After finishing in second place last year, Jocelyn Alford took home the 2012 title at the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies’ Amateur Golf Championship at Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club on Friday.
“It was pretty good,” Alford said of her final day of the tournament. “I mean I didn’t play my best today, I was really nervous and that showed. I was four over through six I think, and I know Jenn (Ha) can come back from anywhere, so I was a little nervous and glad I could sink that last putt.”
Alford shot a course record 67 on day one giving her the lead, but Calgary’s Jennifer Ha pulled ahead to take the top spot coming out of day two.
The lead flipped on the third day when Alford pulled ahead once again and went into the final round five strokes ahead of Ha.
Both were three over after four holes of the final round before settling down. Alford shot a final round 76 to go with earlier rounds of 67, 72, and 73 for an even-par 278 for the tournament. Ha had rounds of 68, 69, 80 and 72 to finish one shot back at 279.
Coming into the final hole, Ha was trailing Alford by just one stroke but the Red Deer native was able to clinch the win when both she and Ha shot par.
Close competitors, Alford and Ha have been competing on the courses since their teens so Alford didn’t take anything for granted as Ha closed in on the final day.
“I mean no matter what, you pay attention to what she’s doing. I had kind of had fun my first 10 holes and then I realized how close it was getting and I was like, well maybe you should start playing your game,” Alford said. “I was just trying to hit fairways and greens consistently, and I don’t know, I was pretty nervous there and I can’t really tell you what I was thinking. But Jenn’s an awesome player and it was fun playing with her for three out of four days.”
Alford, Ha and Jennifer Luciuk of Barrhead, who finished third at seven over par, were named to Team Alberta and will compete in the 2012 Royale Cup Canadian women’s amateur championship starting July 24 in Lethbridge.
As for what the future holds, for now Alford will return to university in Oklahoma in the fall.
“I’m going back to Oklahoma State to get my MBA and help out with the team and still work on my game and see where it goes. But no immediate plans for turning pro or anything, so we’ll see how it goes.”
