Winnipeg golfer captures Ladies Open

The bobbling sound made by a golf ball as it rolls into the cup and comes to a halt is the most heightening sound in golf. And that noise never sounded sweeter for Karen Nistico.
Nistico carded a round of 81 in wet conditions on Saturday to capture the annual Ladies Open at Kitchen Creek—adding another highlight for the golfer who has been teeing it up since she was 12 years old.
“I played consistently and I putted really well,” said Nistico, a 10 handicapper. “My driver could’ve been a little bit better, but everything worked out well today [Saturday].”
Forty-three golfers took part in the Ladies Open, 11 more than last year.
On the 5,620-yard, par-74 course (for the ladies), Nistico’s best play came at the par-three fifth hole, where she thought she was in distress but actually set up her best shot of the day.
“I hit the five-iron into the sand and I thought, ‘Uh-oh, I’m going to wreck my score,’ [but] I chipped out of the sand and birdied it,” said Nistico, an elementary teacher in Winnipeg for 25 years after being born and raised in Thunder Bay.
Her worst hole?
“I can’t remember which hole it was because I’m not from around here, but you have to hit up and there are a group of trees on the left and then you go around the bend, and I hit it into the trees and I hit it to punch it out, and that wasn’t too good,” she recalled.
The steady rain, which started early in the morning before finally stopping in the early afternoon, did not create ideal playing conditions and contributed to some of the high scores seen, but it didn’t hamper the spirits of the golfers, especially Nistico.
“It was getting kind of messy and especially before the rain stopped. But it was manageable and it wasn’t pouring too, too bad, so it was okay,” said Nistico, whose favourite club is her nine-iron “because I can hit it straight every time.”
Much like how anglers pre-fish before the start of a tournament, Nistico pre-golfed by playing nine-straight days leading up to the Ladies Open on courses throughout Northwestern Ontario, which definitely contributed to her consistent play.
“In any tournament you want to do well, but nine days of golfing in a row helped and this is now the end of my golf holiday,” Nistico smiled in the lower level of the Kitchen Creek clubhouse.
“For this summer anyway,” she added.
Donna Lee was the top local golfer Saturday, carding an 85 to take first low gross in the championship flight—four strokes behind Nistico.
Joan Richardson was second low gross with an 86.
Kris Krag of Fort Frances captured first low net in the championship flight (77), followed by Punky Stadum (78).
Capturing first low gross in the first-third flights were Meg Ross (87), Lena Copenace (97), and Marg Bogacki (111), respectively.
The first low net winners in the first-third flights, respectively, were Jan Dolk (74), Kate Allard (74), and Julie Lowry (83).
Closest-to-the-hole winners were Allard (#5), Copenace (#7), June Cunningham (#11), and Mary Ducharme (#13).
Krag had the longest drive at the first hole.