Skip to content

Mediocre Golf Association's Yellowknife chapter celebrates historic first

Linda Khounkhong becomes first woman to win full event on the circuit with victory in Douche Bag Invitational

Seemed as if it was only a matter of time before a woman would claim victory in a Mediocre Golf Association tournament.

It finally happened on Sunday at the Yellowknife Golf Club and the lady who did it simply added to an already impressive run of luck on the links in the past few weeks.

Linda Khounkhong became the first woman to top the leaderboard as she snagged top spot in the Douche Bag Invitational. Her 18-hole score of 86 was one shot better than Justin Woodacre and earned her the 'big cheque' of $1.35.

She said she was still in disbelief on Tuesday.

"I wasn't really keeping track of the scores (during the round) because that's usually a mind game for me," she said. "But when they started reading out the scores and handing out the cheques and the process of elimination, I started thinking I had this."

Like all MGA tournaments, it was played under a shotgun start, meaning every player teed off from a pre-determined hole and played their round of 18 from that point. The groupings were a bit different than they usually are with some players put together with those who they normally wouldn't play with.

Khounkhong said that may have played a role in why she did so well.

"It was less stressful playing with those who don't know how I play," she said. "I'm usually playing against myself and I sometimes try to overcompensate if I think I'm not following through, but it was definitely easier with the three guys I was playing with."

Khounkhong isn't the first woman to outright win a tournament in the overall history of the MGA around the world, but Shaun Morris, president of the Yellowknife chapter, said it wasn't a shock when he saw Khounkhong atop the standings.

"It just took longer than we expected," he said. "We have good players and not-so-good players among the ranks and we've had some women come close before over the years."

Indeed, several women have hit the pay window, so to speak, over time. Pim Wangyao was the closest before Khounkhong's win as she finished second in the Bastards in 2022, while others such as Grace Lau-a, Shaleen Woodward and Meredith Wilson have all had top-five finishes in past events.

As mentioned, Khounkhong has been on some kind of roll. In addition to her win this past weekend, she won the August Long Weekend 54-Hole Tournament and followed that up by winning the women's title in the Yellowknife Golf Club Championships a couple of weeks later.

"I was looking at the wall of winners from past tournaments and thinking I'd be there one day," said Khounkhong. "I felt like I broke the ice when I won the long weekend tournament and I shot a real good game in the club championships. But being the first woman to win a Yellowknife MGA chapter event is something in itself."



About the Author: James McCarthy

I'm the managing editor with NNSL Media and have been so since 2022.
Read more