WSGA SENIOR TOURNAMENT PRESS RELEASE for September 26, 2012

Winton Country Club Golf Course Par 72, 5602 Yards.
Slope/Rating: 72.4/122 Format: 54 Hole stroke play flighted after 36 holes
Non defending Champion: Mina Hardin of Fort Worth, TX
Non defending Super Senior Champion: Claudeen Lindberg of Atlanta, GA

Virginia has not held the WSGA Katherine Graham Senior Trophy since Marie Winks of Forest, Virginia captured the title in 1988. Hope runs high as Virginians continue their exceptional play on the links of Winton Country Club’s golf course. Mimi Hoffman of Springfield and Joanne Kitusky of Glenn Allen are tied with former WSGA Senior Champion, Taffy Brower, of Boynston Beach, Florida. The trio have posted a 36 hole total of 153. Florida has held the trophy eleven times in the twenty-six year history of the WSGA Senior Championship. Maryland, who has never had a WSGA Senior winner, is hoping Meg Giusti of Olney, Maryland can overcome her three-stroke deficit in the final round on Thursday. Lecia Alexander of Stafford, TX is also tied for fourth place with Giusti. Alexander is hoping to rally to bring home the title to the Lone Star State for it 7th time in WSGA Senior History. The Super Senior Division ( players over the age of seventy) is led by the stellar play of Cynthia Curry of Charlotte, North Carolina. Curry leads her nearest competitor, Linda Carter, of Camden, Arkansas by ten strokes. The action will start early with a shotgun start on Thursday, September 27th at 8:30 a.m. The warmer weather predicted will have the field swinging freely. Spectators are welcome to follow some of the South’s talented senior women golfers as they test the fairways and greens of Winton Country Club’s golf course for one last time.

Mimi Hoffman, tied for 1st with three others		Joanne Kitusky, tied for 1st
Taffy Brower, tied for 1st		Meg Giusti, tied for 4th place	Lecia Alexander, tied for 4th place

The Super Seniors!

Super Senior leader Cynthia Curry Charlotte, NC

In Second - Linda Carter Camden, AR

WSGA SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS FIRST ROUND TOURNAMENT PRESS RELEASE for September 25, 2012

Winton Country Club Golf Course Par 72, 5602 Yards.
Slope/Rating: 72.4/122 Format: 54 Hole stroke play flighted after 36 holes
Non defending Champion: Mina Hardin of Fort Worth, TX
Non defending Super Senior Champion: Claudeen Lindberg of Atlanta, GA

Mimi Hoffman of Springfield, VA was late arriving at Winston Country Club’s busy course on Monday waiting until after work to start out. She was able to schedule a practice round late by following the boys’ high school district tournament on the course since noon. In the late afternoon following the teenagers, Hoffman had a chance to view the course and take a few more practice shots, as she could not go any faster than the tournament groups ahead. Her time spent learning the layout of the Winton Country Club Golf Course paid off. When the first day scoring dust had settled, Hoffman stood alone on the leader board added by an Eagle on the 405 yard par five # 7 with a one over par 73. Birdies on #14 and # 18 on the back nine managed to cover a couple of bogeys giving her a par score for the back nine. Fellow Virginian, Joanne Kitusky of Glenn Allen is alone in second place carding a 75. Kitusky’s lone birdie came on the very first hole. Meg Giusti of neighboring Olney, Maryland followed the Virginians with a 77. In fourth place is Taffy Brower of Boynton Beach, Florida Brower, the 2004 WSGA Senior Champion, had to shoot an even par 36, on the challenging back nine to recover from a slow start in the record cool morning. She is 5 back of the leader with her 78. Leading the Super Senior division (over 70 years of age) is Cynthia Curry of Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlene Hughes of Port Gibson, MS is just two strokes behind Curry. Tomorrow after play, the entire field of players will be divided into their flights as determined by their 36 hole total. The oldest player in the field is, 87 year old, Juanita Petrone of Dublin, Virginia. She has held that WSGA Super Senior trophy three times in the past. Petrone, received a standing ovation, as her name was announced by the Starter Judy Allardice of Aiken, SC. Tournament action begins at 8 a.m with the leaders teeing off at 8:20 a.m. Spectators are welcome but must walk as no spectator carts are allowed. Attached is a picture of Juanita Petrone as she sends the ball down the fairway on the first tee box. Also pictured is Mimi Hoffman, current leader taken as she arrived straight from her practice round to the welcome dinner.

