Mercer Island Women Compete in 83rd Annual SWGA Golf Tournament

On June 13 – 17, Sahalee Country Club will host the 2011 Seattle Women’s Golf Association (SWGA) City Championship.  Founded in 1927, SWGA held its first Championship at Glendale in 1928 and has continued ever since.  The field for this tournament of 112 women golfers represents 13 clubs: Bear Creek, Fairwood, Glen Acres, Glendale, Inglewood, Meridian Valley, Overlake, Plateau, Rainier, Sahalee, Sand Point, Seattle, and Twin Lakes.   

Six Mercer Island women will be playing in the SWGA City Championship:

Kirsten Sandman, Sharon Falkner, Claudia Robbs, Deni Sutherland, Kathy Provazek and Nancy Carson.

Ranging in age from their 30s through their 70s, these Mercer Islanders are serious about their love of golf and competition.

“After about a year of practicing with my boyfriend, I really got into golf, and loved it so much I changed my work schedule to swing shift so I could play golf every morning,” said Kathy Provazek. “I practice everyday, play 18 holes 5 times and week and have a golf studio in my house so my boyfriend and I can keep our game sharp. I really look forward to the tournament every year because it’s competitive, and that makes it fun for me.”

Kirsten Sandman, who has lived on Mercer Island for 24 years, was a physical education major in college, and had played golf off and on for 40 years when she joined the Glendale Country Club with her husband to stay active. “The (SWGA) Tournament is a great time to have all the clubs together and meet all the ladies who are at the same level of golf as you,” said Sandman. “It’s a healthy competition.”

Claudia Robbs, who is co-president of the Mercer Island PTA Council, was living on the Sahalee Golf Club and working at Microsoft when she decided to retire to Mercer Island 25 years ago. “Still, I’ve only been golfing for 15 years,” Robbs said. “I’ve always been a competitive person, and this (SWGA Tournament) is a walk in the park. I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of it, and I know there will be at least 20 players under the handicap of 10 there, so my goal is to play that division and bracket well, hopefully to win.”

Island resident Sharon Falkner took up golf with her husband when she was in her 30s, and found that when playing at Meridian Valley Country Club in Kent, she had a fairly steep learning curve.  “It’s not an easy sport, you have to be patient,” she said. “Playing competitively was the next logical step, and the draw to this (SWGA Tournament) is to test your skills against others who are as good as you are. Not only do you test your golf ability, you have to be mentally strong to concentrate for four hours.”

A Mercer Island resident for 20 years, Deni Sutherland said that though she’s been athletic her whole life, in searching for a sport to play with her husband, she found a golf class at Jefferson Park Golf Course on Beacon Hill 21 years ago that was a reality check for her. “Golf looked so easy, and was so hard I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “But that got me hooked because I wanted to master the sport in the worst way.” Sutherland said she noticed that it is hard for women to find a place to compete, because most golf tournaments are geared toward men.  “The (SWGA) City Tournament is a very collegial environment; I’ve learned so much from the women who play it, especially the Mercer Island women are kind and helpful,” she said. “This is only my second tournament, and I had such a blast last year, I’m looking forward to it. I recommend it to all women, even if they’ve never picked up a golf club—they need to get out there and start playing golf; it’s a fabulous sport for women.”

Update: There was one winner from Mercer Island in the final matches at the SWGA Tournament:
Kirsten Sandman won the fifth flight; Joanie Fox was runner-up
Claudia Robbs also made it to the final day but was runner-up in the third flight.

For those wondering what a 'flight' is: The (SWGA Tournament) field is divided into flights based on handicap, except the Championship flight which is the 16 players with the lowest gross scores in the qualifying round on Monday.  There are 16 players in each flight on Tuesday, Championship flight, 2nd flight, 4th flight, 6th flight, 8th flight, and 10th flight.  They play a match, one player against a second player.  All players who lose on Tuesday, then go to a drop flight, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th.  Players who lose their match on Wednesday are out of the tournament.  By Friday there are only 2 players left in each flight for the final matches.