The Astor Trophy Competition Marked The End Of A Very Busy Summer For Delta’s Mary Parsons
Mary Parsons (Far Right) With Canadian Teammate Emily Zhu Before Their Match With Wenyung Keh (Far Left) And Julianne Alvarez Of New Zealand In The Astor Trophy Competition - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf
By Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf
VICTORIA -- Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Peru. Those are some of the places golf has taken Delta, BC's Mary Parsons the last few years.
The last week of August was not quite as exotic for the 20-year-old Parsons, who was a member of Canada’s four-woman team at the Astor Trophy competition held at Royal Colwood Golf Club. She only had to hop on a ferry to get there. It marked the end of what was a hectic summer for Parsons, the 2018 B.C. Women’s Amateur champion.
The highlight of her summer came in early August when she was part of Canada’s golf team that won a bronze medal in the mixed team event at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Parsons also finished fifth in the women’s individual competition in Lima.
“That was fun,” she said of her Pan Am Games experience. Unfortunately, she was not able to make it to the closing ceremonies, which were held on the same day the golf competition was wrapping up. “The men had a long playoff and we were waiting for them to finish to have our medal ceremony, so it was too late to get there,” she said.
Parsons and the Canadian team faced some very strong opponents during the five-day Astor Trophy competition, which has been played every four years since 1959, featuring teams from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Great Britain & Ireland.
Each four-woman team played one another once during the five-day competition. In the end the team from New Zealand emerged victorious finishing the five-country competition with 3.5 points. Australia, South Africa and Great Britain & Ireland all had two points, while Canada finished with a half-point.
Canada was represented by Parsons, 2019 Canadian Junior Girls champion Emily Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont., Noémie Paré of Victoriaville, Que., and Brooke Rivers of Brampton, Ont.
Parsons refused to use her busy summer schedule as an excuse for less than hoped-for results during the Astor Trophy and insisted she was not golfed-out. “Yeah, I have played a lot of golf, but I am feeling fine,” she said. “For the most part I have been playing okay. I am just not making a few putts here and there. That is mainly the difference.”
The competition ended on a Sunday and on Monday Parsons headed back to Indiana University, where she heads into her junior year. She missed the first week of classes as the fall semester began the week prior and Parsons, majoring in biology, has quickly learned that she has to manage her time well as a student-athlete.
“It is just about sticking to a schedule and getting what needs to be done on time,” she said. “I usually try to get my homework done before we hit the road, so when we are away I don’t have to do much.”