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Press release for WSGA Senior Practice Round
September 24, 2012 Clifford, Virginia

Winton Country Club Golf Course Par 72, 5602 Yards.
Slope/Rating: 72.4/122 Format: 54 Hole stroke play flighted after 36 holes
The prestigious Women's Southern Golf Association has brought its Senior Championship to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the links of Winton Country Club. Practice rounds on Monday, Sept. 24th, brought praise from the Southern ladies, arriving from the fifteen member Southern States and the District of Columbia, for the pristine greens and scenic fairways of the stately course. The highlight of the practice round was the hole-in-one by Fran Hensley of Ridgeway, VA. It took a 5 hybrid and dead aim for Hensley, a former Virginia Golf Association Senior golfer of the year to secure her ace. Tournament rounds begin Tuesday, Sept. 25th and will finish Thursday Sept. 27th. Below is a picture of Fran Hensley in the center with her witnesses Joanne Kitusky of Glenn Allen, Virginia (left) and Margaret McGehee of Richmond, VA. You can tell by the big smile who carded a one in her practice round.

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News release for Women’s Southern Golf Associations 2012 Senior Amateur
Clifford, Virginia

Winton Country Club Golf Course Par 72, 5602 Yards.
Slope/Rating: 72.4/122 Format: 54 Hole stroke play flighted after 36 holes

Non defending Champion: Mina Hardin of Fort Worth, TX

Non defending Super Senior Champion: Claudeen Lindberg of Atlanta, GA

The quiet farmland of Central Virginia is poised and ready to be invaded by senior women of the Southern States as they make their way, armed with a bag of golf clothes, to Winton Country Club.

Here they will compete in the 27th Women’s Southern Golf Associations’ Senior Tournament. This golf association has been providing a venue for Amateur golfers to showcase their skills since its formation in 1911. The Association is composed of member golf and country clubs in the Southern States including the District of Columbia.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is sending ten of its talented golfers in hopes that the rolling hills of Winton Country Club’s golf course may be friendly to Virginian entries. Natives of Virginia may know how to find the ball in Bermuda grass rough, judge an uneven lie, and how to putt cool weather greens. Among the Virginia competitors, the best hope for a crown lie in Joanne Kitusky of Glenn Allen, Mimi Hoffman of Springfield, and Fran Hensley of Ridgeway. Kitusky is arriving with a 2012 Richmond City trophy in tow as well as a semi finalist honor in the 2012 Virginia State Senior. Hensley, who is from Ridgeway, has been honored in the past as Virginia Senior Player of the year.

Mimi Hoffman has twice held the Virginia State Golf Association’s Senior title.

In the Super Senior division, Juanita Petrone of Dublin, three times winner of the Super Senior trophy for the State of Virginia, plans to keep proving that golf is a life long competitive sport as she competes for her fourth title.

North Carolina is sending a real threat in Cynthia Curry of Charlotte to challenge Petrone for the Super Senior title. Curry was only a few strokes off from the Super Senior crown in the 2011 WSGASenior in Aiken, SC.

Florida is sending a player who has held the Senior Trophy before in Taffy Brower. Brower made WSGA History in 2004 by winning the WSGA Senior and the Amateur the same year.

Lin McMillan of Ormond Beach is another Floridian eyeing the title. She finished 5th last year behind four players that are not in the 2012 field. McMillan also went home from the 2012 WSGA Amateur in Charlotte, NC with top honors in her flight.

Texas always manages to send a group of talented golfers no matter how far away their travels. Counting their handicap index on one finger are Leslie Henry of Addison and Nancy Beck of Dallas. Both of these ladies played well in the WSGA Amateur embarrassing a few college kids with their skill and composure under the pressures of match play. Henry finished third in the 2009 WSGA Senior and took low Sr. Medalist title in the WSGA 2011 Amateur.

Lecia Alexander of Stafford, TX may be the hottest Texas player coming directly from a confidence building semi finalist climb at the USGA Women's Senior Amateur.

Maryland has one of the lowest handicap entries in Meg Giusti of Olney, Md. She is active in golf in the D.C. area; just check archives of the Washington Post for her golfing pedigree.

