Women's Ryder Cup

The Marian Hills Golf Course hosted the Women's Ryder Cup, a team vs. team match modeled after the Solheim Cup, in which Team America plays Team Europe.

In this Northeastern Montana version, Malta faces Glasgow. Though the Men's Ryder Cup is a yearly event, last Saturday, August 19, Marian Hills in Malta hosted the women's event for the first time in four years. In the twelve on twelve match Glasgow defeated Malta 16 ½ to 7 ½ with a majority of Glasgow's points stemming from individual match wins.

"It has been the first for a while," Malta's Lynne Nevrivy said. "We just haven't been able to get both groups to be able to come at the same day. So it's been four years."

The last time the event was held was in Glasgow.

"It's nice to see it happening again," Nevrivy said.

In 2012, Nevrivy and her husband Jim Nevrivy were able to catch the Solheim Cup in Colorado.

"It was just awesome to watch those women up close and seeing how far they can hit it," Nevrivy said. "And then come home and think, oh, yeah... Wow... It was just awesome."

In this year's event Malta was led by Karey Bishop and Donna Young who had won both of their rounds against their Glasgow counterparts. The three round categories were individual match, best ball and alternating shot. Bishop won her individual match.

"It was a good day," Bishop said. "We started out playing together Donna and I in the first rounds and we were doing good. We won both of those and I won my last one. So, I just played all right for myself."

Bishop won individual match 5 holes to 4; best ball 5 to 2 and alternating shot 5 to 1.

"We all have our ups and downs but Karey was pretty consistent," Ann Sautter said of her teammate.

Glasgow won 10-2 overall in individual matches. Both teams won three points in best ball. And Glasgow edged out Malta in alternating shot, winning 3 ½ to 2 ½.

Though Malta and Glasgow are typically known as rivals, there was no punching, hitting, kicking or scratching on the golf course.

"Any competition is tense but we had fun," Bishop said. "We all get along."

During the event in the individual match round, Nevrivy, Malta High School's former golf coach, hit a 40 foot putt from off of the green at hole four for birdie. It was something that had never happened to her before.

"It was like, just get to the hole," Nevrivy said to herself during the putt.

Nevrivy would have another 40 foot putt at hole #8 during her second nine. That putt was also for birdie.

Nevrivy's partner Nancy Salsbery was enjoying the weather conditions that day, which were tolerable, compared to 30 mile per hour winds happening at the Men's Ryder Cup in Glasgow.

"It's very nice," Salsbery said. "A little windy but it's very nice out here today."

As for the event as a whole, Sautter felt that things went extremely well.

"I think it went absolutely fabulous," Sautter said. "It was long overdue and we hope to not skip another year because it was a lot of fun... The weather was perfect, the course was perfect, Cory Shelhamer did a great job getting it ready for us and the hole placement was really good."

She added that Rhonda Water's food was excellent and though she couldn't play, she got a hole in one on the steak.