Ann-Sofie Allen shoots to elevate game

If you were to ask Ann-Sofie Allen, age is no obstacle when it comes to playing golf,

Allen, 56, recently shot a three-round low gross score of 241 to successfully defend her title at the Genoa Lakes Ladies’ Golf Club’s 2015 Club Championship Tournament held on Aug. 18, 20 and 25.

And to add icing to her cake for the month of August, the Carson Valley resident celebrated her first hole-in-one during the club’s weekly tournaments at Genoa Lakes Golf Club. She aced the par-3 12th hole Aug. 4 on the Lakes Course.

This is the first hole-in-one scored by a member during ladies club tournament play in several years, according to club spokesperson Barb Wilson. The shot also enabled Allen to realize a long-time personal goal.

“I have come close so many times,” she said. “Last year, there were four or five times when I was about a couple of inches.”

All that frustration was forgotten with one swing of her eight iron on a 97-yard 12th hole that challenges golfers with a treacherous water hazard.

“It’s one of our shortest par-3s, however, it is intimidating with that big water hazard, so you have to carry your shot the whole way,” said Allen, a native of Sweden who moved to Carson Valley in 2009 with her husband, Dennis. “The wind was blowing a little bit against us so I hit one club higher than I normally would. I was just lucky; I had the right club and I hit it just right.”

Allen said the ball took two hops on the green and dropped in the cup.

It didn’t take long for a reality check, she added lightheartedly: “I was so excited and happy … I could not concentrate and made a double bogey on the following hole.”

Allen finished her round that day at 4-over par 76, one shot off her best score this summer.

She came back two weeks later to outdistance a field of 15 to win the club championship tournament with a score that was six shots better than her winning performance in 2014. She carded scores of 81 on the Ranch Course, then 77 and 83 for the final two rounds on the Lakes Course.

Mary Zimmerman carded a 255 for second-place. Flight winners included Juanita Wells with a 261 in the first flight; Kory Miller with a 283 in the second flight and Lorraine Segala 302 in the third flight.

Allen’s fitness showed on Monday when she joined a group of hikers that summited four peaks — Freel, Jobs Sister, Jobs and Jobs Sister again. In the meantime, she plans to continue to work on her golf game and try to keep improving. And that’s one of the reasons she enjoys golf so much — it’s a lifetime sport.

“I’ve been working a lot on my game,” she said. “There are so many aspects of the game where you can get better without being young and strong. You can work on hitting consistently, staying in the fairway, and you can work on your short game and. If you can improve your short game, you can improve your score tremendously.”