Seventeen year old Elizabeth Elmassian reflected on her experience as the 2014 Elvie Whitesides 72-Hole Stroke Play Champion. Elizabeth, a member of The Australian Golf Club, came from behind toppling overnight leader Hannah Green from WA by one stroke. She knew she had to birdie the last hole to win and rolled in the 30 foot putt to secure her victory, winning her first National Ranking event. 4th February 2014 I arrived in Launceston, Tasmania and was collected from the airport by Golf Tasmania Manager Stuart Eaton. After a ten minute drive, we arrived at the Country Club Tasmania Golf Resort and were ushered through the spiral door to front reception by the bellboys. I settled in and had a practice round. Despite the dry weather of Launceston, the golf course was in good condition. 5th February – I played with Jane and Gill from Tasmania in the Sponsors Pro Am. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun together. Jane finished 3rd in the Stableford beating Gill on a count back, whilst I took home honours in the women’s stroke event. 6th February Day 1 of the Tournament: Kris Barkway flew in the night before and caddied for me. It was an ordinary first day. I shot five over. So ordinary, that I can barely remember much of the round. At the end of the round I made use of the facilities by having a hot cold recovery session. 7th and 8th February Two days of ordinary golf again! shooting one over each day. This consisted of four doubles and six 3-putts which left me four shots behind going into the final round. A little practice and a game of tennis left me ready to go into the final round. 9th February – I went into my last round knowing that I had nothing to lose. The conditions were windy so I knew it was going to be difficult; I had to just go for every shot. The round started off with a 3-putt on the short par three from 20 feet. I didn t let this get to me and birdied the next hole. I finally birdied the daunting 9th hole which I had double bogeyed the previous day. After facing my fear I knew I had nothing to lose. I bogeyed my 17th hole and went into the 18th feeling that I needed to birdie the last hole to have a chance. I bombed my rescue down the middle and hit my seven iron leaving myself a downhill putt. As I stood over the ball, in the back of my mind I knew I needed to make the putt. As the ball left the putter it began racing towards the hole. My heart was pounding and escalated when the ball hit the back of the hole and dropped. Mixed emotions arose and I had no idea how to react, but I knew that I was in with a chance. In such conditions, one under was a pretty good score. I handed my scorecard in and waited .. The feeling was amazing. I had won! The day before had left me disheartened. I doubled the 17th to finish one over, but the feeling of coming back from behind allowed me to believe that anything is possible. I was so happy that I was representing New South Wales, and was able to bring home a win. There were many ups and downs during the week but despite this I ensured I seized every opportunity I was given. To download a full list of scores please click here.
Author: Elizabeth Elmassian