Lisa Smego of Olympia, Wash. sank a 20-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to win the 17th Washington State Senior Women's Amateur; while Karen Madison of East Wenatchee, Wash. bested the field by seven shots to win the 3rd Washington State Super Senior Women's Amateur.
The two-day championships were conducted by the Washington State Golf Association and held concurrently at Sunland Golf & Country Club in Sequim, Wash.
This is the fourth title in this championship for Smego, having previously won in 2006, 2007 and 2013. She has also twice won the Washington State Women's Mid-Amateur (2010 and 2011).
"I'd been having some back problems," Smego said, "but my good friend Ginny (Burkey) was nagging me to come up and play. So I came up (to Sequim) and stayed together. I had a pretty good week, but I can't say that anyone played particularly well today; I'm not sure why, because the course was set up fairly, but the scores just weren't out there today."
Paired with Kathy Provazek-Ross of Mercer Island, Wash. in the final round, Smego said she knew she was close to the lead in the end, and was offered to be told what the scores were while playing the last few holes. "But I declined," she said. "I knew Kathy was playing well on the back nine, so I wasn't surprised to learn that she and I were in the playoff."
Smego defeated Provazek-Ross in the playoff, after Kathy had bogeyed the par-5 18th hole in the final round to fall into a tie with Lisa.
Click here to watch Smego's post-round interview.
Madison was the only player in the Super Senior Women's field to break 80 in both rounds, and found herself seven shots clear of second-place finisher Carol Dick of Lakewood, Wash. Carol had won this championship in 2014.
"Well, this is a great event," Madison said. "It's a great opportunity for those of us over 65 to be able to compete in it, so thanks to the WSGA for this. (Sunland) is a beautiful course, the greens were very fast."
Madison had only played the course just once prior to the championship, in the practice round. "I didn't hit very many greens in regulation," she said, "but I did chip and putt pretty well, and I hit a lot of fairways, which is important on a course like this."
Last year, Madison won the Pacific Northwest Super Senior Women's Amateur, on her way to earning the 2015 WSGA Senior Women's Player of the Year honors.
Click here to watch Madison's post-round interview.
Click here for complete hole-by-hole scoring results.
