Pano, 13, aims for repeat Doherty title
Alexa
FORT LAUDERDALE — Pano is looking to add yet another accomplishment to her impressive golfing résumé at the 86th Ione D. Jones/Doherty Women’s
Amateur Championship. The 13-year-old from Lake Worth is seeking to become the first Amateur Championship division winner to successfully defend her title in the storied tournament since Lexi Thompson, who won the Doherty in 2009 and 2010 before turning pro at the age of 15.
Besides Thompson, now a star on the LPGA Tour, past Doherty champions include current pros Natalie Gulbis
and Charley Hull as well as World Golf Hall of Famers Patty Berg, JoAnne Carner, Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs, Carol Semple Thompson and Marlene Streit.
The tournament begins today at Coral Ridge Country Club with a stroke-play qualifying round to seed the 12 players in the amateur division and the 48 50-andover golfers in the senior division. Match play is Tuesday through Friday.
“I love playing in the Doherty,” said Pano, who is the No. 1 seed as the defending champion and will use today’s qualifier as a prac- tice round. “The course is gorgeous, the people who run the event are some of the nicest people I know and the tournament is one of the
few match play events out-
side of USGA events.”
Pano defeated Claire Fitzgerald of Lake Mary on the 22nd hole to win last year’s championship at the age of 12 years, five months. That more than likely made her the youngest winner ever of the event, which is one of the country’s oldest women’s amateur tournaments: Player information from the tour- nament’s early years, aside from the winner’s name, is scarce.
She was definitely the youngest winner of a Doherty division in 2014 when the 9-year-old Pano won the Amateur First Flight title. After last year’s victory, Pano went on to win her second Drive, Chip & Putt title at Augusta National Golf
Club. And she recently won the Girls 16-18 division of the Junior Honda Classic by six shots on the Cham- pion course at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens.
“Comi ng out of the Doherty last year, I wasn’t comfortable with my putting, but after a bumpy year I’m happy where it is right now,” said the homeschooled eighth-grader. “I’ve been working with Spencer Graham on my swing and I have a little bit more distance. It wasn’t like a huge swing makeover, it was just different from what I was trying to do last year.”
Pano is joined in the amateur division by 2012 champion Meghan Stasi of Oakland Park; 2015 Florida Women’s Amateur of the Year Tara Joy Connelly of North Palm Beach; Georgia Oboh of Riviera Beach; and Makenna Rodriguez of Delray Beach.
Senior Championship division winner Lisa Schlesinger of Fort Myers also is back to defend her title and happy with her game.
Schlesinger, who turns 60 on Tuesday, didn’t take up golf until her mid-30s.
“I was probably a 12 handicap when I started. I had good hand-eye coordination, but the game is so mental,” Schlesinger said. “I don’t feel like I became a good golfer until the last five years.
“It’s just a matter of getting out of your own way. I have allowed myself to get better. I have allowed myself to say, ‘OK, you made a bogey, you’ll make a birdie.’
“I’d hate to jinx myself because this game bites you in the butt all the time, but I’m really feeling very good about my game.”
The top-seeded senior, Schlesinger, like Pano, will use today’s qualifier to get her game ready to go against an exceptionally competitive field.