2006 Canadian Women's Amateur Champion

Potter, who was the third round leader, forced the playoff after losing ground to a red-hot Drouin earlier in the day. Drouin fired a two-under, 69 to finish the 72-hole championship tied with Potter at 288. Drouin moved into the lead after reeling off five consecutive birdies on the front nine and looked posed to take the title up until the final hole.

On the 18th Drouin left her approach shot off the green leaving her with a difficult 25 foot downhill putt. From there she three-putted leaving Potter a short 1-foot putt to force a playoff.

In the playoff, Drouin had a bad lie following her drive and advanced her third shot well short of the green. She then chipped her next shot to the other side of the green 20 feet from the hole leaving Potter an opening. Potter chipped her third shot 8 feet from the hole and two putted for the win.

“After I missed a putt on 17, I thought it was over and figured she had it,” said Potter. “I didn’t think she’d three-putt and give me a chance. I just had to stay focused and knew I needed to put the pressure on.”

Potter, who celebrated her 20th Birthday on Thursday, gave herself the present she has aimed for all year long.

“I had worked for this the entire year, this is what I was after,” said an elated Potter. “It’s a great feeling. It didn’t really sink in until the awards ceremony when they mentioned all the past champions. It’s very special to me to have my name beside them.”

Past champions of the Canadian women’s amateur include World Golf Hall of Fame member Marlene Streit, Canadian Golf Hall of Fame members Ada Mackenzie, Jocelyne Bourassa and Dawn Coe-Jones as well as LPGA Tour player A.J. Eathorne.

Karly Pinder of Exeter, Ont. finished five shots back of Drouin and Potter carding a four-day total of 293 to finish in third place. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Windsor, Que. rallied with a final day 70 to finish fourth at 294 while Lisa Maunu of St. Thomas, Ont. rounded out the top-5 at 295.

Nicole Foy of Little Brook, N.S., was the top maritime competitor this week making the cut and finishing tied for 34th position. Her four day total was 78-77-78-78—311.

Following the RCGA’s Pathway to Champions, Potter has earned the right to play in Next year’s CN Canadian Women’s Open at Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club in Edmonton, Alta. from August 13 – 19, 2007. Next week, Laura Matthews of Essex, Ont. will use her exemption she earned from last year’s women’s amateur and compete in the 2006 CN Canadian Women’s Open at London Hunt Golf and Country Club in London, Ont.

Matthews will also be joined by fellow National Amateur Team members Mary Ann Lapointe of Georgetown, Ont., Kira Meixner of Delta, B.C. and Stephanie Sherlock of Barrie, Ont. All four will travel to London on Saturday and be ready to tee it up with the LPGA Tour’s best for Thursday’s opening round.

On Wednesday, the RCGA crowned the Florance Harvey inter-provincial team champion with Ontario earning its ninth title in 11 years edging British Columbia by three strokes. Ontario made up of Matthews, Sherlock, Lapointe, and Ashley Sholer of Hamilton, carded a winning score of 451. British Columbia was second at 454 and Alberta was 455.

The Royale Cup was just the first of three national championships contested in New Brunswick this month. Next week New Brunswick hosts the nation’s top junior aged golfers as the Canadian Junior Boys Championship takes place August 6-10 at Sussex Golf and Curling Club in Sussex, N.B. while the Royale National Junior Girls’ Championship goes August 7-11 at Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B. Updates, player fields as well as live scoring for both championships can be found online at www.rcga.org

The following are the final results for the Royale Cup National Women’s Amateur Championship on Friday, August 4, 2006 at Moncton Golf and Country Club in Moncton, N.B.

1 Jessica Potter, Coquitlam, BC 73-71-71-73--288 2 Véronique Drouin, Sts-Anges, QC 74-75-70-69--288 3 Karly Pinder, Exeter, ON 73-78-69-73--293 4 Maude-Aimée Leblanc, Windsor, QC 73-71-80-70--294 5 Lisa Maunu, St.Thomas, ON 74-73-74-74--295 T6 Mary Ann Lapointe, Georgetown, ON 76-76-73-71--296 T6 Kira Meixner, Delta, BC 75-77-73-71--296 T6 Meaghan LeBlanc, Calgary, AB 73-74-75-74--296 9 Laura Matthews, Essex, ON 75-74-75-73--297 10 Christina Spence, Cobble Hill, BC 72-73-71-82--298 T11 Anita Gahir, Thornhill, ON 77-76-74-73--300 T11 Stephanie Sherlock, Barrie, ON 75-75-76-74--300 13 Sue Kim, Langley, BC 77-80-73-73--303 T14 Catherine Fortin, Beauceville, QC 79-78-75-72--304 T14 Sara-Maude Juneau, Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, QC 76-77-78-73--304 T14 Christina Yoon, Etobicoke, ON 74-75-76-79--304 17 Jessica Wallace, Langley, BC 79-76-78-72--305 18 Kyla Inaba, Kelowna, BC 70-72-84-80--306 T19 Isabelle Gendreau, St-Georges, QC 84-75-75-73--307 T19 Jessica Luciuk, Barrhead, AB 80-81-73-73--307 T19 Caroline Kim, Port Coquitlam, BC 74-83-74-76--307 T19 MariePierre Bernier, St-Sébastien, QC 73-80-77-77--307 T19 Bari Erais, Lethbridge, AB 75-75-78-79--307 T24 Marie-Therese Torti, Candiac, QC 78-75-81-74--308 T24 Susan Choi, Natick, MA 79-76-78-75--308 T24 Charlotte McGinnis, Edmonton, AB 79-79-74-76--308 T24 Christine Ryckman, Unionville, ON 78-76-77-77--308 T24 Stephanie Simich, Mississauga, ON 76-75-78-79--308 T29 Ashley Davis, Toronto, ON 80-73-79-77--309 T29 Judy Dotten, New Liskeard, ON 77-76-78-78--309 T29 Brittany Henderson, Smith Falls, ON 77-77-77-78--309 T29 Lindsay Knowlton, Toronto, ON 72-79-77-81--309 33 Lindsay McMillan, Calgary, AB 76-76-80-78--310 T34 Nicole Foy, Little Brook, NS 78-77-78-78--311 T34 Terrill Samuel, Etobicoke, ON 80-77-76-78--311 T34 Kim Carrington, Calgary, AB 77-77-77-80--311 T37 Erica Rivard, Tecumseh, ON 75-77-83-77--312 T37 Elizabeth Reid, Calgary, AB 81-78-76-77--312 T37 Danielle Mills, Pointe-Claire, QC 77-80-77-78--312 T37 Inah Park, Burnaby, BC 78-79-73-82--312 T41 Julie Kim, Port Coquitlam, BC 81-77-78-77--313 T41 Marjorie Thuot, Joliette, QC 83-74-79-77--313 T41 Andrea Kosa, Calgary, AB 77-80-78-78--313 T41 Kirby Dreher, Fort St. John, BC 78-79-78-78--313 T45 Gabrielle Cyr, St-Jerome, QC 79-79-75-81--314 T45 Jade Polonich, Edmonton, AB 78-75-78-83--314 47 Melissa Mabanta, Langley, BC 78-77-80-80--315 48 Ashley Olynick, Saskatoon, SK 75-82-77-83--317 T49 Stacey Bieber, Winnipeg, MB 79-78-77-84--318