N.B. women's amateur | 54-hole tourney begins Sunday at Grand Falls Golf Club

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By DWAYNE TINGLEY
Canadaeast News Service

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GRAND FALLS - Kristi Vienneau is one of New Brunswick's most accomplished golfers.

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The Daily Gleaner/James West Pho

Bathurst native Kristi Vienneau, who’ll be returning to the University of New Brunswick in the fall to complete her education degree, is expected to be one of the top contenders at the New Brunswick women’s amateur golf championship. The 54-hole tournament begins Sunday at the Grand Falls Golf Club. Vienneau, 24, won the N.B. junior women’s title three years in a row, from 2002 to 2004.

After winning the New Brunswick junior women's championship three years in a row (2000-02), Vienneau won the New Brunswick women's amateur championship in 2005. She was also a standout performer at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.

Still, the Bathurst native is only 24 years old and she's having more fun in the game than ever. "I'm getting up there and I think you get a little wiser as you get older," Vienneau said after running a junior clinic at her home Gowan Brae Golf and Country Club yesterday afternoon.

"When I was younger, golf was my life and I took it very seriously," she said. "If I made a bad shot, I thought my life was over. Nothing could be worse than making a bad golf shot. I've learned to appreciate things a lot more now. My approach and my attitude is better and it's helped my golf game, too. I'm a better player now."

Those words are bad news for the rest of the field for the Royale New Brunswick women's amateur golf championship, which begins tomorrow morning at the Grand Falls Golf Club. The 54-hole tournament will also serve to select New Brunswick's four-member team that will compete at the Royale Cup Canadian women's championship July 27-31 at the Royal Oaks Estates and Golf Club in Moncton.

After so much golf success early in her life, Vienneau took some time away from the game. "To tell you the truth, I got a little sick of golf because it was such a big, big part of my life," she said.

"Last year, I played the provincial and at the national and that was about it. That was enough for me. This year, I'm playing again and it's been much more fun. I really appreciate my time out on the golf course now.

"I see some of the younger players throw their clubs and slam them after a bad shot. I realize that's the way I was a few years ago. I tell them to control their temper and enjoy their time on the course. Relax, stay composed. Maybe that's something you learn as you get older."

After graduating from Grand Valley State, she moved to Fredericton and worked as a realtor for a couple of years. However, she moved back home to Bathurst this January and was a supply teacher at Bathurst High School, where she also served as an assistant coach with the varsity girls volleyball team.

Vienneau will return to Fredericton this fall to complete her education degree at the University of New Brunswick.

"It's nice to be home and I enjoy teaching so it's working out very well for me," Vienneau said. "It was a rough time for me career-wise, relationship-wise and everything that has happened at Bathurst High. I appreciate everything now and that means everything on the golf course, too."

Vienneau has opened the competitive season with a win at the Gowan Brae Invitational and a second-place showing at the Petitcodiac Invitational.

Six-time defending player of the year Leanne Richardson, 45, of Moncton's Country Meadows Golf Club, placed second at Gowan Brae then shaded Vienneau by one shot in Petitcodiac. Vienneau and Richardson comprise the first twosome off the tee tomorrow morning in Grand Falls.

"Leanne is a great friend and she's probably the main reason I have been golfing this year," Vienneau said. "She's always encouraged me and she's been a big help.

"Of course, I am still very competitive and I'd like to win the tournament. It's not a matter of life or death, but it would be fun to win. Leanne's going to be tough, but there are a lot of good players in the field.

"I think New Brunswick's going to have a good team at nationals in Moncton. We'll show the rest of the country that we've got some good golfers down here."

Sunday's draw is as follows:

7:30 a.m. Kristi Vienneau, Gowan Brae, Leanne Richardson, Country Meadows

7:39 a.m. Stephanie Chubb, The Riverside, Margo McLeod, Woodstock

7:48 a.m. Kathy Grebenc, Gowan Brae, Catherine Burgess, The Riverside

7:57 a.m. Kelly MacDonald, Gowan Brae, Allison Chisholm, The Riverside, Paula Napke-Flanagan, Miramichi

8:06 a.m. Sally Chamberlain, Gowan Brae, Sandy Comeau, Country Meadows, Susan Sullivan, Country Meadows

