2023 Richmond Women's City Amateur

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By VIC DORR JR.
Joanne Kitusky has no intention of permitting bad luck and physical discomfort to spoil her return to the site of her most noteworthy success as a golfer. 

Kitusky won her only Richmond Women’s Golf Association City Amateur championship in 2012 at Jefferson-Lakeside Country Club, now Lakeside Park, in north Richmond. The tournament returns to the 102-year-old Donald Ross-designed course on Monday. Kitusky expects to compete despite a litany of recent misfortunes: a tweaked back (playing pickleball too exuberantly), a tender ankle (a misstep in a tee box) and, most recently, an aching left wrist (encroaching arthritis).  The wrist “makes it a little difficult” to take a full, fluid swing, Kitusky said. “I’ll probably see a doctor once the (the City Amateur) is behind us. There’s a chance I might have to rest it for a while. But right now my plan is to play. The older players, the veteran players, I think we really need to be out there -- to compete, yes; but also to support a really wonderful group of youngsters.”

Kitusky, 62, understands that with each passing year the challenge facing the RWGA’s older players becomes more formidable. She recalled a recent practice round at Lakeside Park. Her 20-something playing partner, Brittany Woo, inadvertently illustrated the generation gap that now exists.

“So we get to one of the par 3s,” Kitusky said. “It was – I don’t know – maybe 175 yards. I pull out my 3-wood. Brittany uses a 5-iron.”

Such discrepancies no longer frustrate Kitusky, which is a good thing. The path to the 2023 city title seems blocked by young, strong competitors. Atop the list: two-time defending champion Kristine Rohrbaugh, 33, and 27-year-old Liza Lewis, last year’s runner-up. Also worthy of attention: teenager Grace Anne Haggerty, a rising junior at Saint Catherine’s.

“All I can do is play my game,” said Kitusky, a Dominion Club member. “I try not to let (an opponent’s advantages in distance and strength) bother me. If I do, it’s game over. Let’s face it: Kids are going to hit it farther. They’re kids. That’s what they’re supposed to do. All I can do is go out there and try to do my best. If I do that, and you still beat me, well, so be it. More power to you.” She laughed. “Who knows?” she said. “Maybe I’ve gotten wiser as I’ve gotten older.”

Kitusky’s mood on the eve of the tournament is upbeat. She said her most significant ally, a dependable and creative short game, meshes nicely with Lakeside Park’s 5,130-yard, par-71 layout. In addition, she said she looked not long ago at photographs taken during her run to the 2012 championship.

“I noticed that I played that year with tape on my right wrist,” she said. “So I guess I had some sort of injury then, too. I said, ‘Well, if I could do it then, maybe I can do it again.’”

Wrist and the passage of time notwithstanding, Kitusky still is capable of impressive shotmaking. Three weeks ago she collected her sixth hole-in-one, a 93-yard 9-iron on The Dominion Club’s No. 9 hole.

“It was a bit of a surprise, to be honest,” she said. “For me, the toughest thing” about playing with an aching wrist “is the way it affects my iron shots. But this one felt good from the moment I hit it. It bounced and then rolled straight in.” Kitusky, who seldom permits her emotions to run unchecked, said her three playing partners “screamed louder than I did.”

Kitusky has harvested four of her six aces on The Dominion Club’s No. 9 hole. The latest was sweet and could soon become savory. Beth Brooks, one of Kitusky’s playing partners that day, has five career aces. Kitusky said she and Brooks made a friendly wager three years ago: The first player to reach six would be taken to lunch, at an establishment of her choice, by the player still stuck at five. Kitusky said she hasn’t collected. Yet.

“That’s something else I’ll have to do after the City,” she said.

Kitusky Eager to Return to Scene of 2012 City Amateur Success

Richmond Times Dispatch, Jun 16, 2012