Kim Eaton has competed in scores of CWGA championships since her first one in 1972. Emily Gilbreth just made her CWGA debut.
But the two have at least one thing in common regarding the golf association: They both emerged as champions in the 102nd CWGA Match Play on Thursday at Buffalo Run Golf Course in Commerce City.
Gilbreth (left), who just moved to Denver in April after spending her whole life in Houston, claimed the championship flight title, while Eaton, a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer who now lives in Mesa, Ariz., earned her fourth senior division championship in this event.
Gilbreth, a 22-year-old former University of Houston golfer who is planning to compete in LPGA Q-school starting late this summer, defeated Regis University golfer Maddie Kern 6 and 4 in Thursday’s scheduled 36-hole final to hit pay dirt in her first CWGA event.
“Golf is this huge grind,” said Gilbreth, who plays out of Highlands Ranch Golf Club. “This is pretty rewarding for me. It feels really good especially because match play is a difficult format.”
And Eaton, who will turn 58 in a couple of weeks, fended off 2014 champion Deb Hughes of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club 3 and 2 in the 18-hole senior championship final. It marked the 23rd CWGA title of Eaton’s career, leaving her just two shy of Carol Flenniken’s record in that regard.
“I’m doing it,” Eaton (left) said of a full-bore pursuit of Flenniken’s mark. “I’m going to keep coming back. That’s my goal now.”
In the overall championship flight, Kern built an early 2-up lead after parring the first four holes. But Gilbreth won the next three — going birdie (from 40 feet), birdie, par — to take the lead for good.
Following a bogey on the 15th hole, which left her 2 up, Gilbreth parred each of her final 17 holes of the match. On the 32nd and final hole, that included a save from 15 feet after her approach went over the green. Kern, who started on a state championship-winning basketball team at Broomfield High School, took a double bogey on that last hole after hitting twice into deep native grass.
“There was a long putt I made for birdie on 5, and I got some momentum there,” Gilbreth said. “Later, I made something ridiculous like 17 pars in a row. I just got into the zone. I got the (yardage) number, pulled the club and just hit it.”
For Gilbreth (below), the Match Play victory was an individual success after she spent much of the last four years as part of a college team that grew by leaps and bounds. When Houston added a women’s golf program in 2013, Gilbreth was among the players on the Cougars’ first roster. Three years later, they won a conference championship.
As for Kern, she was disappointed at not winning the title, but happy she made it as far as she did.
“I had a great start. Everything was going really well,” she said. “I just had one off shot (early in the round that went way right) that 
kind of threw the rest of the game off. Unfortunately, that carried with me a little too long. After playing great the first three days, it’s not exactly how I wanted it to end, but it was a great experience being out here.
“Coming here I was not expecting to make it all the way (to the finals). But it’s definitely a good feeling knowing I have it in me to make it and play well.”
In the senior championship, the title match was all square through five. But Eaton won the last four holes of the front nine with a birdie and three pars. Hughes, the 2016 CWGA Senior Stroke Play winner, cut the deficit to 2 down when Eaton three-putted 13 and Hughes came up with nice up-and-down for par on 14.
But Eaton, a four-time quarterfinalist in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and a seven-time CWGA Senior Player of the Year, responded with a 6-foot birdie on No. 15, where Hughes lipped out her birdie pitch. Then on No. 16, Eaton won the match despite shanking her third shot as Hughes conceded a 3 1/2-foot bogey putt that halved the hole.
“I haven’t had much competition in the last month and a half so I was very anxious to get here,” said Eaton (below). “I kind of thrive on competition. After the qualifying round, I played mediocre. I thought, ‘Maybe I’m getting to the point I don’t want to do this anymore.’ But yesterday Tiffany (Maurycy in the semifinals) brought it out in me. We had a great match. I was 4 under after the 17th hole and she was 2 under (when Eaton won 2 and 1). I made a couple of birdies on top of her.
“I didn’t putt very well at all today. That’s probably because putted very well yesterday and I used them all up. I didn’t hit the ball as well either. But sometimes you play to the level you need to play to win.”
Besides about a dozen state championships in Arizona and one in California, Eaton’s resume in Colorado includes the following CWGA titles: Stroke Play (four), Match Play (one), Junior Match Play (one), Senior Match Play (four), Senior Stroke Play (four), as well as team titles in the Brassie (six), Chapman (one), Mashie (one) and Mixed (one).
Despite all that success her opponent has had, Hughes certainly wasn’t playing for second on Thursday.
“I came in expecting to win the match. I really did,” the 59-year-old said. “I faced Kim last year (in the Match Play). During that match, I wanted to learn about her, hoping I’d face her this year in the championship, which ended up happening. I came closer than I’ve ever come (to beating her on Thursday). And I know I can do it. She won’t like me saying this, but I know I can beat her. I’ve just got to keep working at it.”
CWGA Match Play Finals
At Buffalo Run GC in Commerce City
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Championship (36 Holes)
Emily Gilbreth def. Maddie Kern, 6 and 4
Consolation
Erin Sargent def. Katrina Prendergast, 3 and 2
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Championship
Kim Eaton def. Deb Hughes, 3 and 2
Consolation
Nancy Ziereis def. Meghan Christensen, 3 and 2
FIRST FLIGHT
Championship
Jessica Sloot def. Sydney Gillespie, 6 and 5
Consolation
Samantha Barker def. Ashlyn Kirschner, 1 up
SECOND FLIGHT
Championship
Julia Baroth def. Jenna Chun, 4 and 3
Consolation
Kelsey Webster def. Jamie Zook, 5 and 4
THIRD FLIGHT
Championship
Tabitha Diehl def. Mariah Ehrman, 3 and 1
Consolation
Nancy Werkmeister def. Dee Baker, 2 up
FOURTH FLIGHT
Championship
Katherine Hollern def. Jennifer Cassell, concession
Consolation
Margi Batal def. Karen Chase, 4 and 3
FIFTH FLIGHT
Championship
Molly Lange def. Joanne Kates, 1 up
Consolation
Lea Croghan def. Teresa Smiley, 2 and 1
For all the CWGA Match Play brackets, CLICK HERE.
