Meridian Valley Country Club in Kent, Wash. is set to host the 15th Washington State Women’s Best-Ball Championship, conducted by the Washington State Golf Association, which commences Monday, May 5. The two-day championship includes many of the top women amateur golfers from Washington and Northern Idaho.
This year’s field is headlined by defending champions Ginny Burkey of Fircrest, Wash. and Lisa Smego of Olympia, Wash. The victory in last year’s championship was one of the reasons Smego was selected as the 2013 WSGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year. Last year, the duo legged out a one shot victory over Leslie Folsom and Jane Harris, both of Tukwila, Wash. Folsom and Harris have already won this championship an astonishing eight times, and will be aiming for a ninth title this year, and with Folsom already having won this year’s WSGA Women’s Champion of Champions, held two weeks ago, they are primed for another run. Other past champions in the strong field include Mimi Racicot and Jani Japar (2003) and Ann Swanson and Amy Elieff-Walker (2005).
The format for the championship is a 36-hole Four-Ball stroke play (gross and net). The field will be divided into flights based on team handicap. There will be a morning shotgun start each day. This year, the popular championship again comprises a full field.