Pro golfer Jessica Shepley of Oakville, Ont. withstood the pressure of a two-player, sudden-death playoff on Wednesday (May 18), besting Californian Joy Trotter on the fourth extra hole and taking home the $10,000 top prize at the season's lone West Coast stop on the CN Canadian Women's Tour.
The host 麻豆社国产Valley Golf Club (SVGC) was also a big winner, drawing rave reviews from the 90 professionals and amateurs who competed in the two-day, 36-hole tournament and enhancing its chances of hosting top pro and amateur tournaments in the future.
Shepley, who shot a one-under-par 71 on Tuesday (May 17) and a sterling 67 on Wednesday, said she was impressed with the course and others seemed to agree.
"I think it's a beautiful course. It sets up well," said Shepley, who also won the CN Women's Tour event in 2010 when it was played at Quilchena Golf and Country Club in Richmond. "You've got to drive straight off the tee, because there are lots of trees. It plays really well and I'd love to come back."
"I always let the players be the judge and they're very content very content," said Brian Avey, SVGC general manager. "Obviously, that speaks well for the community and the club's ability to host big events like this."
The course, which hosted the Canadian Women's Amateur tourney in 2005, has a chance to become a regular stop on the CN Women's Tour. Avey said Golf Canada is considering establishing a three-year rotation with fixed sites for the tour's West Coast stop.
If it does that, "We'd like to get into that mix," Avey said.
Some 60 volunteers, most of them club members, came together to help make the tournament happen. As well, 40 of the 90 players had billets in town during the tournament. The consensus, Avey said, seemed to be that the course played magnificently, the tournament went smoothly and the hospitality was second to none.
It also helped that the weather gods co-operated with warm, sunny conditions though the weeks leading into the tourney presented some challenges, he said. After chilly, wet weather for most of April and the first part of May, SVGC officials weren't sure whether the course would be at its best for the tournament.
"You worry about new diseases when you have cold weather for a long time," he said. "We did some turf samples and we were told, 'You have no growth. You need some warm weather.' And we got it just in the nick of time."
Hosting such a successful pro tournament is a "major marketing tool" that should help attract others in the future, Avey said. "It's like anything," he said. "You've got to bring them to your location to play your course before you'll get them to come back."
Shepley wouldn't have had a chance to play off against Trotter if the Californian had sunk a seven-foot par putt on the final hole of regulation play. But Trotter's putt rimmed out, leaving the two tied at five under par.
Trotter, who shot a 69 to lead the tournament by one shot after the first day, appeared headed for victory after birdying the 15th and 16th holes to go to seven under, two shots ahead of Shepley and Jisoo Keel of Coquitlam. Keel, an amateur who shot a course-record 66 on Wednesday to storm into contention, bogeyed the 18th to leave her at four under.
Trotter bogeyed the 17th hole and just missed winning the tournament when her par putt on the 18th rimmed out, setting up the playoff.
Both players carded par-4s during the first three playoff holes. The third time through, though, Trotter putted out and Shepley faced a pressure situation with a 12-foot putt for par. She calmly stepped up and drained it.
"I just try to be confident over it," she said when asked about those sorts of situations. "I just saw the line and tried to hit a confident stroke."
On the fourth playoff hole, Trotter hooked her tee shot into the trees on the left side of the fairway, next to a fence. It took her two shots to get back onto the fairway, and by the time the two reached the green, Trotter's ball was lying five and Shepley's two. Shepley then two-putted for par to secure the victory.
