Mort edges Paden in playoff, wins 12th OBWI title

Alex Topor, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·6 min read

Jun. 22—CONNEAUT LAKE — After 36 holes at Oakland Beach Golf Club, Lori Mort and Gwen Paden were tied at 169.

The former champions headed to hole No. 1 for a playoff to determine the winner of the 59th annual Oakland Beach Women's Invitational.

After two playoff holes, Mort emerged victorious for her fourth consecutive OBWI title and 12th overall. The New Castle resident has won titles in 1994, '97, 2007, '08, '09, '13, '15, '16, '18, '19, 2021 and now 2022.

This year's title was one of the more stressful for the longtime OBWI participant. Mort shot an 89 on Monday and was six strokes behind Paden and Anita Jo Petrusky.

Mort shot an 80 on Tuesday to tie Paden, who shot an 86.

"Now that it's over, I can say O-M-G. Obviously I played better today. I did some walking and I like to walk when I play," Mort said. "It keeps me more focused and so forth."

Each golfer recorded a par on the first playoff hole to force a second. On hole No. 2, each tee shot was in the middle of the fairway and landed about ten yards away from each other.

Mort's approach shot landed on the green with an uphill look at the hole. She putted to about four feet away from the cup.

Paden's approach landed just before the green but rolled up and came to a stop just off the top edge. She chipped her next stoke downhill and had about a 15-foot putt uphill, which missed by a few feet. Mort holed her four-footer to make par and win the title.

"When I hit my ball pin high I was just off. I thought I could putt it, but there was a big tuft of grass in front of it," Paden said. "I don't know these greens well and I knew it (her chip) would come down but didn't think it would dive down like it did. I gave it my best."

The playoff was the first of Paden's OBWI career, but Mort has been in three. Did either golfer feel the nerves of a sudden-death playoff?

"Yeah, oh yeah, as the crowd got bigger and bigger I was nervous," Paden said.

"It's intense. It makes you really focus and key in and it's exciting," Mort said.

The big difference between day one and day two was the number of putts. Paden had a field-best 28 putts on Monday, but had 35 on Tuesday. Mort had 37 putts and 33 putts, respectively.

For Paden and close friend Petrusky, the OBWI was a successful and fun trip. The duo traveled from Iron Masters Country Club near Altoona for the tournament.

"I wanted to do well, but I never thought I could do that well. Yesterday I putted really well. I had like seven more putts today and that was the difference," Paden said. "Anytime you lose to Lori, that's okay."

Paden won the OBWI in 2012 and was runner-up in 2016. She hopes to return with Petrusky next year, as long as a scheduling conflict with a different tournament does not interfere.

Mort was happy to have such a competitive tournament.

"If I'm going to win I want everyone to play well and if I lose I still want everyone to play well," Mort said. "You have to stay within your game so that's what I try to do. I try to play the course and me. It's not necessarily me against other players. I'm playing the course."

Behind Mort and Paden in the Championship flight was Petrusky (172), Patty Nelis (175), Suz Price (176), Anne Wesley (182) and Patty Brant (194).

The OBWI featured more drama with a playoff in the A flight as well. Linda Butkovich and Shirley White were tied at 189. Butkovich fired a 91 Monday and a 98 Tuesday while White recorded a 93 and 96, respectively.

Butkovich won the playoff on the first hole. White recorded a five and Butkovich shot a four.

Tracy Berchtold won the AA flight with a 176. Right behind her was Dottie Kirwin with a 179.

In the B flight, Kathy Evanoff narrowly edged Veronica Pollus 203-204. Sue Wise was third with a 212. This is Pollus' second straight runner-up finish.

Jen Shorts kept her lead from the first day in the C flight and won with a 198. Lisa Keibler-Grosser was second (204) and Jackie Randour was third (215). Shorts was the B flight champion last year.

The 59th OBWI is complete and committee member of the event Vicki White is already eying the 60th next summer.

"I think given the fact that we only had 60 girls and we were having trouble getting attendees, I think it turned out great this year. I think everybody that participated had a great time. It's always exciting to see a playoff at the end. They worked really hard to put this together," White said. "We're hoping to keep it together for our 60th next year. That's our goal, so we're gonna work together to try and get that done and get better attendance."

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Oakland Beach Women's Invitational

at Oakland Beach Golf Club

Tuesday

Final round

* Won in two-hole playoff

** Won in one-hole playoff

Championship Flight

* Lori Mort (89-80) — 169

Gwen Paden (83-86) — 169

Anita Jo Petrusky (83-89) — 172

Patty Nelis (88-87) — 175

Suz Price (91-85) — 176

Anne Wesley (94-88) — 182

Patty Brant (103-91) — 194

AA Flight

Tracy Berchtold (90-86) — 176

Dottie Kirwin (90-89) — 179

Patty Jasinski (93-89) — 182

Joan Grieco (91-93) — 184

Patty Grieve (91-98) — 189

Charlotte Hamilton (94-96) — 190

Tracy Leet (96-97) — 193

Janette Cadman (94-103) — 197

Stephanie Vater (104-101) 205

Debbie Bowie (99-108) — 207

Cheryl Costello (110-107) — 217

A Flight

**Linda Butovich (91-98) — 189

Shirley White (93-96) — 189

Mary Lou Dixon (95-98) — 193

Patty Apel (97-100) — 197

Anna Meyers (99-102) — 201

Lynn Kotys (103-101) — 204

Diane Vogelberger (104-104) — 208

Amy Heck (101-107) — 208

Deb Ward (107-102) — 209

Kathleen Nuzzo (102-107) — 209

Sherrill Pasterick (111-100) — 211

Toni Nelson (105-115) — 220

Marilyn Kosnac (115-108) — 233

Mazie Batykeper (124-112) — 236

B Flight

Kathy Evanoff (103-100) — 203

Veronica Pollus (102-102) — 204

Sue Wise (106-106) — 212

Linda Herchik (106-111) — 217

Pam Ross (109-110) — 219

Esther Hay (114-111) — 225

Joan Kocan (112-113) — 225

Loane Maier (116-112) — 228

Sharon Johnston (109-119) — 228

Flo Maxim (123-123) — 246

C Flight

Jen Shorts (100-98) — 198

Lisa Keibler-Grosser (102-102) — 204

Jackie Randour (105-110) — 215

Stacy Waid (106-114) — 220

Eileen Early (103-121) — 224

Charlotte McKee (108-119) — 227

Jaime Moran (112-118) — 230

Linda Cox (109-123) — 232

Georgie Rasch (114-125) — 239

Nancy Anderson (120-120) — 240

Gwen Vennetti (125-122) — 247

Donna Wolfe (129-118) — 247

Cheryl Williams (122-128) — 250

Judy Shaw (132-130) — 262

Jennifer Fellows (136-132) — 268

Michelle Handel (144-146) — 290

Alex Topor can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .