The Garden City Telegram
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Defending champions won't play in Ladies Shootout
Published 7/28/2009 in Pro-Am
By JASON ELMQUIST
There will be no repeat champion in the second year of the Southwest Kansas Pro-Am Ladies Shootout. After a trio of youngsters — Mackenzi Thayer, Abbi Shaddix and Abby Campbell — toppled a field of nine teams in the inaugural year of the women's event. The three teenagers will not return to defend their crown.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram Mackenzi Thayer, 14, makes a short putt on the No. 14 hole last year at Buffalo Dunes.
"I just couldn't find a team this year," said Shaddix, who put together last year's winning team. "I thought it was awesome they had it last year because they've never had it and I've always wanted to play in one. My dad always got to play in the main one and I always wanted to play."
Making things better for Shaddix is just remembering that last year, she and her teammates made history.
"I can't even explain it," Shaddix said. "It's just awesome."
Putting a dent in Shaddix's hopes of playing this year was the absence of Thayer, who participated in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida over the weekend and will be in Kansas City this week with her father, Sean, as he competes in the Kansas Amateur at the Kansas City Country Club.
"I'm actually not playing in the Shootout," Thayer said. "I wish that I could, but I can't. We're actually going to be flying back into Kansas City like three hours before he tees off at the Kansas Amateur."
Though the timing just didn't work out for Thayer, who was the Western Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player last year as a freshman at Garden City High School, she said she very much enjoyed the experience of last year's event.
"It was pretty cool," Thayer said. "We just all played really well and I just know we had really good teamwork. We took good shots when we needed to and we made putts when it mattered most. We just had a lot of fun. We had no idea that we were going to win."
The sophomore-to-be said she remembered hearing positive remarks about there finally being a pro-am for the women of southwest Kansas.
"I thought that it was nice," Thayer said. "I saw a lot of ladies that were having a really good time from what I could see. I just thought that it was great that they had it and they'll probably have a better turnout this year. I thought it was a good deal."
The turnout has definitely improved from last year. As of last week, 13 teams have registered for the two-year-old event and registration is open all the way until tee times on Wednesday.
"It was really a lot of fun," said Ardis Fry, who along with husband Luther Fry, are owners of Fry Eye Associates, the sponsor of last year's Shootout. "I think the women thought it was a really fun experience. They thought maybe it was time to get the women started in the event — as opposed to only men."
Fry Eye Associates returns as a sponsor for the event but will be co-sponsoring with The Telegram.
"We saw sponsorship of the Ladies Shootout as an opportunity to support a newer Pro-Am event that we hope grows in popularity," said Dena Sattler, the editor and publisher of The Telegram. "It's nice to see women golfers in the community encouraged to be part of the Pro-Am action. The more who participate in a fund-raiser for a good cause, the better."
The first tee times for the Ladies Shootout are set for 9 a.m. on Wednesday at The Golf Club at Southwind.
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