11 on her handicap followed by a 65 at The Coast with a scratch rating of
75 and playing to a +10. Simply amazing golf.
The best player from the Central Coast was 12 year old Ann Jang from Toukley
who had 2 rounds of 75 and qualified for the Matchplay Tied 11th. She won
her first match and was beaten in the quarter finals by Grace Kim the
eventual winner. Grace is one of Australia's very best players who among
other titles won the Gold Medal for golf at the last Junior Olympics and has
been invited to play the Augusta Women's tournament the week before The
Masters this year. I came Tied 43rd and Annika Boyd came 48th.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing with the kids and whilst I
wasn't competitive it improved my own play immensely as I had some sub par
rounds at Shelly in the weeks after. Thank you to the District for taking up
this offer from Golf NSW, even for someone my age it was a great experience
and the grant made it a very enjoyable visit to Sydney.
Kind Regards
Kim Burke