No nursing the lead for Savage

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Alexandria’s Shelley Savage says that caring for seriously ill patients in the Navy Nurse Corps has given her perspective as a competitive golfer.

Considering what Savage accomplished earlier this month the Virginia Golf Association Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship, other golfers might want to consider a career in nursing.

Making four birdies in the final five holes earlier this month at the Country Club of Petersburg, Savage made a dramatic comeback from four strokes down to win her third state senior title in the last four years.

It doesn’t rank with helping save the life of a patient. But Savage salvaged a tournament she thought was lost after she made bogeys on Nos. 10, 11 and 12.

“I was totally clueless,” said Savage. “I thought I was out of it. I was in the next to last group. I didn’t know what they were doing.”

Savage (76-72 — 148), a member at Army Navy Country Club, edged Peggy Woodard of Virginia Beach (75-74 — 149) to become the second three-time champion in tournament history.

After serving 26 years in the Navy Nurse Corps, the Michigan native retired in 2003, taking a part-time job at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. Savage works around her busy golf schedule as a competitive player, member of the VSGA board and President of the state Women’s Division.

“In nursing, you’re doing 20 things at once. It’s fast paced and you have to be organized,” said Savage. “There are pressure situations, definitely. So in that way, it’s probably helped me deal with pressure in golf.”

Savage said, however, that she never had a comeback like she staged in the Virginia Stroke Play.

The rally started with a 6-hybrid to three feet for a birdie at No. 13. Then came a 30-yard running pitch on a par 5 to within three feet for another birdie. After a routine par at No. 16, Savage made a 15-footer birdie putt at No. 17, followed by a sand wedge to within three feet for the winning birdie at No. 18.

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