Morgan Hill’s Sheila Michael and Lani Gadsby placed sixth and
seventh in their respective flights. Michael was second low net
SAN JOSE — Rarely does one capture their first career victory in a tournament as storied as the Santa Clara County Women’s Golf Championship, on the their home course no less. Rarely do the stars align so perfectly as they did this week for 21-year-old Kimberly Bedolla.
Her opponents say she has a bright future in golf. And though she may celebrate a few more titles in the coming years as a walk-on at Santa Clara, Bedolla has a soft spot saved for the one she seized with two impressive rounds at the 6,225-yard San Jose Country Club.
The Los Gatos native with a 2 handicap shot a 1-under-par 69 Monday and a 75 Tuesday to win the 67th annual tournament.
“It’s very special to me,” said Bedolla, who led by seven strokes after the first day. “It’s my first win, my first time under par and it’s my home course — that pushed me even more to do my best.”
Playing in the championship flight that included Jenni Jenq, a talented young scratch golfer who played for Wellseley, and defending champion and 1984 winner Teri Preciado-Gangi, Bedolla did just enough in the second day to protect her big lead. She hit her stride on the par-4 No. 6, sinking a 10-foot putt for birdie.
“It’s amazing because she’s been golfing for four years. What an accomplishment,” said Gilroy’s Terry Mayes, who finished fourth at 158. “She’s a delightful young lady — Jenni, too. They put on a pretty good show.”
Jenq, who aspires to play professionally, took second at 155, and Preciado-Gangi was a stroke behind. Morgan Hill’s Sheila Michael (202) and Lani Gadsby (205) placed sixth and seventh in their respective flights. Michael was second low net.
“I had some nice long putts,” said Michael, a 21 handicap who was playing in her fourth Santa Clara Championship. “I think my putting was good; drives were good, but I wasn’t as consistent as I’d like to be. You just try your hardest and hope it all comes together.
“I think I had a great group. That has a lot to do with it. You always meet nice people.”
So nice that Preciado-Gangi urged Bodello to go for another win next year.
“She told me, ‘Two years in a row. One of us needs to keep playing to try to win,’ ” Bedolla said.
The underlying theme is tradition, which has been a staple of the tournament. Each year, it draws more than a hundred players who are members of private and public clubs in Santa Clara County.
They play in flights based on handicaps.
“The champion for our county should come from our county. It should be exclusive,” tournament director Mitz Alverson said. “Time to time, we have other people to fill the event, but we’ve been able to keep it exclusive.”
Alverson, who has organized the past 10 tournaments, said this year’s field was the “most impressive” in her time as director.
“We’ve always tried to keep the championship flight to single-digit (handicap) golfers,” she said. “This year, we had 16 single digits.
Kimberly just had a phenomenal round. Over the years, the lowest single-day round I ever saw was a 72.”
Mayes said the Santa Clara County Women’s Golf Association-sponsored tournament was a success — and she wasn’t referring to her score. Mayes understands what a challenge it is to put on an event. In early June, she and her group held a tournament at Gilroy’s Eagle Ridge Golf Club that raised more than $4,000 for charity.
“The women that put this on, they do a great job; each lady in their own way,” Mayes said. “A lot of the golfers came down for our event, so kudos to them. It was great seeing so many of them out here again.”
RESULTS
Name Round 1 Round 2 Gross Total
Championship flight
Kimberly Bedolla 69 75 144
Jenni Jenq 76 76 155
Teri Preciado-Gangi 77 73 156
Terry Mayes 76 82 158
Sandy Szczerbin 82 82 164
Ann Marie Lee 84 80 164
Susie-Q Conklin 84 81 165
Joy Robinson 81 85 166
Dian Iversen 82 88 170
Jane Lee 84 86 170
Monica Saneholtz 83 87 170
Teri Neidigh 90 85 175
Mary Zimmerman 86 96 182
Helen Brandon 91 92 183
Flight 1
Sandy Antony 81 92 173
Joyce Bartlett 87 88 175
Nancy Zeiszler 87 88 175
Kyung Jin 94 82 176
Jennifer Titinger 84 95 179
Bobbie Piety 84 95 179
Joohyun Hong 88 92 180
Mitz Alverson 85 98 183
Deb Karstetter 90 94 184
Maureen Blackmer 93 95 188
Connie Smart 94 98 192
Gillian Silva 91 104 195
Annie Brassford 90 WD WD
Flight 2
Sandra Munio 86 88 174
Ally Lozares 86 93 179
Luna Kim 91 94 185
Auralie Citrigno 91 99 190
Lynne Houghton 96 94 190
Fran Jones 95 96 191
Stacey Baba 94 97 191
Pat Bocook 99 97 196
Paula Anderson 97 101 198
Margaret Gouveia 98 100 198
Harumi Mori 93 107 200
Karen Davidsen 101 100 201
Sheri Holand 105 99 204
Amy Huang 108 102 210
Flight 3
Annie Suk 94 94 188
Barbara Jenkins 93 101 194
Carole Sosinski 100 95 195
Mary Alvarado 97 99 196
Helen Varenkamp 102 97 199
Sheila Michael 100 102 202
Ruth Chavez 101 104 205
Kathy Botelho 98 107 205
Mona Nakamura 106 102 208
Young Kerr 103 105 208
Marvel Liberati 111 99 210
Pam Lippold 104 107 211
Helen Wilson 105 111 216
Flight 4
Terry Richardson 102 94 196
Carol Mack 99 97 196
Dora Moutafian 93 104 197
Marsha Jaeger 97 103 200
Kathy Lee 102 99 201
Denise Kam 102 100 202
Barbara DeLorenzo 103 100 203
Lani Gadsby 106 99 205
Joyce Sinclair 105 107 212
Aesun Lee 17 108 215
Cathy Priest 108 108 216
Kay Sabin 102 114 216
Wendy Grossman 115 102 217
Suzanne Topliff 110 113 223
Vicky Kimmel 120 115 235
Flight 5
Jennie Madlem 96 95 191
Belinda Kendle 100 100 200
Linda Villers 99 104 203
Helen Meyer 103 100 203
Cathy Ross 100 104 204
Robin Joo 100 104 204
Bev Porter 108 103 211
Kathy Kelly 108 103 211
Pauline Kim 108 108 216
Jan Kiernan 112 106 218
Beth Stein 120 103 223
Flight 6
Josie Gutierrez 108 100 208
Yoon Hee Moon 106 108 214
Becky Del Prado 108 17 215
Dee Kinnear 109 106 215
Joelle Rokovich 105 110 215
Wilma Roller 110 110 220
Chon Pederson 113 109 222
Jeanne Tweed 114 108 222
Mickie Lico 112 110 222
Vicki Dickerson 109 114 223
Lucia Hong 117 109 226
Colleen Hall-Werstler 114 113 227
Cathi Mickow 108 DQ DQ
Nancy Cutler 115 WD WD
Flight 7
Loren Cook 102 99 201
Sunghea Chang 108 102 210
Lyn Taylor 100 110 210
Elizabeth Morten 109 18 217
Debbie Heikkila 114 105 219
Irene Mohler 109 112 221
Catherine Parsons 108 115 223
Yoshiko Takeshita 109 115 224
Hennie Orcutt 106 119 225
Marilee Dunn 113 113 226
Angie Ferone 113 120 233
Janet Fimmel 115 118 233
Terry Devincenzi 117 119 236
Beverly Fritsch 122 119 241
Jean Song 118 130 248
Diana Flanigan 119 129 248
Marilyn Gonsalves 119 DQ DQ
