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Mission Hills CC, nestled in the Coachella Valley in Rancho Mirage, Calif., has long been synonymous with women’s golf. The former home of the Dinah Shore Championship, Mission Hills CC has played host to some of the greatest female golfers of all time. From the legendary Amy Alcott, and her iconic leap into Poppie’s Pond, to more modern superstars such as Nelly Korda. On Thursday, four more teams of champions wrote their names in the history books of the iconic country club on its Pete Dye Challenge Course and Arnold Palmer Signature Course, as the teams of Camilla Johnson and Mary Budke, Tina Barker and Dolly Coleman, Kelly Demello and Jojo Li Hou, and Katie Ankrum and Jeannette Steinmann all won their respective flights.
Arroyo Flight
Taking home top spot in the Arroyo Flight was the team of Camilla Johnson and Mission Hills CC member Mary Budke. If you’ve heard the name Mary Budke before, it’s probably not a coincidence. The Pac-12 Hall of Honor inductee and former 2002 Curtis Cup team captain was a former standout amateur golfer before pursuing a career in emergency medicine, even winning the 1972 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Johnson and Budke played consistent golf over the course of the two-day championship, carding a final net score of 67 on both days for a net total of -10. This final score of net -10 was good enough to claim victory by one stroke over the team of Chi Wilson and Kristin Cuthbertson, who also happened to be their playing partners on the final day.
Mission Flight
A very strong net 66, -6 at the final round of the SCGA Women’s Four-Ball Net Championship was just enough to push Tina Barker and Dolly Coleman over the line to win the Mission Flight after a card off. NCGA Hall of Famer Tina Barker and her partner, Dolly Coleman, had a solid day one with a net 70 but they were still a way off the lead. It would take until hole 4 of the final round for the pair to secure their first birdie of the day, but from then on the pair found their groove, picking up six more birdies over the course of their final round, including a clutch birdie on No. 18 to force a card off. Barker and Coleman would go on to win the card off and take home the hardware in the desert.
Pacific Flight
Two strong days of golf, with a first round net 66 and second round net 67 helped secure the title for Kelly Demello and Jojo Li Hou in the Pacific Flight. The two golfers proved to be a strong pairing at Mission Hills CC, picking each other up when one of the two was having a bad hole, with multiple instances of one teammate scoring a net birdie while the other finished the hole with a net double-bogey. It would take Demello and Li Hou more than the 36 holes to decide the Pacific Flight as a tie at net -11 with the team of Jackie Glynn and E Taylor Coleman. The card off would break the way of Kelly Demello and Jojo Li Hou, locking in their victory at Mission Hills CC.
San Andreas Flight
Katie Ankrum and Jeannette Steinmann claimed victory of the San Andreas Flight with a staggering final score of net -12. Ankrum and Steinmann showed up to Mission Hills CC ready to go, posting an unbelievable net -11 on their first day of the championship. Three net eagles, to go along with six net birdies, put the pair in a great position heading into the final day of the proceedings. Ankrum and Steinmann were unable to replicate their day one success on day two, but they still played solid golf and walked out of the heat and into the clubhouse at net -1, putting them at net -12 for the championship. They would go on to secure the victory by two strokes over the second place pairing of Mariko Fujinami and Michiyo Matsuo who finished at net -10.