With former WSGA Senior Champions, Mina Hardin and Anna Schultz, unable to make the trek to Virginia, the title is literally up for grabs. But, each Southern State has hopes that one of their band of challengers will conquer the challenging fairways and huge greens of Winton Country Club Course and bring home a victory.

WSGA activity starts Monday, September 24th with players arriving for registration in the Historic Manor House followed by practice rounds.

Tournament action starts Tuesday the 25th. Players will go off the #1 tee with starting times through Wednesday in this 54 hole event. Wednesday the scoreboard will be a hot spot as players gather to see the flighting for the final round, a shotgun start on Thursday September the 27th. The crowning of the 2012 Women’s Southern Golf Association’s Senior Champion will follow play with an awards luncheon. Spectators are welcome to the course to watch the drama unfold. However, spectators are not allowed to use carts on the course.

More information on the WSGA and its non-profit status can be found by going to the WSGA website www.womens-southerngolfassociation.org On the website you can tour our archives of past championships, learn of our scholarship program for graduating high school girls as well as read our rich history and perhaps recognize a few of our past champions. Also, on the website is a list of our board of directors, honorary directors and state representatives and contact information. Karen Koerner : WSGA Publicity Chairman contact via publicity@womens-southerngolfassociation.org or kkamera@consolidated.net

The Women’s Southern Golf Association wants to re-introduce you to a quaint area of the rolling farmland of Virginia just outside of Amherst, VA in Clifford, VA. Here, with the Blue Ridge Mountains ever present as a backdrop, is The Winton Country Club, which hosted the WSGA 1994 Amateur. After eighteen Years, the WSGA returns to supply our senior golfers with a rare golfing adventure combined with a history lesson.

Like the Palmetto Golf Club, last year’s venue, the golf course is pure nature without a golf course community lining the fairways. But, instead of tied to the history of golf, this venue is tied to a line from our history books: "Give Me Liberty or Give me Death.” Patrick Henry, the famed orator of the Revolutionary War and later the 1st and 6th Governor of Virginia rallied a nation to independence with his gift of words.

To find the connection to Patrick Henry, you just take a stroll through the Winston Manor House (where registration will be held) and read some of the information on the walls. Afterwards, find time to tour the cemetery on the grounds adjacent to the golf course. Here, in this family cemetery, is buried Sarah Winton Syme Henry, mother of the famed lawyer/orator of our independence. She lived in the Manor House with her daughter, Mrs. Samuel Meredith, from 1779-1784.

Winton Country Club is a quiet retreat in a beautiful setting where the Blue Ridge Mountains meet the rolling hills of Virginia. Join the WSGA for its 27th Senior Tournament at Winton Country Club. Let yourself be drawn back away from the stress of modern busy lives to a place where you can enjoy Blue Ridge Mountain views, wide rolling fairways, pristine greens, and time to daydream about life in the 1700’s.

On the grounds of The Winton Country Club is the Winton Manor House built in 1769.
It is used for wedding and special functions. It was the home of Patrick Henry's mother, Sarah Winton Syyme Henry from 1779 to 1784.
She lived here with her daughter Mrs. Samuel Meredith.

Registration for the WSGA Senior Championship Tournament will be in this stately room of the Manor House.

The scoreboard area just outside the Pro Shop is a favorite place to enjoy a post game sandwich and watch the posting of scores.

No real estate ventures on this course. It is all pure golf, away from the hustle and bustle of modern city life.
The website of the Country Club boasts of history and fun coming together right here on this course.

Pictured is the back of the Pro Shop , lunch counter and cart barn.
All, in atmosphere, take you back a few centuries to the Virginia farm of its beginning.

The course, on a clear day, gives you the Blue Ridge Mountains as a back drop to paint images of your game in your mind forever.

Even in the fog at dawn's light, the old Winton Manor house calls you from the big cities of the Southern States to a quiet week of Senior Golf.
This stately golf venue has held many state, local & charity events including some PGA and USGA qualifying events,
the 1994 WSGA Amateur, the 2007 Virginia State Amateur qualifier, the 2011 ESPN National Golf Challenge, and ever since 1978,
The Patrick Henry Invitational benefitting the Patrick Henry Boys and Girls Plantation Charity.