Womens Golf Association of Western Pennsylvania

The annual Fall Meeting of the Women’s Golf Association of Western Pennsylvania, hosted at Green Oaks Country Club, featured the traditional agenda of reflection and anticipation as outgoing President Corinne Lacich delivered her final executive report and introduced incoming President Christine Haythorn.

In a year that has seen the membership rise to 581, Western continues to provided its members with a slate of competitive and casual events while honoring its mission to promote women’s golf in western Pennsylvania.  Following are some highlights from the luncheon and business meeting:

--Two new events were introduced this season (One and One and the Mixed Better Ball) and became quick favorites with full fields.  A “Mystery Tour” trip to a non-Western club is in the works for 2018.

--Our affiliation with the West Penn Golf Association continues to strengthen our operations and provide new opportunities for growth.  West Penn introduced two new women’s events: a Net Championship that was held at South Hills and a stroke play championship that was hosted by Cranberry Highlands. Western provided the trophies for some of the flight winners in these events.   Congratulations to Claudette Graham who takes over the reins at West Penn becoming its first female President!

--A rise in Junior participation is exciting to witness!  Three tournaments and the annual golf clinic continue to attract young girls to the sport we love.  In large part to contributions from our Western members to the junior program, two “You Betcha” scholarships, totaling $4,000, were awarded to Olivia Zambruno (entering Penn State University) and Alexandra Bozich (attending University of Dayton).  

--Mark your calendars for the Spring Two-Day at the Peek ‘n Peak resort just over the Pennsylvania border in Clymer NY on June 18 and 19; the Fall Two-Day will be on September 10 and 11 at the Hidden Valley and Seven Springs golf courses.

--Tournament registration will take on a different appearance as “Golf Genius” replaces the “Tournament Pairing Program (TPP)” to which we were accustomed.  The USGA has also converted to Golf Genius.

--The new slate of officers for the Executive Board was presented by the Nominating Committee and approved by the attendees.  The Board welcome Carolyn Morford (1 year-Handicap and Membership), Nicolina Kelly (2 years-Juniors), Marsha Jessup (2 years-Team Matches) and Christine Flynn (2 years-Assistant Tournament Chair).  Patti Mansfield is the new Vice President and Tournament Chair and Christine Haythorn will serve as President for the next two years.  Gus Karys (Secretary), Jamie Kerestes (Open Days) and Maria Jarrett (Treasurer) continue their terms through next year.  We thank out-going Board members Beth Szymczak and Phyllis Beuttner for their service and dedication to the organization.

--Virginia Frew Wright Player of the Year Danielle Proctor picked up her fourth award presented by Barbara Russell (Past President and granddaughter of Frew Wright), a beautiful 5-pearl pendant.  Russell shared some personal memories of her grandmother’s special friendship with Mrs. Clayton Frick whose gift to Frew Wright inspired the current award.

--The 2018 WGAWP Championship will be conducted under a new format!  Smaller fields in recent years stemming from members’ reluctance to embrace the previous 5-day qualifier/match play format and concerns about asking clubs to commit a full week at their facility for such a small group charged the Board with the task of making the event more player-friendly while maintaining it’s stature among the slate of events.  Next season, all players will participate in the Bobby Cruikshank Memorial Qualifying Tournament with the top players competing in two more days of stroke play to determine the champion; net prizes will also be awarded in this division.  For those players who do NOT compete in the Championship division, their qualifying scores will be converted to a Stableford score.  Flighted by handicap index, players will contest one additional day of gross Stableford scoring to determine flight winners.  Chartiers is the site for the 2018 Championship.

--Corinne Lacich finished her term as the 48th president of Western by handing over the gavel to Christine Heythorn.  Heythorn presented Lacich with her ruby-chip, retired President’s pin.  The family of Past-President Ruth Podbielski (who passed away in April) returned this pin to be given to Corinne at the conclusion of her term.  Very special, indeed!

Congratulations to Corinne and all members of the Board, the volunteers who serve on committees, the delegates from member clubs, team captains, the management from our host clubs and tournament director Kim Kness on a fabulous and fun season of golf!