Markovich takes home another title
Stefi Markovich added to her impressive resume Saturday, carding a 79 to capture the women’s title at the 74th Walt McCollum Niagara District Champions of Champions golf tournament at St. Catharines Golf and Country Club.
Markovich was unsure of how many titles she has won, but a quick check of the files indicted the championship was Markovich’s eighth women’s title and 11th overall, including three junior championships.
The 48-year-old Lookout Point member beat out Chris Critelli of St. Catharines by two strokes. Shelley Lothian of Cardinals Lakes (84), Marian Broderick of Fort Erie (85) and Alex Taylor of Cherry Hill (87) rounded out the top five.
Markovich feels it is a double-edged sword to know how her opponents are faring.
“It’s good to know how you’re doing in relation to others, do you put pressure, whether you take out the club, do I risk it,” she said. “That’s risk-reward scenario, and then sometimes I know I can tighten up too and I can get out of playing my game instead of being patient and waiting to see what the course brings and also what you bring to the course in terms of swings.
“I always play better if I’m patient and not thinking about others. You need to know where others are in relation, but when I kind of just play my own game, how do I get this in the hole, what will make me proud as a player in terms of the fight and I needed a lot of fight today.”
Golfers had to deal with cool and often very windy conditions.
“The greens had some pretty pin placements and the wind was a little bit cold,” Markovich said. “But the wind was tricky because it was swirling but it was a beautiful day other than that. The temperature we had to deal with, but it’s October.”
Markovich managed to overcome a tough start, triple-bogeying her first hole.
“I put myself behind the eight-ball,” she said. “It was putting, a whole series of bad decisions and then I lost a little confidence with the putter. I was striking the ball well and I had a beautiful group to play with and I’m thankful for my caddy on my bag who’s been there every year.
“The greens caused me nothing but headaches today. I own that, that’s on me.”
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