Marian Barker Wins 2020 Women’s Senior Stroke Play
Briefly: A flawless front-nine and just a single bogey, along with three birdies, gave three-time Women’s Senior Stroke Play Champion Marian Barker of Lubbock yet another championship title Wednesday afternoon. Barker carded a 2-under 70 Final Round, finishing at 5-over-par 221 at Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth.
With a strong field and “so many past champions” Barker thought to herself, “oh my, this is going to be hard because there are so many good players.” But it may have been her personal goals she set for herself each day that lead to her success. Barker said, “I got to start in the top (final) group and said to myself, see if you can be in that group tomorrow, and then I was!” Barker won her fourth Women’s Senior Stroke Play title, as well as capturing the super-senior division title.
Jewell Malick of Heath, a recent addition to the super-super senior division and 2014, 2015, and 2016 super-senior division champion, finished —- to capture the super-super senior division title.
Leaderboard (Overall):
1) Marian Barker Lubbock 74-77-70 | 221
2) Kelly Nittoli San Antonio 74-78-74 | 226
3) Marlyn Hardy Magnolia 79-74-80 | 233
T4) Cathy Crumley San Antonio 82-76-76 | 234
T5) Stephanie Blout Mission 75-79-80 | 234
Golf Course: The John Bredemus design was built in 1928 and features a traditional layout with narrow fairways and small greens. The 18-hole championship golf course was renovated by Ralph Plummer in 1954 and then redesigned by Jay Morrish in 1987. Despite its shorter length, the tree-lined fairways and sloped Tifeagle greens have withstood the test of time and demand accuracy over brute strength.
Weather: Temperatures reached 92 degrees with wind blowing out of the West Southwest at 8 mph.
In Contention: Kelly Nittoli of San Antonio gave Barker a good run after shooting even-par 37 on the front nine. Nittoli finished in second place with a 10-over-par 266.
Magnolia’s Marilyn Hardy finished third with a 17-over-par 233, and Kathy Crumley of San Antonio and Stephnaie Blount tied for fourth with an 18-over-par total of 234.
What’s Next: The Women’s Pinehurst will be held at Panorama Golf Club on November 2-3.The Texas Golf Association would like to extend our immense gratitude to the staff and members of Ridglea Country Club for hosting and making this event memorable for all who took part.
More Info: For more information on the Women’s Senior Stroke Play, click here.