Ricciardelli tops Niagara field (updated)
The latest low amateur winner at the Wood Trophy Golf Tournament, formerly known as the Niagara District Ladies Golf Championship, is not a familiar name at the top of local or provincial leaderboards.
“I have a boring background when it comes to golf. What I shot today my lowest gross score ever,” Cherry Hill’s Parisa Ricciardelli said. “It feels really good. Today felt so easy. The company was good, the ball was doing everything I wanted to and there wasn’t really a lot of thought out there. And it always helps when my driver goes straight.”
The 31-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake native carded a 78 Monday at Bridgewater to record a one-shot victory over Twenty Valley’s Sue Thomson.
“I had a good round. I had a really great front and it felt easy. I had one blunder on hole 16 where I tripled (triple bogeyed) a par three which wasn’t great. But I put that behind me, pushed forward and here we are.”
Golf was not Ricciardelli’s initial sports destination.
“My sister (Atyeh) and I played a lot of sports growing up and golf was not one of them. My dad, mom and uncle are golfers and we kind of came from a golf family but hockey was kind of forefront in the winter and soccer in the summer. That was pretty much it because no one pushed golf on us and we didn’t play a lot growing up.”
She played a little in high school, not at all in university and began golfing more once she started chiropractic college.
“I was surrounded by more golfers and you get into it a little bit more, your scores gets a little bit better and then about 10 years ago, I had the thought that I actually wanted to get good at this sport. I took it a little bit more seriously, got some lessons and I have been trying to get better ever since.”
The final push to take golf seriously came when she returned home from chiropractic college in Toronto.
“I made roots in Niagara again, opened a business and I knew golf was a lifetime sport. I really enjoy being out on the course and it is definitely how I like to spend my free time. The golf bug just bites you a little bit more and more and you get lower scores more consistently.”
It wasn’t a straight line trajectory upwards in the sport.
“There’s always some part of your game that needs improvement so I would go and get lessons and improve. Then you surround yourself with really good golfers and you think ‘I kind of want to play like that too.’ ”
This year has been a good one on the golf course.
“Last year, there was a lot of improvement as well but this year it has been the best. All the lessons I took in prior years really started to click and it was a lot more fluent and frequent. I was playing a lot more golf as well and it helps when you are out there three or four times a week.”
The owner of Performance Restored has also made golf a part of her St. Catharines business. She is Titleist Performance Institute certified in the medical branch.
“It’s trying to work with golfers and their bodies in what they can do with their golf swings. If you are not getting something, is it because you can’t physically do it or is it technique?”
Her result Monday has her thinking she might want to ramp up her tournament schedule.
Next up for her are the club championships at Cherry Hill in two weeks. She is still looking for her first club championship at the Fort Erie course in a tough field that includes Alex Taylor.
“We are all playing for second,” she said, with a laugh.
Rounding out the top five low gross scores were Cherry’s Hill’s Jennifer Schoenmakers (80), Sawmill’s Karen Sabzali (82) and Cherry Hill’s Mina Wilson-Alborino (84)
COMPLETE RESULTS
Low amateur: Parisa Ricciardelli, CherryHill 78.
Flo Monroe Trophy (Net): Karen Sabzali Sawmill 66.
Wood Trophy Team (Net): 1. Sawmill (Donna Larsen, Carol May, Karen Vine and Karen Sabzali); 1. Twenty Valley (Shellee Niznik, Jackie Galloway, Sherry Christie and Sue Thomson).
A Flight net: Jennifer Shoenmakers, Cherry Hill 70; Lynn Nywening Bridgewater 73; Sue Thomson Sawmill 73;
Sherry Christie Twenty Valley 74.
B Flight gross: Shellee Niznik Twenty Valley 91; Jackie Galloway, Twenty Valley 91.
B Flight net: Jackie Galloway, Twenty Valley 74; Martha Cruikshank, NOTL 76; Madeleine Carter Cardinal Lakes 76; Yolanda Henry, NOTL 78; Terri Proulx, Cardinal Lakes 78.
C Flight gross: Carolyn May Sawmill 91.
C Flight net: Sue Knoll, Rockway 74; Cathy Sutherland, Cardinal Lakes 75; Denise Ducey Cardinal Lakes 76; Jo-Anne Thrower, Cardinal Lakes 79.
D Flight gross: Sandy Burrows 102.
D Flight net: Danielle Breton, Bridgewater 78; Karen Cheu Metz Bridgewater 78; Vanessa Crumb,Cardinal Lakes 80; Reggie Treschak, Sawmill 80.
Closest to the pin: Parisa Ricciardelli (A).No. 6; Shelley Lothian (A), No. 13; Jackie Galloway (B), No. 6; Shelley Bauer (B), No. 13; Carroll Baker (C), Nos. 6 and 13; Pam Proulx (D), No. 6.
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