A Priddis Greens golfer was trying to get home via northwest Calgary.
Tara Rostad-McWilliam attempted to crack the top four at the qualifying round at The Hamptons Golf Club on Aug. 22, so she could tee it up with the best women in the world at the CP Open Women’s Open Aug. 25-28 at her home course, Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club.
“It would just be super cool to play at your home course in that big of an event,” Rostad-McWilliam said in an interview prior to the qualifying round. “It’s neat seeing all the bleachers’ go up and stuff.
“It’s a bit of a pipe dream, but when it is this close to home it’s hard not to put the effort in to try at least… but I feel like I lose my home course advantage by the qualifying not being at Priddis.
“I am going to try really hard, so I can get my home course advantage back for the CP Open.”
A pipe dream, but it was solid pipe. Rostad-McWilliam is the present Priddis Green women’s club champion and is a near scratch golfer.
She recently dusted off the competitive rust by golfing in the Alberta Ladies Amateur championship at High River’s Highwood Golf Course. She was seventh at 12-over-par in the three-day tourney.
“It was fun to see what competitive golf was all about,” she said.
Rostad-McWilliam had played one round at Hamptons this season and was hoping to have one more practice round before the Aug. 22 qualifier.
It reminds her of home.
“It is going to be quite a challenge — it seems pretty similar to the front nine of the course the LPGA will be playing at Priddis (the Raven track),” she said. “It’s got some narrow holes where you have to be target specific.
“I should be able to take advantage of how far I can hit it off the tee on some holes, which will be nice.
“I’m just really excited to play.”
She estimates she can hit drives between 250 and 270 yards.
Impressive, but she is taking it one day at a time.
“It’s tough knowing there are only four spots,” she said. “I could shoot 70 or 85, it just depends on the day. Considering it’s the Hamptons there could be a lot of wind.
“I don’t have a lot of expectations going in, but we will see how it goes.”
It will be tough competition. There will be non-exempt LPGA players hoping to qualify for the CP Open.
“There are a lot of great players coming not just from Alberta but all over Canada, it’s going to be a tough field,” she said. “If I don’t make it, I’m going to be out there watching the ladies play.”
Her husband, Andy, was with her every step of the way at the Hamptons, but he will have an extra burden to carry on his shoulders - his wife’s clubs.
“He is going to caddy for me,” she said. “No we don’t argue. There was one shot at Highwood when we said: ‘Oh, no we both made the wrong decision – what were we thinking.’
“He keeps me calm and has seen me golf forever.”
She has tried once before to qualify for an LPGA tournament at her home I didn’t make it.
“The last time it came to Priddis (in 2009) both my sister Kristin and I tried to qualify and we didn’t make it,” Rostad-McWilliam said.
Kristin was a former high school provincial champion when she hit the links for the Foothills Falcons in the early 2000s.
Rostad-McWilliam finished 16th in the qualifier.
The four golfers who got in were Briana Mao, USA; Brigitte Thibault, Canada; Christine Song, USA and Angel Yin, USA.
To see the full field of the CP Women’s Open go to www.cpwomensopen.com
