“I Deserved to be Here”

By Wes Gilbertson

Katy Rutherford realized these were honest mistakes. Nobody was trying to be rude.

Rather than be offended, she treated the mix-ups as compliments, as further proof that she was doing something special as the lone female in the field at the 2021 ATB Financial Classic, a Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada event at her home club of Country Hills in Calgary.

“Throughout the week, I’d get some looks walking up to the range when I was by myself and I had a couple people asking if I was there to watch or if I was carrying a bag,” Rutherford said. “In the pro-am, they were asking if my pro had showed up yet. And I was like, ‘Yep, I’m here.’

“I knew when people were saying stuff like that, it’s because I was doing something out of the norm, something that’s not necessarily expected. So it was a compliment. It was a reminder that, ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m doing this. No other women are here, I have this amazing opportunity, and I’m going to make the most of it.’ ” She did just that. This was a week that Rutherford will never forget. From the feeling as she stood over her ball on the first tee: “My heart was beating straight out of my chest.” To the feeling after draining a birdie putt on her final assignment: “The cherry on top of the whole week.

“When I was out there and I was making the shots, and making the shots under pressure, I was like, ‘Yeah, I deserve to be here. I’m keeping up with these guys,’ ” Rutherford said. “And that was so important. That week meant a lot to me going in, because I knew what a big deal it was being the only woman in the field. I definitely wanted to play my best and kind of put to bed any issues of how women can’t keep up with the men or anything like that. And I’m so happy with how I played. I felt like I really did leave it all out there.

“From that standpoint, I definitely put enough pressure on myself, and I do feel like I followed through.”

The Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada has been a career springboard for several current PGA Tour stars — it wasn’t that long ago Tony Finau was setting the course record at Country Hills — and Rutherford certainly held her own in what was only her second start after turning professional. With a two-day total of eight-over 150, the talented left-hander ultimately missed the cut but posted a better score than 27 of the boys.

She figures she could have shaved several strokes if she wasn’t so nervous on the lightning-fast greens on the first day. She proved that with an even-par 71 in the second round.

Tournament director Colin Lavender, also a member at Country Hills, was confident the 22-year-old — a past provincial champion at the juvenile and junior level and recently graduated from a four-year stint with the NCAA’s University of Nevada Wolfpack — could be competitive. They played a round together in the spring, when he first floated the idea of a sponsor exemption.

“Leading up the tournament, she was the biggest story,” Lavender said. “There were more people rooting for her over those first two days than anybody else.” She put on quite a show for a gallery that included family, friends, fellow members and some complete strangers.

“That was the best I think I’ve ever seen her hit the ball,” said Gerry Rutherford, who was on the bag for what was a special week for both this proud father and his smoothswinging daughter. “I mean, she was just striping it, so I felt pretty relaxed, as a caddie and a dad. It was fun to watch. I was more of a fan than anything, to be honest.”

The Rutherfords moved around when Katy was growing up, living for spells in Paris, Dubai and Houston before returning to Calgary. This was a constant — when dad was golfing, she liked to tag along. She’d ride on the cart during their vacations to Hawaii, taking a few more swings as time passed, and soon developed a passion for the game.

“I always like golfing with other men and they think, ‘Oh, this is just a girl playing golf,’ ” Gerry said. “And then they see how she pounds the ball out there, and it’s kind of fun to see how they react.”

There were some of those same reactions from the big-boppers on the Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada. (The Talons Course at Country Hills was stretched beyond 7,000 yards to test the pros.) Averaging about 280 yards off the tee, Rutherford is accustomed to being one of the longest hitters at women’s events. She called that the biggest difference when matched up against the men — “I’m watching these guys hit wedges into holes that I’m hitting mid-iron into” — but added, “I did feel that level of respect coming back, which was amazing.”

Equally special was the admiration she was feeling from outside the ropes. “I saw a bunch of dadand-daughter pairings out there watching, and that meant so much,” she said. “That was just a reminder to keep my shoulders up, keep my chin up and make sure I’m setting an example and hopefully a goal for one of those little girls to someday get into the situation that I was in.”

Rutherford has been hired to the professional staff at Silver Springs for this season and will work closely with the junior program, another opportunity to inspire the next generation of birdie-seekers. She plans to continue to compete and hasn’t ruled out eventually trying to qualify for the LPGA Tour. Whatever the future holds, she’ll never forget her experience at the 2021 ATB Financial Classic. She teed off in Friday’s afternoon wave and still had a handful of holes remaining when play was halted due to darkness. The bright side of having to set an early alarm Saturday? “Now, I joke with people that I did make it to the weekend.”

She made more memories that next morning. Wrapping her work on No. 18, she knocked her approach to about six feet. All that was left was an arrow-straight uphill putt. “It all came together on the last hole for a pretty simple kick-in birdie, and that was just so satisfying,” Rutherford said. “That was the cherry on top of the whole week. It was like, ‘Yeah, I deserved to be here.’ ”

Katy Rutherford of Calgary was the only female in the field at the 2021 ATB Financial Classic at Country Hills GCC.