Linda Maynard - IWGA Women's Senior Am Champion

Most people dread turning 50, but for Linda Maynard of Highland, turning 50 could not come soon enough. That milestone meant that Maynard had the opportunity to compete as a senior in the Indiana Women’s Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship. Her debut as a senior has been remarkable, qualifying for the USGA Women’s Amateur Championship coming up in September in Oregon, and as Indiana’s 2007 Women’s Senior Champion.

Dedicating her victory to two dear friends who recently passed away, Maynard acknowledged the skill of her closest competitor, Nancy Fitzgerald of Carmel.

After the first 18 holes at Fox Prairie GC in Noblesville, Maynard lead the field at two better than par. Getting the feel for the course conditions and her competitor’s games, Maynard birdied the sixth hole in round two, and never looked back.

Both Maynard and Fitzgerald gave one back to par on #7 after hitting tee shots into greenside bunkers. Maynard then made the turn at 2-under par for the tournament, while Fitzgerald turned at even par.

On the tenth hole it seemed Fitzgerald might get one back on Maynard after reaching the par five in two. Maynard’s second shot found the back greenside bunker, but she was able to make birdie after getting up and down from the sand. Fitzgerald missed her eagle putt, settling for a birdie as well.

Playing down the left side of the fairway on the par 5 eleventh, Fitzgerald managed to salvage par after Maynard nearly eagled. Maynard’s tap-in birdie put her at 3-under for the tournament.

The twelfth hole was one of two blips on the radar for Maynard when an errant tee shot forced her to punch out from the tree line in a hazard. But another up and down to save par kept her at 3-under.

Fitzgerald gained one back to par on #15 when her drive nearly reached the green, but she gave it right back on #16 with bogey.

Maynard barely diverted disaster on #17 when her tee shot clipped the large oak in the middle of the fairway and dropped straight down. Needing a fairway wood to reach the fringe, Maynard then had her only three-putt of the day, making double bogey. That put her just one shot over Fitzgerald and one more hole to play. With Fitzgerald 30 feet above the hole on the eighteenth green, Maynard stuck her second shot to about 5 feet, then promptly made yet another putt and finished the tournament as Champion with two rounds of 72, or 4-under par.

Fitzgerald finished in second with 146, while Cynthia Roberts of Fort Wayne finished in third with 80-74—154.