Maura Ballard Wins Rain-shortened Women's Senior Amateur
Rains came Wednesday night and Thursday and deemed Cherry Valley Country Club unplayable.
Maura Ballard, the first day leader with a 3-over-75 thus won the 46th Women’s Senior Amateur Championship at the par-72, 5,449-yard Cherry Valley Country Club in Skillman. The final 18 holes were scheduled for Thursday.
“It’s very nice to win this in my first try. I knew there were a lot of good players in this event and I wanted to get off to a good start,” Ballard said.
"The course became unplayable and unfortunately, that occurred on the date we established for the second day of play," said NJSGA Tournament Director Mike McAneny. "It's potentially unfair that not all the players could make it back (on another date)."
Since retiring as the Rutgers University men’s and women’s golf coach a year ago, Maura (Waters) Ballard has focused on other things -- like improving her own game.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Ballard’s efforts were rewarded as she landed in first place after the first round of the Senior Amateur.
Ballard, 50, who plays out of Raritan Valley, carded a three-over-par 75, one shot better than Alicia Kapheim of Hopewell Valley and two shots better than both defending champion Fran Gacos of Copper Hill and Kathy Carter of Rumson. Gacos won the previous two championships and five overall.
Ballard was playing in the event for the first time, having just become age eligible.
“Once I stepped down from coaching, I started working on my swing, on hitting more accurate iron shots. I still have my length off the tee. I’ve also been focusing on my wedges and my putting,” said Ballard, who coached at Rutgers from 1993 through 2014. In 2005, Rutgers made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years and she was named Big East men’s Coach of the Year.
She had a solid round yesterday with two birdies and five bogeys, getting birdies back-to-back on holes No. 11 – with an eight-foot putt – and No. 12 - with a 15-footer.
“The course is in great shape. I really like it. I’ve only played it once. It’s a challenge. You have to place your shots and do a lot of thinking on the tee,” she said.
Over the years, Ballard, once a scratch golfer and now a three-handicap, won her share of events. She won the NJSGA Women’s Amateur in 1992 at Rock Spring. She won the Garden State Women’s Golf Association Stroke-Play three times, the GSWGA Pinehurst and the WMGA Better-Ball titles.
“I did well today by staying in the moment. I made mistakes, but I didn’t let them get to me. It would be special to win this in my first try. I’d rather do it sooner than later,” said Ballard, who now works as a real estate agent in Central Jersey.
Two weeks ago, Kapheim was the medalist at sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at North Jersey Country Club in Wayne. The 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur takes place October 3-8 at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La.
“I’ve played here before, but it’s been a long time. These greens are tough. They’re tricky and it’s hard to read the breaks,” said Kapheim, 53, who has played in thee USGA events this year. “There were a lot of holes where I couldn’t use my driver because the fairway stops. I had to make sure of that.
“Hopewell Valley has smaller greens. The greens are bigger here and I’m not used to that. But I only three-putted once today.”
