Palmer woman qualifies for U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links golf championships

WASILLA - When it was first announced Alaska was awarded a qualifying event for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, everyone assumed the 49th state would only be given one berth for the golf championships.

Mindy Stefanski, a United States Golf Association representative for the state, was elated when she discovered Alaska would have two spots in the field of the Public Links championships.

Now Stefanski, one of 15 female golfers to compete in the Alaska qualifier, is absolutely thrilled. After shooting an 88 and winning a sudden-death tiebreaker, Stefanski has earned the right to travel to Pueblo, Colo., and compete in the championship event.

&#8220I'm excited,” Stefanski said. &#8220The USGA runs some really nice events. I'm excited to go down there.”

Jamie Berge of Anchorage finished first in the event, shooting an 86.

After finishing the 18th hole at Settlers Bay Golf Course in Wasilla, Stefanski, of Palmer, was tied with Anchorage's Brittany Bomar at 88. The tie forced a sudden-death playoff, and the pair ventured back to the first tee box.

Stefanski said she was very surprised when she realized she was tied with Bomar, daughter of Settlers Bay course manager Billy Bomar and a future member of the Northern Iowa golf team.

&#8220Okay, here's the old dog and the new dog. What's going to happen?” Stefanski joked.

Stefanski won the flip, and teed off first. Each player posted solid drives from the elevated tee box, both cutting the corner on the dogleg to put the shot on the center of the fairway. Stefanski's second shot put her within 5-feet of the green. Bomar's second shot put her further away from the green. Stefanski was able to seal a trip to Colorado by chipping the ball up onto the green, and sinking a short put.

As a USGA representative for the state, Stefanski was also the organizer of the event. Assuming the two roles, she said the hardest thing about playing in the tournament, was leaving her other thoughts behind.

&#8220I think it took about seven holes to settle down,” Stefanski said.

Stefanski felt like she got into her groove when she notched a birdie on the eighth hole.

An 88 was not the kind of score Stefanski assumed she had, she said. Her partner on the course, Diane Johnson, kept reminding Stefanski she is playing better than she thinks.

Stefanski said the Settlers Bay course was in great shape. The greens were inconsistent, she said. But that's a problem everyone in Alaska has to deal with in late May and early June. The field played from the course's white tees to give the tournament a total distance closer to what is seen at a USGA event.

Wasilla's Allegra Butler, the state amateur champion in 2003 and 2004, finished third with a 91. Rynae Baca, an 11-year-old from Wasilla, was fourth with a 92. Baca shot an impressive 41 on the back nine.

For Stefanski, a longtime golfer and a seasoned veteran of the Alaska amateur events, the Public Links championships will be the biggest tournament of her career. She's won seven Anchorage Women's Golf Association championship and four state amateur titles.

Last September Stefanski competed in a USGA state team championship in South Carolina. Stefanski qualified for the event based on her finishes in local tournaments. Berge played with Stefanski in the tourney.

Stefanski's golf career has included some breaks and some major changes. She didn't simply alter her style. Now a right-handed shot, Stefanski began playing swinging the clubs southpaw.

Although she is naturally right-handed, her father and grandfather taught her how to bat left handed. She assumed she'd hit the golf ball the same way as a softball or baseball. Stefanski said she played left-handed for about four

years.

&#8220I got my handicap to a 14, but I just had some things that I couldn't correct,” Stefanski said.

A friend suggested Stefanski should start swinging right, and she has not looked back. Although she continues to putt left handed. In her first full year with a right-handed set of clubs she broke 80.

&#8220Does that mean I wasted four years?” Stefanski joked.

When Stefanski moved to Alaska she took a break from the game. When she finally picked up the clubs again and hit the course for the first time, she did well enough to convince everyone she was playing with that she was a regular.

Now she is a regular on the course, and one of two players who'll represent Alaska in the Public Links championships.

The event starts June 19 at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo.

Nearly 700 golfers played in qualifying events around the country, and the top 105 players will participate in the championships. The qualifier at Settlers Bay was the first to be held in Alaska. Stefanski said this size of the field in the Alaska qualifier this year should mean the 49th state will get to host the event again in the future.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.