Stouffer helped lead Team British Columbia to a second-consecutive Inter-Provincial Team Championship on Wednesday; Mary-Ann Hayward claims second Super Senior Championship
NANAIMO, B.C. – Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay, B.C. put the finishing touches on her third career win at the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship, presented by BDO, on Thursday, shooting 2-over par in her final round to secure victory at Nanaimo Golf Club in Nanaimo, B.C.
Stouffer jumped out to a two-stroke lead in the Senior Championship on Tuesday and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire and wrapping up her latest title with a combined score of 72-67-74-213. Stouffer’s winning score of 213 is her best performance at the national championship, buoyed by a 5-under 67 on Wednesday that now stands as the course record at Nanaimo Golf Club.
“It’s awesome to win the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship,” said Stouffer, “It’s been a couple years since I’ve been out of it but I’m happy to be back in the winners circle,” she added, winning the tournament in front of family, friends and crucially, her mom for the first time.
“It’s that much more special to me, having more people around to kind of take it all in with me.”
Thursday’s win at the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship, presented by BDO, secures Stouffer a spot in next year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open, Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. She will also get the chance to defend her title at the 2026 Canadian Women’s Senior Championship as well.
“I played here quite a bit this year in preparation for this tournament because I really wanted to win and get it done and it was awesome to get it done today,” added Stouffer. “This is the first time it’s been really close to home, so it was kind of like a home game which was awesome.”
A day removed from leading Team British Columbia to a comeback win over Team Ontario in the Inter-Provincial Team Championship, Stouffer opened her final round on Thursday with back-to-back pars to stay well in front of her closest chaser, Mary-Ann Hayward of St. Thomas, Ont., and maintain her six-stroke lead. Bogeys on the third and fourth holes for Stouffer trimmed her advantage over the field to four strokes, though the dip in performance would only be a temporary one for the 55-year-old after getting a shot back at the par-4 fifth to stay in the driver’s seat.
Stouffer added birdies later in her round on Nos. 13 and 14, stringing together a similar response to her dropped shots earlier in the round after bogeying the 12th hole and cutting her lead to three strokes. The hot stretch proved vital in maintaining Stouffer’s place atop the Senior Championship on Thursday after the B.C. native played her final four holes at 2-over par after carding a double bogey on the 16th hole.
In the Canadian Women’s Super Senior Championship, Hayward failed to lose any steam in the quest for her second career Super Senior title, carding a bogey-free 71 in her final round to power her way to an eight-stroke victory.
The Canadian Golf Hall of Famer opened her round Thursday with 11 consecutive pars before knocking in her first birdie at the 12th hole, finishing her day with six more pars to capture a steady finish to the week.
In addition to Stouffer and Hayward’s triumphs, Nanaimo Golf Club welcomed two hole-in-ones on Thursday to bring an exciting close to the 2025 Canadian Women’s Senior Championship. Gisselle Willimus of Edmonton, Alta. was the first to accomplish the feat, holing out her tee shot on the 120-yard par-3 fourth to end her week on an exciting note.
Marie-Thérèse Torti of Candiac, Que. was the second player to send her tee shot directly into the fourth hole, doing so a little after Willimus in the afternoon to add an extra layer of excitement to her top ten finish. Torti is a Quebec Golf Hall of Famer and claimed the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship in 2010.
On Wednesday, Team British Columbia edged out Team Ontario by one stroke to repeat as champions in the Inter-Provincial Team Championship. The competition runs concurrently through the first 36 holes of the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship, presented by BDO, and was claimed by Team British Columbia with a combined score of 10-over par.
The champions were represented by Kyoka Takahashi of Vancouver, B.C., June Zhang of Coquitlam, B.C. and Stouffer, the latter leading the team in both rounds to help mount a successful come-from-behind win.
To view the full leaderboards of the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship, presented by BDO, please click here.
