Veteran Champions Tee It Up at British Columbia Women’s Amateur
Reigning British Columbia Super Senior Women’s Champion Alison Murdoch Said Being Confident In Her Hybrids Has Allowed Her To Compete Against The Young Ladies At The British Columbia Amateur At Duncan Meadows - Image Credit Alfie Lau
by Alfie Lau
Jackie Little and Alison Murdoch don’t have much to prove in the world of British Columbia amateur golf. After all, Little just defended her BC Senior Women’s title at Cowichan on June 26th and Murdoch walked away with the Super Senior title.
Little also has the BC Mid-Amateur trophy named after her, so we’re talking about two legends of amateur golf in the province.
But how do they compete against youngsters old enough to be their grandchildren, but more importantly, youngsters who boom their drivers and irons obscene distances and with the silky short game to match?
Both were teeing it up at the British Columbia Women’s Amateur at Duncan Meadows, less than a week after winning their titles in Cowichan.
While Duncan Meadows played to an average of just over 6,000 yards each day, Little and Murdoch are more accustomed to the 5,600 yards they played at Cowichan last week.
“You do get used to hitting your second shot first a lot of the time,” said Murdoch. “That means I have to be confident with my longer clubs, confident that my hybrids will put me into positions where I can score.”
Little concurs: “You have to mentally prepare yourself to hit longer clubs. You have to plan how you’re going to play each hole.” Little said she spends a lot of her practice time chipping and putting. “Those are the scoring clubs and I know I have to be good with them,” said Little.
Little is also amazed at the advantages young golfers have these days, especially with technology. “When we started out, we would just play cut down clubs,” said Little. “Now, all of their clubs are custom fitted. That’s where golf is heading.”
image credit alfie lau
Reigning British Columbia Senior Women’s Champion Jackie Little Has Found Veteran Ways To Compete Against The Young Ladies At The British Columbia Amateur At Duncan Meadows
Murdoch, a longtime member of the Victoria Golf Club, is a wizard with her short irons and her putter. But perhaps her biggest advantage is she’s fit, still carrying her lightweight bag on her shoulders and taking direct routes to every hole.
“When it’s this warm, I’m not stiff at all and it’s nice to walk and carry,” said Murdoch, who admitted she does use a motorized cart when it’s wet.
She loves her lightweight bag so much that she wasn’t toting her newly earned Titleist 2015 Champion’s bag for winning the Super Senior title.
Little also walks, pushing her cart along. “I do enjoy the walks,” she said, adding that the walks allow her to do her course management and figure out the best way for her to make low scores.
No matter what happens, Little and Murdoch have legacies the youngsters envy, even if they have to look back on each fairway to see them hitting.
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