Creemore, Ont. – Judith Kyrinis took the lead on Tuesday and never looked back on her way to winning the 2023 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO on Thursday at The Mad River Golf Club.
Kyrinis finished the tournament at 6-over with rounds of 69, 73 and 80 for a three-day total of 222, ten shots clear in the Mid-Amateur division. The win gives Kyrinis of Thornhill, Ont. her third Mid-Amateur and Mid-Master Championships, having previously won both in 2019 and 2016.
“It’s awesome. To have it as a stand-alone, the inaugural, it’s very special…to win any national championship three times it’s humbling. I am very proud of that, said Kyrinis after signing her scorecard following play on Thursday.
As difficult as it is to win any tournament, leading from start to finish is a special feat. For Kyrinis the golf course would not allow her to let up all week, “you just can’t take a shot off right, so it was my motivation right there and try to do the best I can every shot. Little bit of a struggle out there today but probably was for everybody, tough conditions.”
The players were thrown a little bit of everything weather wise this week at Mad River. Pleasant conditions for the opening round were forgotten with heat playing a factor during play on Wednesday. Thursday began with light showers before the skies turned blue but brought a challenging wind for players to contend with.
“Absolutely, all those conditions factored for sure. The heat when you’re going up the back, that’s hard, luckily, I walk a lot so I’m good with that, but the wind’s today, it was really hard pulling clubs and trusting them, and I just got off to a bit of a nervous start. Even with that lead, it’s still nervous,” Kyrinis said with a laugh.
Kyrinis sits second all-time in tournament history with three championships trailing only Christina Proteau of Port Alberni, B.C. who has won the Mid-Amateur title six times. In addition, Kyrinis will receive an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, taking place from September 9-14 at Stonewall (North Course) in Elverson, Pa. and an exemption into the 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.
In both the Mid-Amateur and Mid-Master divisions, Dawn Woodard of Greer, S.C. received silver medalist honours, finishing the tournament at 16-over. There was a four-way tie for third place with Augusta James (Marysville, Ont.), defending champion Shelly Stouffer (Nanoose Bay, B.C.), Julie Streng (Greensboro, N.C.) and Samantha Perrotta (Bordentown, N.J.) all finishing at 18-over in the Mid-Amateur division. Stouffer and Streng also finished tied for bronze medalist honours in the Mid-Master division.
On Wednesday the Margaret Todd Trophy was awarded to Team Quebec, who won the Mid-Amateur Inter-Provincial Team Championship. Quebec finished the team competition at 25-over to hold off the defending champions, Team British Columbia by three strokes with Team Ontario finishing third. Team Quebec consists of Natacha Brossard and Suzanne Ricard from Montreal and Marie-Thérèse Torti of Candiac, Que.
For the full results of the 2023 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship click here.
