By STEFAN GESTWICKI
OBSERVER Sports Reporter
Some of the best golfers in the state are primed to tee off today for the 60th New York State Women's Senior and Super Senior Amateur Championship, held at Shorewood Country Club in Dunkirk.
Article Photos
OBSERVER?Photos by Stefan Gestwicki
The 60th New York State Golf Association Senior and Super Senior Women’s Championship is set to begin today at Shorewood Country Club in Dunkirk. The tournament will feature the best amateur golfers over 50 years old in the state.
The tournament begins after most players arrived in the area on Monday morning to play a practice round. Today will be the opening round with a second round to be played Wednesday.
A handful of golfers raved about scenic Shorewood C.C during the practice round.
"We basically try to move the tournament around every year," Executive Director Bill Moore said. "The senior women are usually looking for venues, maybe not based solely on golf, but on the surrounding area. Shorewood is obviously a nice course and it's a beautiful location down here in Dunkirk."
A 'senior' golfer is classified as over 50 years old while a 'super senior' is over 65 years of age. Don't be fooled by the ages however, these women can flat out golf.
"I would say most of the best senior women in the state are here," Moore added. "The handicaps range from about two to the 20's. The quality of play at the top of the field is very good. Four or five of the players just qualified for the United States Women's Championship."
While spectators aren't necessarily common at an event like this, Moore made it quite clear that interested golf fans are more than welcome to come watch the events.
A handful of local golfers will be part of the tournament, but the event also brings in a lot of visitors to our area.
"A lot of women travel together for a women's week," Moore commented. "Three or four of them will get in the car and come down and stay at a B&B or hotel. They'll go to dinner. A lot of them came in (Sunday) night and did just that."
Shorewood's beautiful facilities will be showcased during the tournament, but the NYSGA takes care of a majority of the work.
"We bring in our full staff," Moore explained. "We also bring in between 10-15 of our volunteers that will come in and work the event. We set the pin placements and the tee boxes. We don't make it purposely harder than any other tournament."
Being an amateur tournament means that no prize money will be awarded, but the winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony following Wednesday's action.
"Most of the players stick around for that, which is fun," Moore added.
