Ocean Ridge Ladies Club Champion
What's so special about the
numbers 10 and 12? In addition to their many other characteristics, the first just happens to
be the number of consecutive years that Jeanne Maxon earned the title of Ocean Ridge
Ladies Club Champion (1999 - 2008). In addition, Jeanne earned the
title again in 2010 and 2011 bringing her total to 12 Club Championship wins. Just try to find an LPGA professional who has
won as many as ten consecutive tournaments at the same venue or 12 non-consecutive tournaments.
Annika Sorenstam (2001 - 05 Mizuno Classic)
won a mere 5 in a row and
Laura Davies (1994 - 97 Standard Register
Ping) won 4 in a row.
Here are the LPGA Tour players who have recorded the most non-consecutive wins in a single
tournament:
5 Wins In One Tournament
Mickey Wright, Sea Island Open: 1957 - 58, 1960, 1962 - 63
Annika Sorenstam, Samsung World Championship: 1995 - 96, 2002,
2004 -05
Annika Soremstam, Mizuno Classic: 2001 - 05
Se Ri Pak, Jamie Farr Kroger Classic/Owens Corning Classic: 1998 - 99,
2001, 2003, 2007
However, the longest winning streak
ever recorded in the history of golf (seventeen tournament events in a row) is
held by Babe Didrickson Saharias whose streak came to an end in 1947. By the
way, in 1949, Babe and another golfer, Patty Berg drew up the charter for the
Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and Berg volunteered to become the
group's first president.
Getting back to Jeanne, what does it take to achieve this amazing
feat? Besides the natural ability she brings to the game, anyone will tell you
about the number of hours over the years that she has spent practicing golf
skills and taking lessons to fine tune her game. She continues to evaluate the
good and bad of her game, often writing notes during play, and then seeking
advice on how to improve. If she has
struggled through the first round of a tournament, you can put money down that
she will be on the driving range or the putting greens trying to work out the
kinks.
On the course, she is competitive to the last hole. Just ask Grace Bradicich who lost to
Jeanne on the 18th hole during one of Jeanne’s earliest championship
tournaments. Even when
shots stray from their intended targets, she manages to keep her cool, stay
focused, and get the job done. For every golf hole there is the easy way and the hard way.
If you have had the opportunity to play with Jeanne when she sports her “A” game
or see her at her best, you begin to understand what it means to play the hole the easy way.
When she falls behind other competitors in a round or tournament, she draws on the
sheer determination and the fighting spirit necessary to get back in the game.
When it comes to crunch time and she needs to sink a putt, you can see the
concentration in her eyes, you can hear her whistle a tune to loosen the
tension, and more often than not, you will find yourself congratulating her for
her clutch putting. In addition, she recognizes that golf is a game and her
humorous one-liners after a frustrating situation in a competition lightens the
moment for everyone playing with her.
After the round is played, she is the same gracious lady whether she lost the round or won
the tournament. Rather than speak about herself through all her victories over the years,
she will describe the great shots made by her competitors during the tournament.
Jeanne will tell you, smiling all the while, that her motivation to win is being awarded
the “Club Champion Parking Space” close to the club house. We all know better.
Above all else, she has a “love for the game” that is the heart and soul of
her retaining the Ocean Ridge Ladies Club Championship title for 10 consecutive years.
Congratulations, Jeanne!