MINOT — The timeline of Maine women’s golf is built around dynasties.
We’ve had the era of Auburn natives and sisters Martha White and Pennie Cummings. Later, prior to a life-altering health scare and then turning professional, Abby Spector had things in the palms of her teenage hands.
And now we’re in the Emily Bouchard zone, a hammerlock so tight that Kristin Kannegieser can measure her own success without worrying about pesky details such as dates.
“I’m not even sure about the year. It was the one at Bath,” Kannegieser said when asked about her second Women’s Maine State Golf Association amateur championship. “I can tell you however many times Emily has won it in a row, it was that many years ago. She has won it every time since.”
The answers: Bouchard has three consecutive titles to her credit, and Kannegieser’s victory in 2010 represents the most recent time that someone crashed the party.
Kannegieser also took home the trophy from Natanis in 2007. She finished fourth after posting the first-round lead at Brunswick a year ago, and she hopes to be in the mix when the tournament travels to Waterville Country Club in Oakland next week.
The 54-hole tournament starts Monday, July 28.
“I hope I can find my game before then,” Kannegieser said. “I’m always looking for my game. I never know who’s going to show up and play. I would prefer that it’s just Kristin.”
If Kannegieser pulls off her third title, it would give both Auburn’s Martindale Country Club and Minot a rare sweep of this summer’s state amateurs. Andrew Slattery won the men’s tournament.
Kannegieser kicked off her quest by playing in a member-guest tournament with Waterville’s Debby Gardner on Thursday.
“That was fun. We both had a lot of birdies,” Kannegieser said. “Waterville is in beautiful shape. The greens were slow, which kind of surprised me. I assume they will speed those up a little bit. They were tricky to read. The rough didn’t seem bad. Some of the older fairways have dips and banks to them. It will be a challenge.”
The women’s amateur field is currently close to 90 players and will be capped at 120.
It has grown in stature since the WMSGA and a southern group, the SMWGA, consolidated their championships.
“We always had the state championship, and then I don’t know all the particulars of it, but the southern half broke off and had their own two-day event,” Kannegieser said. “It’s great to have everybody together. I know for a long time lots of gals played in both, anyway.”
And to have the distinction of multiple wins at a tournament that has been so difficult for all but a select few to conquer?
“I’m thrilled to have won it twice. To actually play that consistently for three days under that kind of pressure is great,” she said. “My goal is always to finish in the top 10, and then if I can do better than that, I’m pretty happy. My son doesn’t agree. I guess that’s the difference between 17-year-old boys and women.”
Kannegeiser’s son, Will, is one of the top junior golfers in the state.
At 15, the younger Kannegieser posted a top-10 finish in the Maine Amateur at Sunday River. Then a year ago, while his mom fielded a flurry of text messages during her final round at Brunswick, Will snagged sixth place against a worldwide field in the AJGA Junior Championship at Sugarloaf.
When the choice is crafting her own golf shots or watching her son’s, Kannegieser says there is no comparison.
“I would much rather be playing. Both of our kids play sports and are ski racers,” she said. “At least with skiing it’s over quickly. Golf just goes on and on and on. I don’t usually watch the whole 18. I’ll go watch other people and pick him up later.”
Will Kannegieser teamed with Slattery and two others to win the MSGA club team championship for Martindale this summer.
He leaves Monday for the New England men’s tournament in Winchester, Mass. Next month’s Junior New Englands are at Ledgemont Country Club in Seekonk, Mass.
“It’s been fun. Will and I have a very good relationship. We played a lot together while he was growing up during summer vacation,” Kannegieser said. “I didn’t play as much when the kids were really young, but as he got older he would say, ‘Mom, can we go play golf?’ And of course I said, ‘Sure.’ He plays a lot with his dad (Marc) now, but I think when he was younger and dad was at work, I was the one.”
Perhaps with the right bounces over the next few summers, mother and son can start building their own dynasty.
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