Reed On The Greens August 11, 2020
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com

It was only fitting that two golfers from St. Thomas Golf and Country Club – hall of famer Mary-Ann Hayward and Lindsey Hummel – finished T4 at the recent Ontario Women’s Mid-Amateur golf championship at Dalewood Golf Club in Cobourg.

Hummel, 36, is a sophomore mid-am competitor, while Hayward, 60, is a 14-time Ontario mid-am champion and member of the Canadian, Ontario and Quebec golf halls of fame.

And while they may be at opposite ends of their mid-am careers, the two accomplished golfers have formed a tight friendship that starts with golf and extends beyond the fairways and greens.

At Dalewood, Hummel (nee Edmunds) finished T23 in the Ontario Women’s championship with rounds of 73-75-78-72—298 (+13), while veteran Hayward finished T28 with rounds of 73-77-76-75—301 (+16).

“In the last round, Mary Ann and I played with Vanessa Chychrun (18, of Beacon Hall Golf Club in Aurora, Ont.)” said Hummel. Chychrun, who captured the 2017 Ontario Junior Girls Match Play Championship, finished 25th.

“We joked it was grandma bear, mama bear and baby bear out there!” said Hummel, who married David Hummel in 2019.

Mary Ann Hayward. Photo: Golf Ontario.

Hayward and Hummel were well aware of each other’s accomplishments in golf well before they finally met last year on the St. Thomas range. Hayward’s impressive biography is too long to list here – click here for her page at the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame website.

Some of the Lachine, Quebec native’s notable accomplishments include four Canadian Amateur titles, six Quebec Amateur championships, five Ontario Amateur wins, and, of course, those 14 Ontario Mid-Am titles. In 2005, she became the first Canadian to win the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championship. Hayward was a member of the Canadian National squad for multiple years between 1990 and 2006, and was an eight-time member of the Canadian World Amateur Team.

Now in the senior bracket, Hayward has won five Ontario Women’s Senior titles in 2010, 2012-14 and 2018. The 1983 Academic All-American with Florida International University retired from Golf Ontario in 2016 after holding the post of Manager of Sport Performance.

Although her own mid-am career is in its infancy, Hummel has also earned accolades both on and of the links. In 2018, she was the youngest recipient to accept the LondonOntarioGolf.com Heart Award, given annually since 2011 to a member of the Southwestern Ontario golf community who grows the game. Read that news release here, and a feature story on Hummel here.

Hummel, along with her father, former Western Mustangs women’s golf coach, Alan Edmunds, founded the Western University Mustangs women’s golf program in 2002.

Upon graduation from Western in 2005, Hummel joined golf’s professional ranks, but in 2008 she suffered serious injuries after being hit by a car at a crosswalk while she was jogging in London. She was treated for whiplash, dislocated ribs, a severely sprained left ankle and a contusion to her right knee which later saw a blood clot develop, requiring surgery.

With dreams of playing on the LPGA Tour gone, she was unable to walk the course for four nearly four years. But now, she’s back competing.

In 2010, Hummel joined Nike Golf as Southwestern Ontario equipment and apparel sales and fitting representative. At the time, she was the only female equipment rep in Canada.

Lindsey Hummel

With Nike moving to Montreal-based Mint Green Group distribution, Hummel’s last day with the golf apparel brand made mainstream by Tiger Woods will be October 31. But as always, she’s not shying away from the challenge of starting fresh with a new career opportunity.

The same can be said for Hummel on the golf course, where she impressed last week at Dalewood. And according to Hayward, Hummel has the right stuff to win as a mid-am competitor.

“Some of the reasons why we have so few mid-am golfers is women have young families and careers, and they try to fit golf into their lives. That will definitely be (Hummel’s) biggest challenge. But she has a strong will. She’s very keen on getting back into amateur competition,” Hayward said.

“It can be done. Not many choose to do it. But when you have support behind you, you can do it. And I think (Hummel) has the pieces in place. But that is why we have so few (female mid-am golfers) in the 25- to 40-year-old range.”

Lindsey and David are also kept busy as new parents. But as Hayward said, Hummel’s “strong will” will not see her give up on her mid-am career goals.

Hayward and Hummel travelled together to Dalewood, and they’ll compete against one another in the field at the St. Thomas women’s club championship on Labour Day weekend. Hummel said her new friendship with Hayward is a gift from the golf gods.

“Obviously I knew about Mary-Ann and all of her accomplishments. We played nine holes together last summer, and this year have played a ton of golf together,” Hummel said.

Mary Ann Hayward. Photo: Golf Canada.

“We feed off each other and try to make each other better. There aren’t a lot of top-level women golfers anyways, so to have two of us the same course has been great. Mary-Ann’s goals have shifted somewhat to senior golf, and I’m focused on the mid-am side, but a lot of tournaments combine those competitions so we’ll travel and compete together for the next few years.”

Hummel said she is in awe of Hayward’s golf accomplishments, and said she is privileged to be able to “pick her brain, ask her about her future goals, and talk about my goals and how to reach them. She has accomplished so much. I just hope to be able to accomplish a fraction of what she’s been able to do.”

Always the humble champion, Hayward said she, too, benefits from her friendship with Hummel.

“I remember Lindsey from when she competed as an amateur. Our friendship now has been fantastic. Lindsey is a great calibre player, so to have the opportunity to play with her on a weekly basis is a win for both of us.

Hayward was fortunate to have two hall-of-fame mentors in her corner as she developed as a young golfer: World Golf Hall of Fame member Marlene Stewart-Streit, and Canadian and Ontario golf halls of fame member Cathy Sherk.

Hummel isn’t the first golfer Hayward has mentored, but rest assured, Hummel is glad Hayward is now in her corner, too.

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Jeffrey Reed has covered golf for print, broadcast and new media since 1980. He’s a multiple writing award winner with the Golf Journalists Association of Canada, and author of the 2018 book, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018. Reach him at jeff@londonontariogolf.com