Gail Pimm Prevails At Ontario Senior Women’s Championship

With 18 holes to play at the Investors Group Ontario Senior Women’s Championship Mary Ann Hayward, with a four stroke lead, was well her way to a fourth consecutive title.

Golf had other ideas.

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member stumbled out of the gate at the Loyalist Country Club in Bath, Ontario. She made a double bogey on the first hole of the final round on her way to front nine score of 40 (+5).

It was opening her pursuers needed.  While Hayward would right the ship on the second nine of the day, shooting even par, Gail Pimm and Debbie Court launched their way up the leaderboard with under par rounds of 70 and 71, respectively.

When the last put fell on regulation play it left the trio in a three-way tie and headed back down the 18th fairway at the club located just west of Kington.

Pimm, riding the momentum from the lowest round of the day, carried it through to the extra hole, making a birdie to secure the championship.

The Whitevale Golf Club member delighted with the win.

“I was playing with some confidence today and everything seemed to work out,” the Uxbridge resident shared.  “I was pleased with that. I’ve really been working at it for that kind of thing to happen.  I’m happy but I’m not surprised.”

What did catch Pimm off guard was the fact she might be be in a playoff at all. “I had no idea coming in after the round that it would be a tie. I went at it (the playoff) just like I’d been going at it all day. I just one shot after the next.”

Pimm, who has the runner-up in 2014 to Hayward, was delighted to finally have worked her way to the top of the board.  “I’ve been second quite often but the win is something special.  It just kind of means that all the work I’ve been doing has paid off.”

Pimm, Court and Hayward earned the right to represent Ontario in the inter-provincial competition at the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship, also Aug. 26-28 at Sawmill Creek Golf Resort and Spa in Camlachie.

Capturing the Senior Women’s 60+ Division title was Brockville’s Theresa deLuis. The Brockville Country Club member finished her final round five-over (77), which brought her to 14-over (81-72-77-230) for the tournament. That was good enough to clinch the title by four strokes.  In the 70+ Division, the champion was Stoney Creek’s Phyllis Bennett (99-91-190), from Rockway Vineyards.

Also announced at the conclusion of the event was the Ontario Senior Women’s team for the 2016 Ada Mackenzie Matches with New York State. Spots for the team went to the top 10 finishers in the Senior Women’s Championship. The team will consist of Pimm, Court, Hayward, Kyrinis, deLuis, Strathroy’s Jane Hedges-McKinnon, Stouffville’s Ivy Steinberg, Dundas’ Sarah-Anne Smurlick, Toronto’s Kelly Koselek and Reid.