NOT ACTING HER AGE

Payne, 90, still teeing it up

The years fly by with unrelenting fury.

When Lois Payne tees it up Tuesday for the two-day Edmonton Ladies Amateur at the Derrick, she’ll be playing the tournament for the 71st time — a record that will probably never be broken.

“They used to hold the Amateur one week and then the Senior division a different week,” said Payne, who is 90 years young. “Now they hold them together. That’s why I’ve been able to play in so many of them. I didn’t take up the game until my mid-30s.

“When I got married in 1959 my husband, Frank, said there were two things he wanted me to take up — golf and bridge.

“I said ‘Not golf. Please don’t ask me to do that. I thought chasing a white ball around was crazy.

“Now I love it. I used to play six times a week. Now, it’s down to three or four times a week.”

A member at Glendale since the course opened in 1961, Payne won the 1981 Edmonton Ladies Seniors (50+) and the Super Seniors (65+) three times (1993, ’94 and ’95).

But then, she’s won many tournaments over the years: the 2001 Alberta PGA Pro Lady with Glendale head pro Greg McGarry; two Jasper Park Totem Poles; a gold, two silvers and a bronze at the 2005 World Master Games; 11 Glendale club championships; Sturgeon Valley’s senior championship; the 1991 Northwest Territories Open; gold at two Summer Games; three Saskatchewan provincial Open titles; and what’s now the KRP team match play championship, when she paired up with Jackie Little to defeat Canadian Hall of Fame member Betty Cole and her partner Phyl Reid in 1981.

When she was 83, she shot her age.

“I haven’t done it since and that bothers me a bit. Last year, when I was 89, I shot 90.”

“She’s a very inspirational woman,” said Kylie Barros, who has won the Edmonton Ladies Amateur the last five years but has since turned pro.

“She gets upset when she can’t shoot her age. I say, ‘Lois, you’re 90 years old!’ ”

A three-time cancer survivor, Payne also battled back from a stroke.

“Golf and bridge keep my mind off my health,” said Payne, who was inducted into the Legends golf course’s Hall of Fame three years ago.

“I play golf for my body and bridge for my mind. A lot of people give up, but I’m not a quitter.

“I love the camaraderie too much. I love playing inter-club. I have too many friends at so many different courses.”

GREG SOUTHAM Lois Payne is set to compete in her 71st Edmonton Ladies Amateur. It’s an incredible record for longevity for a woman who didn’t start golfing until she was in her mid-30s.