Ference Wins 43rd Women's Senior Amateur By One Shot At Trump-bedminster
In the space of seven days, Peggy Ference of Cherry Valley has notched the only two tournament victories of her life outside of four club championships.On Wednesday, Oct. 3, Ference won what she called “my biggest win by a long shot” when she captured the 36-hole NJSGA 43rdSenior Women’s Amateur over the 5,188-yard, par 72 Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.
Thursday, Sept. 27, Ference won the Garden State Women’s Golf Association Senior championship at Deal.
On Wednesday, Ference won the tournament by shooting 1-over-par 37 on the back nine for a 43-37-80 to add to Tuesday’s 82 for a 162 total that was one shot better than playing partner Kathryn Carter of Rumson, who shot 82-81-163 in soggy conditions.
The tournament, for women ages 50 and over, drew a field of 90 players.
“I’m here to embrace the fact that 50 is the new 40,” said the 53-year-old Ference, who is a native of Springfield, Ill., and moved to New Jersey in 2000.
Other flight champions included Donna McHugh of Forest Hill (86-80-266) over Donna Cortina of Cherry Valley (84-83-167) in the First Flight; Susan Zupnik of Francis Byrne (92-79-171) over Ellie Yum of Heron Glen (81-93-174) in the Second Flight; Denise Mauro of Beacon Hill (92-95-187) over Marge Zietchick of EWGA of Central Jersey (100-90-190) in the Third Flight, and Linda Cole of Flanders Valley (95-96-191) over Betsy Clarke of Stanton Ridge (97-96-193) in the Fourth Flight.
Also, Gloria Shea of Deal (93-92-185) won her second Super Senior championship in three years over Vicky Bailey of Suneagles (103-95-198).
Ference’s victory came down to the final two holes. She was tied with Carter heading into the par-4 17thand settled for a bogey when she flew the green. But Carter ran into worse difficulty when her second shot landed into a bunker, and a third shot left her still short of the green. It ended in a double-bogey 6, leaving Ference up by one shot.
On the 18thhole, Carter was in with a par and Ference faced a seven-foot par putt to win the match. She aimed for the right edge and it was “the biggest putt I ever made under pressure.” That secured the victory.
Another big hole was the par-3 14thhole, when Carter birdied from a foot and Ference needed to make a 12-footer to stay even, which she sank.
The day didn’t look promising when Ference opened her round with a double-bogey on the par-5 first hole and a triple-bogey on the par-4 third hole. From there, however, she shot 3-over-par for the final 15 holes.
She made an adjustment by going with her 4-wood over her driver the rest of the way and also relied on a 19-degree hybrid.
“It just goes to show, you should never give up,” said Ference, who formerly worked in pharmaceutical sales.
Two years ago, Ference won an essay contest run by Readers Digest called the U.S. Open Challenge. She played from the men’s tips at Pebble Beach with celebrities Mark Wahlberg, Drew Brees and Wayne Gretzky and shot 118. Corey Pavin, Bubba Watson, Ricky Fowler and Ricky Barnes acted as caddies.
That stemmed from Tiger Woods’s statement that most golfers could not break 100 under a course set up under U.S. Open conditions.
“Peggy deserved it. She played beautifully and answered my putts when it counted,” said Carter.
