Entrants in the Missouri Woman’s Golf Association’s Amateur Championship teed off in the opening round at Osage National Golf Club Tuesday afternoon. While the players have put in practice time on the course and at the driving range, a group of women led by Kathy Wise sat behind the scenes preparing for the tournament.
Wise, the tournament chair for the event, has spent the past nine months along with her hand-picked committee, working through every detail to make the tournament a success.
“This takes a lot of people to put a tournament on,” Wise said. “There’s more people working than playing (in the event.)”
Wise said that in most years, there are 125 golfers from all over the state, however this year fell a little short of capacity with only 94 entrants.
Wise said the key to her success has been organization, saying “I think if you’re organized and you have your ducks in a row, things will work out.”
Wise has experience heading major tournaments, as she was the co-chair for the amateur event when it was held in Porto Cima. It was at this time that she brought up the idea of holding the tournament at Osage National, which is her home course. Wise says that the state chairs like to plan the host of the events two to three years in advance.
Despite the fact that Osage National was picked as the host course for 2008, Wise said she did not hear from the board for over one year about being the chairwoman. When she got the call, she said that while she thought it was a possibility, she was surprised to be selected.
“The state called me and asked me (to be the chair), probably because I was co-chair at Porto Cima,” Wise said. “ I kind of had a feeling they would pick me, (but) it’s still a surprise.”
One drawback to being on the board is that most of the members did not have the time to compete in the event. Wise is a proficient golfer who has won three league titles at Osage National, as well as one at Season’s Ridge,  while Publicity Chair Janice Ohmes finished second in her division at the amateur open at Deerfield, and won the low-net score at the MWGA Senior Championship this season. However both said that there was too much work to do behind the scenes to compete to the best of their abilities.
“It’s too much of a task to be on the board and compete,” Wise said.
“You’d never be able to concentrate on your game,” Ohmes added.
While she enjoyed being the chair, Wise said that she doesn’t plan on missing next year’s event, joking that she and her friends will take a road trip to wherever the course is.
Although not competing, Wise and Ohmes said that they love to watch the competition, especially the young golfers new to the tournament.
“Most of us who are on the committee love golf … I love to see the young ones come up and beat us,” Wise said.
“(I enjoyed) getting to meet all of the state officials and the new faces on the golf course,” Ohmes added.
The tournament, which began Tuesday will run through Thursday, and both women said they were very thankful for the great weather thus far. While it has been a long experience for Wise, she said that it has been worth it.
“It probably will be a release on Thursday, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” Wise said.
Contact this reporter at lakesports@lakesunleader.com