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Women golfers get the opportunity to improve their game

By Mike Camunas, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, May 7, 2008

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ADVERTISEMENT [MIKE CAMUNAS | Times] Karen Greenway practices at Southern Hills Golf Course in Brooksville on Tuesday.

BROOKSVILLE

Karen Greenway has no qualms about having home-field advantage.

As 32 amateur women golfers take to Southern Hill Plantation Golf Course for the State Amateur Match Play Championship that began Monday, Greenway, a Brooksville native for 17 years, but who is originally from England, knows that it's still not going to be easy out there on her home course. "I think I have to (have a home-field advantage). I play here twice a week," said Greenway, who also owns Brooksville Natural Foods, a health food store in Brooksville.

"It's still going to be tough competition, definitely. My goal would be to get to the final."

Greenway said she's made it as far as the final eight golfers once, but has never gone any farther. Greenway, 46, is also a member of the Florida Women's State Golf Association, which is an amateur league and organization that helps not only women golfers move up to the professional level, but play competitive golf throughout the state.

Greenway is normally ranked in about the top 20 in the state and is in a nine-way tie for 25th in the state, though has only played in two events this season.

"It's an opportunity to play very high-level of amateur golf in an organization that puts on very well run tournaments," said Greenway, who credits her 'mum' getting her into golf because Greenway was a good field hockey player back in England. "But it does bring the best players and we go to the best courses, so if you put all that together, it's worth taking a week off work."

"She's an outstanding person on the course as well as off it," said Heidi Herber, a fellow FWSGA member who has known Greenway for a couple of years. "I always look forward to playing with her. She always carries herself in a very professional manner and is a very good golfer.

And Herber is the same type of amateur golfer as Greenway; they're both exceptional golfers, but use FWSGA, however, as a way to play competitive golf and to promote the sport for women in Florida.

"I've basically taken the same road as Karen," Herber said. "We just want to be the best golfers we can possibly be and as an amateur golfer, we still feel we can promote the game itself regardless of our status."

Greenway feels FWSGA is sometimes needed as a way for many women golfers to gain experience.

"This is invaluable to have a basic understanding of competition and younger (players) could probably learn a lot from some of the older players and playing in this tournament," Greenway said.

And Herber can't say enough of what this association, and tournaments, mean to players like her and Greenway.

"We're not your everyday golfers," Herber said. "We may have played college golf and we're the type that may have reset priorities, such as becoming executives, businesswomen or mothers.

"Golf is what we do to make ourselves feel whole. Its not something we can put on the side burner and not play again."

Community Sports Editor Mike Camunas can be reached at mcamunas@sptimes.com or (352) 544-9480.