Essex native Laura Matthews will be inducted into the Golf Ontario Hall of Fame on Wednesday, recognizing her outstanding amateur golf career. The 46-year-old, who played out of Kingsville Golf and Country Club, expressed her gratitude for the honor.
"It's very humbling and I feel honoured that they felt my caliber of play was worthy," Matthews said.
Matthews' golf journey began at age five when her parents, Bob and Mary Lou Henderson, gave her a cut-down club. She would spend hours hitting balls at the ballpark in Essex. However, at age nine or ten, she grew tired of the sport. "I really didn't like golf," she recalled. "I thought it was boring and I wanted nothing to do with it."
Her passion reignited a few years later through the Burger King Junior Golf Tour and her parents' support. "I'm so thankful my parents hung with me and nudging me because my life would be totally different," Matthews said. "I think of all the incredible things I've gotten to do over the course of my life."
Matthews was a standout at the University of Georgia, helping the Bulldogs win the NCAA women's championship in 2001. She later coached at Georgia and Oklahoma State University. "Pretty much a fairytale ending to my four years in Athens," she said of playing for the Bulldogs.
Her amateur career highlights include winning the Ontario Ladies Amateur Championship in 2000 and 2002 and the Ontario Ladies Match Play title in 2000. In 2005, she captured the Canadian Women's Amateur Championship after finishing second four times. "Finally winning the Canadian Amateur in 2005 was definitely a huge breakthrough," Matthews said. "More of a relief than anything after being runner up four of the previous five."
She represented Canada multiple times over a decade, competing in four World Amateur Team Championships, three Astor Trophy/Commonwealth Matches, and the 2003 Copa de las Americas. SCORE magazine named her Canada's top female amateur golfer in 2005 and 2006. "In 2006 (at the World Amateur Championship) we won the silver medal and it was the best Canada had ever done," Matthews said. "It was before the Olympics allowed golf, so it was sort of our world stage. We were playing the best of the best and that was a big one."
Now living in Atlanta, Matthews works with Humana insurance and spends time following her daughter Lilly's lacrosse pursuits. While she misses competition, she cherishes her memories. "One hundred per cent I miss the competition," she said. "I loved the feeling of stepping on that first tee, the first-tee jitters and I loved and thrived on that once I learned to keep it all in check."
The induction ceremony will take place Wednesday at Wooden Sticks Golf Course in Uxbridge.
