Anyone sitting beside 麻豆社国产athlete Briana Ainsley on the airplane trip from Ontario back to B.C. would鈥檝e soon realized that she had a companion that didn鈥檛 pay for its seat.
In this case, that companion happened to be a pretty hefty golden trophy 鈥� the spoils of war after claiming victory in the open division of the Ontario Women鈥檚 Disc Golf Championship.
鈥淚 was having the trophy in my hands on the plane and everything, so everyone was congratulating me,鈥� said Ainsley with a laugh.
鈥淚 had no space for it, I just had a really, really small carry-on suitcase and then my disc golf bag.鈥�
On May 12, Ainsley managed to take gold after a draw between herself and opponent Colleen McInnes forced them to enter sudden-death.
Both of them were tied at 117, which was three over par at the course in Oakville.
鈥淕oing into the last hole, I had a two-stroke lead,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just have to get a par and I could walk out of there with a win.鈥�
But after an unlucky throw, she wound up in a tight spot next to her opponent who was a stroke behind her.
鈥淪he鈥檚 sitting for her two where I鈥檓 sitting for my three,鈥� Ainsley recalled.
McInnes made the stroke, and Ainsley wound up missing the hole and taking a four.
鈥淚 gave her a big high-five right after she made that, cause I was like, 鈥極h man, you just put that pressure on me,鈥欌�� Ainsley said. 鈥淥K, it鈥檚 sudden-death playoff time.鈥�
Once the sudden-death match started, the tension continued.
Perhaps the biggest moment was when Ainsley wound up about 15 to 20 feet away from the basket.
Both were neck-and-neck on the scoreboard, but McInnes was about 40 feet back.
She decided to gamble and end the round from where she stood by staging a long putt.
But it didn鈥檛 work. McInnes鈥� disc blew past the basket and out of bounds, forcing her to take a stroke penalty.
In the end, Ainsley took the sudden-death win by scoring the Par 3, while McInnes trailed at four.
鈥淚 felt like I鈥檝e been on Cloud 9 ever since the moment that it happened,鈥� Ainsley said.
