Prior to this weekend, Taylor White hadn’t played in a competitive golf tournament since graduating from Missouri in 2014.
But over 36 holes on Saturday at Greenbelt and Sunday at Otter Creek, the former Columbus North standout showed she hasn’t lost her touch. White fired rounds of 73 and 74 for a 147 to win the women’s city golf tournament.
“I took two years solid off where I didn’t hit a golf ball,” White said. “Then in 2017, I started kind of playing casually again, nothing competitively. I don’t practice. I just play golf once a week, so I can’t be upset.”
After college, the former Taylor Gohn married Matt White and moved to Oceanside, California, where Matt, a marine, was stationed at Camp Pendleton. Matt, an Oklahoma native who met Taylor at Missouri, got out of the Marines in 2018, and they moved to Columbus in December of that year.
Since returning home, Taylor has tried to play once a week at Greenbelt with her father.
“I think I got pretty lucky that I haven’t lost it,” White said. “It’s one of those things like riding a bike. When I started playing golf again, it kind of just came back. Mentally, it’s a lot different because I haven’t been practicing as much. But it’s fun.”
White had an 11-shot lead after Saturday’s opening round, then built on it with her 2-over-par 74 on Sunday.
“I played pretty well today,” White said. “I think I had two three putts, but other that that, I can’t be too upset. I haven’t played my own ball out here competitively since probably 2012. I’ve just played scrambles, so I can’t be too upset with 74.”
Meanwhile, 79-year-old Freddie Wagner followed an 88 on Saturday with a 78 Sunday to finish second with a 166. Wagner has shot exactly her age twice in the past two years, but this was her first time going under her age.
“I don’t usually score like I did today,” Wagner said. “I don’t normally putt the way I did today. I played with my mind maybe rather than my body.”
Veronica Burton (85-89) finished third with a 174, and Susan Criswell (90-94) took fourth with a 184. Mary Sturgill (97-96), the defending champion from 2018, was fifth with a 193.
Those five were the only ones to play in the competitive division of this year’s tournament. After the women’s city event was not contested the past two years, Otter Creek pro Tim Davis came up with the idea to add a non-competitive division where casual golfers could play in a nine-hole scramble for fun and then enjoy music and hors d’oeuvres after their Sunday round. About 25 women took advantage of that opportunity.
“Tim has done a great job out here, and with the assistance of Mary Sturgill, we got something together,” Wagner said. “Maybe next year, we’ll have more.”
White also hopes there will be more women’s golfers in future years.
“I think for me, the biggest thing is trying to make women’s golf in Columbus big,” White said. “I know that as a junior, there were a lot of us. But today, there’s only five, so trying to grow the game for women is something that I’m passionate about, especially here, and how am I going to do that if I don’t play?”