8:15 a.m. Chris Spidell, Moncton, Katherine Ann Beamish, Hampton, Alexina LePage, Fredericton Golf

8:24 a.m. Leona Cameron, Mactaquac Provincial Park, Brenda Parrott, Gowan Brae, Marlene Steeves, Kingswood Park

8:33 a.m. Penny Dickeson, Fredericton Golf, Kathy Meagher, Fredericton Golf, Pam Cossey, Rockwood Park

8:42 a.m. Denise Tardif, Grand Falls, Michelle Vienneau, Fredericton Golf, Angela Welch, Woodstock

8:51 a.m. Janice Hughes, Woodstock, Lisa Thomas, Woodstock, Lisa Vigneault, Gage Golf & Curling

9:00 a.m. Brittany MacKenzie, Country Meadows, Marsha Dearman-MacIsaac, Gage Golf & Curling, Lucille Savoie, Pine Needles

9:18 a.m. Fernande LaForge, Twila Hitchcock, Westfield, Huguette Poirier, Pine Needles

9:27 a.m. Annie Hache, Gowan Brae, Susan Godin, Country Meadows, Maryse Arsenault, Gowan Brae

9:36 a.m. Lyne Thibodeau, Edmundston Fraser, Louise Watling, Gowan Brae, Vivian Lynn Jenkins, Westfield

9:45 a.m. Andrea Garland, The Riverside, Doreen Vienneau, Pine Needles, Margie MacDonald, Gowan Brae

9:54 a.m. Sheila Neville, Hylands GC, Mary Jane Sullivan, Covered Bridge, Lucy Everett, Covered Bridge

10:03 a.m. Karen Frenette, Mactaquac Provincial Park, Yolande McLaughlin, Golf Bouctouche, Beverley Schneider, Fredericton Golf

10:12 a.m. Jocelyn Keirstead, Woodstock, Debbie Ketch, Westfield, Diane LeBlanc, Fredericton Golf

10:21 a.m. Janice Hache, Gowan Brae, Heather Neilson, Fredericton Golf, Cindy Hutchinson, Westfield

10:30 a.m. Verna Cyr, Marilyn McLellan, Woodstock, Susan Chambers, Petitcodiac Valley

10:39 a.m. Nita Stewart, Marilyn Pollock, Petitcodiac Valley, Ardith Barron, Country Meadows

10:48 a.m. Linda Toner, Grand Falls, Luanna Culberson, Covered Bridge, Roberte Gallant, St-Ignace

11:06 a.m. Barbara Henderson, Fredericton Golf, Nola Hache, Gowan Brae, Elin Maher, Fredericton Golf

11:15 a.m. Margaret (Peg) Donovan, Fredericton Golf, Donna Holland, Westfield, Sharon Mockler, Grand Falls

11:24 a.m. Kathy Thomson, Gage Golf & Curling, Marie Anne Leger, Country Meadows, Ann Henry, Miramichi

11:33 a.m. Beth Leroux, Fredericton Golf, Iona McCully, Petitcodiac Valley, Donna Dickinson, Covered Bridge

11:42 a.m. Donna Styant, Gage Golf & Curling, Susan Leitch, Gage Golf & Curling, Valerie Dearman, Gage Golf & Curling

11:51 a.m. Linda Steeves, Covered Bridge, Iris Bliss, Fredericton Golf, Cecile Leger, Country Meadows

12:00 p.m. Laurette McLaughlin, Grand Falls, Crystal Brown, Woodstock, Leah Sabourin, Gage Golf & Curling

12:09 p.m. Ann Purdy, Miramichi, Karen Cormier, Gowan Brae, Marcelle Kervin, Country Meadows

12:18 p.m. J.P. LeBlanc, Lakeside, Ellen Brennan, Rockwood Park, Georgette Assaff, Gowan Brae

12:27 p.m. Kathy Moore, Country Meadows, Jermaine Juimond, Wendi Sue Colton, Gowan Brae

12:36 p.m. Dianne Burgoyne, Gowan Brae, Diane Cormier, Grand Falls, Ann Haines, Covered Bridge

12:45 p.m. Marie-Anne Belanger, Grand Falls, Linda Chisholm, Kingswood Park, Joyce McDavid, Country Meadows