By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
July 10, 2001
With the Southeastern Women's Amateur Team Championship headed to Memphis from its previous play at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club near Philadelphia, this week's Briarwood Ladies Invitational Scramble at Briarwood Country Club is one of the biggest women's amateur golf tournaments in this part of the state.
The 32nd-annual Briarwood women's tournament is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday and has 46 teams already entered. Play will begin at 9 a.m. each day.
"We've got teams from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi," tournament director Cathy McFerrin said Monday night. "The ladies seem to enjoy it. They always come to it."
Last year's winners Pam Posey and Cathy Thrash won't be back to defend their title as such. Thrash is unable to play this year, but Posey will be back and is teaming with high school freshman Leigh Phillips who finished fourth in the recent Mississippi Women's Golf Association Junior Girls' Amateur Championship at Briarwood.
Posey has taken over the role of Meridian's premier women's golfer the last two years. She is this year's runner-up in the MWGA state amateur championship after winning the event in 2000.
Others from this year's state am championship flight headed to Briarwood are Cindy Hollingsworth, Dale Bounds, and Lou Hart, all of Meridian, and Sissy Kern who was the senior champion at this year's state am at Canebrake Golf Club at Hattiesburg.
Hart, a nine-time state am champion, reached this year's quarterfinals before falling 5 and 3 to Kern.
Bounds also reached the quarterfinals at the state am before running into 2001 junior state am champion Katherine Jones of Jackson.
Also coming is Sheila Haynes of Canton who earned medalist honors in the qualifying round of the 2001 state am with a one-under par 71.
Two of the more interesting golfers in the tournament at Briarwood are Sue Turbville and Sylvia Lackey, both of Meridian, who McFerrin said had played in all of the previous 31 tournaments.
"They were there when Briarwood got started," McFerrin said.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com.