Thomson youngest Ladies Open champ

Call it the changing of the guard, or the start of a new era.
Whatever the case, you can call Chrissie Thomson the new Kitchen Creek Ladies Open champion after she carded an 80 for a three-stroke victory over perennial champ Joan Richardson last Saturday.
At just 16 years old, she’s also the youngest person ever to win the ladies’ event here.
Richardson, of Grand Rapids, Mn., won the championship flight with an 83–four strokes better than runner-up Janet Bembeneck.
Megan Reid took top honours in the first flight (89), Maureen Thomson won the second flight (91), Alana Cawston took the third flight (102), and Joanne Gosselin topped the fourth flight (111).
Some 47 golfers competed this year.
Thomson’s round was highlighted by birdies at #3 and #12. But it was her error-free play over the last two holes that proved to be the difference.
Leading Richardson by just one stroke through 16 holes, Thomson calmly recorded pars at #17 and #18 while her playing partner, desperately trying to catch up, bogeyed them.
Thomson felt it was her familiarity with the local course, and her ability to “stay out of trouble,” that earned the victory.
“I think I played the course well, and I think by playing other courses a lot, I’ve learned about using course management,” said Thomson, who has picked up tournament victories earlier this year on the Minnesota PGA Tour.
“I try to look at the scorecard now a little bit so I don’t have to be playing out of trouble,” she added.
The only trouble Thomson had all round was on the par-four ninth, which she double-bogeyed when her short game disappeared.
But Thomson’s touch around the green was pretty good otherwise here Saturday–and certainly much better than at the national playdowns the week before in Red Deer, Alta., where she competed as a member of the four-person Manitoba team that finished sixth overall.
On a personal level, Thomson struggled the first day, finishing with a disappointing 91, then followed that up with rounds of 81 and 86 to finish in 72nd position.
“On Saturday, I was putting and chipping a lot better than at the nationals,” she admitted.
“I don’t know why but I was putting poorly,” she added. “And it was a difficult course. I had to hit the greens because if I missed them, there were an average of five bunkers around each green.”
Still, Kitchen Creek pro Gord Workum said Thomson has a lot of great golf ahead of her and was optimistic she’ll continue to improve at the national level.
“She did extremely well, she did just great,” he enthused, adding Thomson often is competing against girls as old as 18 at the nationals.
“She tries not to get into too much trouble and she doesn’t have the penalty strokes add up,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Thomson won’t have much time to rest on her laurels as she hits the links again next Monday to take part in the Players Cup tournament for all players who have earned a victory on the Minnesota PGA Tour.
After that, she’ll compete in the Kitchen Creek club championship Sept. 11-12.