Marissa Naylor is the 2017 Manitoba Women's Amateur champion.

The 19-year-old from Pine Ridge needed three playoff holes to beat Charmaine Mackid of Breezy Bend and capture her first provincial championship.

"I'm very shocked," said Naylor after her final round Wednesday at Bel Acres. "It's only my second Amateur and I went in saying just have some fun, play the best golf you can and see what happens. After my first round 74 I was shocked and then I bruised my eye. The next two rounds I hit greens and I hit fairways. I just did the best I could and hoped that it was enough to win."

Naylor, who bruised her eye playing softball Monday night, and Mackid finished tied for first place at 14-over par 233 after 54 holes.

The final hole of regulation provided the first bit of drama.

Naylor's lag putt from 50 feet stopped eight feet short of the hole while Mackid, who made a clutch five-foot par save on 17, had a 15-footer for birdie and the win.

Naylor made - Mackid missed.

"The putter was my absolute golden star this week," said Naylor. "It's the best club in my bag. It works for me and it's so easy to make it work. I knew on 18 when I had to make that eight-footer, that I just put the faith in the putter and let it do the work for me. It just fell in."

Mackid, who was a long time member of the Steinbach Fly-In golf club before moving to Breezy Bend this season, was happy with the roll she put on that birdie effort.

"I thought I hit it really well. Some of my missed putts this week, I just wasn't hitting them firm enough and that's what I did on 18. I need to hit it a little firmer and then it would have gone in."

Naylor and Mackid both parred the first two playoff holes.

The par 3 third hole was where the 2017 Manitoba Women's Amateur Championship came to an end.

Mackid lipped out her three foot par putt and Naylor calmly rolled in her par putt from just over a foot.

 



"I'm happy," said Mackid who finished fifth in 2015 at St. Boniface and sixth last year at Breezy Bend. "I've never finished this well before in the Amateur. I'm very happy with how I played. Everything came together. I made a few mistakes as we always do in golf. My mental game was fantastic today. I'm really proud of myself."

Mackid fired rounds of 76, 78 and 79 at Bel Acres.

"I was the least nervous I've ever been in a tournament," answered Mackid when asked how she felt on the back nine and in contention. "I trust my mental process so much. I try to zone everything else out and focus on my game. That's what I felt like I did really well."

Naylor, Mackid and Bri-ann Tokariwski of Elmhurst make up Manitoba's inter-provincial team that will compete at the 2017 Canadian Women's Amateur Championship at the Cutten Fields golf course in Guelph, Ontario from July 25th-29th.

"Moving forward I have increased confidence and I really believe in the level of play that I can play now," said the learning coach for the Hanover School Division who celebrated her 40th birthday in February. "That's what I've been really working on, and my coach (Glen Sirkis) has been working on with me, to have that belief and really see that I can be at the top in a tournament like this. I showed myself that I can."