Kat Kennedy Wins PGA of BC Women's Championship
2021 PGA of BC Women's Champion Kat Kennedy - Image Courtesy PGA of BC
Via PGA of BC Press Release
SEPTEMBER 29, 2021 - SURREY, BC (PGA of British Columbia) -– Kat Kennedy’s steady play over two days at Northview Golf & Country Club led to her first professional victory on Wednesday as she captured top spot in the PGA of BC Women’s Championship presented by Dexim Golfwear.
Despite a windy and rainy final round to the 36-hole, stableford-scoring tournament, Kennedy (Point Grey Golf & Country Club) matched the 33-point performance she put up in Tuesday’s opening round to take the title with a 66-point total. Under the stableford format, players earn one point for a bogey, two points for a par, three points for a birdie and so on.
“It feels amazing,” said the 26-year-old, whose last win came in the 2018 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a win and doing it while playing amongst some great ladies was a great experience for me out there.”
Kennedy entered the final round one point off the lead. She made nine pars on the front nine before a 10th-hole birdie gave her an advantage over first-round leader and defending champion Christine Wong (University Golf Club) but sparked a back-and-forth battle for the lead.
“When I first made that birdie on Hole 10, the next swing I tugged it a little bit left, put it in the water and that rattled me a little bit” said Kennedy. “I had to slow everything down again … stay patient. With the weather, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Kennedy took the lead for good with a par on the par-3 16th and was able to clinch the victory with a low-stress par on the closing par-5 18th. She earned $900 for the win. “It’s special to get my name on this trophy,” she said. “I know a lot of great ladies have won this event and I wanted to be able to put my name on there and represent Point Grey.”
Michelle Waters (Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club) finished with 63 points to take runner-up honours and collect $600 for her performance. The 25-year-old said the result was “huge” for her.
“I came 10th out of 10 last year, so it’s a good little step up the ladder,” she said. “It’s been a long season of just trying to find my swing again and I’ve posted a lot of low-80s rounds this year, so to shoot two back-to-back rounds (of gross scores) in the 70s was really nice.
“Who knows? Maybe one year I’ll take it home.”
Stephanie Wong (Point Grey Golf & Country Club) matched Kennedy for best round of the day with 33 points and placed third, five points off the pace, to take home $425. Kyla Inaba (Predator Ridge Resort) also finished in the money, with her 58-point total good for fourth spot and $325. Christine Wong was ultimately disqualified due to a scorecard error.
CLICK HERE to view complete final results.
Northview Golf & Country Club served as a tremendous host for the event, honouring its history as a past PGA TOUR stop by using weekend pin positions from the 1998 Greater Vancouver Open on the Ridge Course for the Women’s Championship this week. The PGA of BC thanks host Head Professional Greg Pool, superintendent Dave Fair and the entire Northview team for their outstanding hospitality during the tournament.
“Greg Pool and his team did a phenomenal job,” said Kennedy. “The course was in great condition. Even with the amount of rain we received, the course held up really well out there so we were fortunate to be able to have our event here.”
Further thanks go to Dexim Golfwear for its continued support of the Women’s Championship and its on-site presence during both rounds of the event.