PGA WOMEN'S STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP                                                                                             Feb. 5, 2008
Howe makes history

Carolyn Barnett-Howe recently became the first player to win twice at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

Howe, who lives in Appleton and is the head professional at Irish Waters GC in Freedom, fired a closing round 1-over-par 73 Jan. 30 to win by three shots on the Wanamaker Course at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Her other win came in 2006.

“I was thinking about it, that no one had ever repeated in this tournament,” Howe said. “I wanted to be the first to do it.”

Finishing at 218 (72-73-73), Howe, who led after the first two rounds, beat out Shannon Hanley of Steamboat Springs, Colo. Both Howe and Hanley made two birdies on the front nine, but when Howe bogeyed the ninth hole, her advantage was cut to one. But Hanley drove into a bunker on No. 14 on her way to a double bogey, and Howe regained her three-stroke advantage.

“Shannon really played great, keeping the pressure on me until the 14^th hole,” Howe said. “I made a 20-footer to save par at the 10^th hole to keep the lead, then missed an 8-footer for birdie at the 14^th. But overall, I played pretty steady.”

Howe, 45, has won the Wisconsin State Women’s Open four times, including the last three (2005-07). She earned $1,750 for her recent win.