Shelly Stouffer Shoots Even Par, One Stroke Behind Jessica Luciuk After Round 2 At Cowichan

Shelley Stouffer Shot An Even-Par Round Of 72, The Best Round During Round Two Of The British Columbia Golf 2015 Mid-Master, Senior & Super Senior Women’s Championship At Cowichan - Image Credit Alfie Lau

by Alfie Lau

While Alberta’s Jessica Luciuk maintained the lead in the Mid-Master division at the British Columbia Golf 2015 Mid-Master, Senior & Super Senior Women’s Championship at Cowichan Golf & Country Club, the biggest move during Round 2 came from Fairwinds Golf & Country Club’s Shelly Stouffer.

Stouffer made five birdies and was sitting at (-4) for the round as she stood on the 17th tee when her driver let her down, leading to consecutive double bogies and an even par round of 72.

“I’m still happy,” said a smiling Stouffer. “I had such a good round going, but my drives on the final two holes weren’t good. I three-putted 17 and I went OB (out of bounds) on 18, but it’s all good. I’m excited about tomorrow, I’m in the mix.”

Stouffer said the only golf she plays these days is tournament golf and she gets better as she gets more acquainted with the course and course conditions. “That’s what has me so excited, the fact I play better as tournaments go on,” said Stouffer. “There’s one round to go and I’m feeling good about my game.”

Stouffer sits at (+6) 150, one stroke behind Barrhead, AB’s Jessica Luciuk, who was the co-leader after the first round with a (+2) round of 74. Luciuk shot a (+3) round of 75 to sit at (+5) 149 heading into the final round at Cowichan Friday.

Victoria’s Alison Murdoch rode a round that included 7 birdies to the top of the Senior & Super Senior divisions, as her (+3) round of 75 now has her at (+10) 154, one stroke ahead of defending champion Jackie Little, who sits one stroke back in the Senior Division at (+11) 155, and first-round co-leader Holly Horwood, who sits in a tie with Karen Kloske at (+12) 156. Horwood is second in the Super Senior division.

“I needed all those birdies,” Murdoch said to her fellow competitors as they congregated around the 18th green. Her fellow competitors then joked that Murdoch and Stouffer, who played in the same group, took all the birdies, as they tallied 12 combined birdies. 

But the story at the top of the leaderboard continues to be the Albertan who is on vacation on Vancouver Island and playing both this week and at next week’s BC Women’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur. “I had 4 3-putts and 2 penalty strokes and I still shot 75,” said Luciuk. “Hopefully, I can eliminate those tomorrow.”

image credit alfie lau

Jessica Luciuk Of Barrhead, AB Hasn’t Putted Well But Still Leads The British Columbia Golf 2015 Mid-Master Championship At Cowichan

Luciuk admitted she’s had some trouble with the thicker British Columbia grass, as she thought she made a nice chip on the final hole, only to see it come up short. Luciuk did make her par save, which is the margin of her lead going into Friday. “I’m going to have fun, try and hit some good golf shots,” said Luciuk.

When asked whether she thinks about winning, Luciuk said: “It doesn’t enter my mind. If it happens, it happens. When I worked with a sports psychologist at Ohio State, I learned I had to focus on the shot at hand. That’s the only thing you can control.”

In the Zone Competition which concluded after 36 holes, the Zone 5 team of Alison Murdoch and Penny Baziuk finished tied at (+28) 316 with the Zone 6 team of Jackie Little and Josee Deslauriers but the title went to the Zone 5 team of Murdoch and Baziuk because of a better back-9 scorecard.

In other competitions being contested at Cowichan, Murdoch and Karen Kloske had the benefit of Murdoch’s 7 birdies to shoot a (-10) round that takes them to the top spot in the Best-Ball competition, at (-15), one stroke ahead of first-round leaders Holly Horwood and Diana Maughan; while Murdoch leads the Stableford A Flight division; Georgina Hermans, Roma Crispin, Linda Aikens and Lorraine Clerihue share the lead in the Stableford B Flight division; and Diana Maughan leads the Stableford C Flight division.

The final round of the British Columbia Golf 2015 Mid-Master, Senior & Super Senior Women’s Championship at Cowichan Golf & Country Club starts at 7:30 a.m. Friday, with the final groups heading out on the course just after 10 a.m. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to come out and watch.

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