LYNN — A sibling rivalry, triple-digit temperatures, and, of course, golf.
This past weekend the Gannon Golf Course hosted the annual Ladies Inner Club championship. As the final day came and went, the women’s stakes were higher than just winning the championship. Bragging rights were involved.
Mary Hunt not only won the tournament overall with a birdie on the 18th, to shoot 77 and to once again claim the title but won over her sister Ann Dawson.
Hunt has been playing at the club for 30 years and has won what she thinks to be nine championships.
“My final score was what we call a 1-up. I have won it before but it was tough because my opponent was my sister,” Hunt said. “We did have an incredible match. For the most part, we matched each other shot for shot, and it came down to the final hole. She’s a great golfer as well.”
Each course has its difficulties but there’s always that one hole that proves to be more of a challenge than the others.
“The 18th, where I birdied, is kind of a long par-5,” she said. “The fourth hole was also tough. You are trying to play the course and you are playing your competitor. But yesterday (Sunday) you had to play the weather.”
The temperatures hit as high as 99 F, which made doing anything a troublesome task, let alone playing in a golf tournament that was already proving to be a challenge.
“They do a good job watering up there, the grounds crew must have been up for hours on end trying to make the course nice and green,” said Hunt. “But still, the sun is baking the course. I’m gonna call it hard and fast. Where a lot of times the ball travels farther than it typically does and it’s hot.”
Hunt does have a couple of events lined up for the future. One is the Dolly Sullivan Tournament in August at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club. The tournament is formatted as best-ball play and is played in teams of four. This time Hunt will play alongside her sister Dawson as well as fellow golfers Gina Manning and Dawn Baribeau. Hunt also plans on doing some Mass Golf events. However, she is unsure of which ones as well as the Senior Championship.
Maddi Filip can be reached [email protected].
