Winning never seems to get old for Kim Eaton, which is a good thing because otherwise she’d be really bored at this point.
The golfer from Greeley, who started winning state titles 33 years ago, added to her already-crowded trophy case on Wednesday by claiming her second consecutive CWGA Senior Stroke Play championship.
The outcome at Perry Park Country Club in Larkspur marked the ninth time Eaton has won an individual CWGA title, and the third consecutive CWGA senior championship she’s earned since turning 50 last August. In between her two Senior Stroke Play victories, she won the senior division of the CWGA Match Play earlier this summer.
Before her run since turning 50, Eaton won four CWGA Stroke Play titles, one Match Play and one Junior Match Play.
“You know me; I always like to win,” said Eaton, a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and now the executive director of the same organization. “And I like defending my title — winning back to back. Hopefully I’ll go to Arizona next week and do the same thing (in the State Seniors Championship, which Eaton won last year).”
Eaton (pictured at top) ended up winning the CWGA Senior Stroke title by five shots Wednesday, but it wasn’t any walk in the park. Mary Doyen of Broken Tee Englewood shared the lead with Eaton 11 holes into the final round, but her short game abandoned her down the stretch. After shooting an even-par 36 on the front nine Wednesday, Doyen played the back in 46 to finish with an 82, which left her at 17-over-par 161 overall.
Eaton posted back-to-back 78s for a 12-over 156 total at Perry Park, with its challenging greens. Lisa Stone of Saddle Rock Golf Course took third place at 166 after an 80 on Wednesday.
When Doyen (pictured at left) tied things up with a par on the 11th hole, it looked like Eaton would be in for a tussle to defend her title.
“I was playing very well, and I knew I would have to play well to beat Kim,” Doyen said. “It’s a big challenge, but I felt good. I really thought I had a chance. I kind of thought today would be my day. After 11, I thought, “˜I’m in there. I can do this.’ But I got a couple of bad breaks, then I kind of fell apart, I think. It sort of got away from me, and that was the end.”
It turns out that Doyen’s par on No. 11 would be her last one of the day. She three-putted three times in the final seven holes and couldn’t extend her front-nine run.
Though Eaton wasn’t in peak form down the stretch — she played her final eight holes in 5 over par — she had plenty of cushion by the end of the round.
“I didn’t play very well, but I played as well as I needed to,” said Eaton, the CWGA Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year in 2009. “My putting was terrible today. Sometimes you just play good enough to win, and that’s what it was today — just good enough.”
Eaton, a former playing professional, understandably takes pride in the longevity of her success in Colorado.
“It’s kind of like Carol Semple Thompson and all of her USGA victories (seven),” Eaton said. “I wish it were on that level, but I’ll take it on the state level. It’s nice to be able to win over a long period of time. My first title was in 1977, so we’re talking winning those nine (individual) titles in 33 years. There’s something to be said for someone staying that long, playing in a state organization and doing well.”
That said, Eaton’s next large-scale goal is to win the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur next month in Fort Myers, Fla. She’s exempt from qualifying by virtue of making it to the quarterfinal round of last year’s tournament.
“What drives me most right now is I’d like to win the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur,” she said. “That’s high on my list and I’ve had a lot of people tell me there’s no reason why you can’t (win).”
The Senior Women’s Amateur is just one of two USGA championships Eaton will compete in this fall. Later this month in Wichita, Kan., she’ll play in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, an event where she reached the round of 32 last year.
