Duguay Conquers Cancer, Women’s Golf Scene

August 23—With four victories to her name since July, Waubeeka’s Kathy Duguay seemed like the obvious favorite to win today’s Women’s Allied at Wahconah.

Then again, six months ago, she didn’t think she would even play golf at all this year.

On Feb. 20, two days before her 47^th birthday, Duguay was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, a common gynecologic cancer that originates in the female reproductive system.

“I told everyone I got cancer for my birthday,” Duguay joked.

Early detection and prompt treatment allow her to laugh now.

“I was fortunate they caught it in the earlier stages,” she said. “Nevertheless, cancer is cancer. It was a wakeup call. I had my last checkup in July, and so far, so good.”

Good for her, bad for her competition.

Duguay arrived at Wahconah with a 210-point lead in the women’s player of the year standings. Of the six local team events on the women’s player of the year schedule, she had won four with various partners.

Yet all that momentum came to a screeching halt on her very first hole, when she made bogey and then doubled No. 2.

But this wasn’t the same pre-cancer Duguay.

“Before, I would have gotten upset,” she admitted. “Now when I do make a bad shot, it doesn’t phase me anymore.”

Unaffected by her inauspicious start, Duguay made pars on each of her next six holes, then two-putted for birdie on No. 9 to make the turn in 38, all but assuring she would win her first Women’s Allied title.

Her round of 81 left her five shots clear of 9-time Allied Champion Ellie Carver and two-time winner Diane Breen.

“I was glad she got through it,” Breen said of Duguay’s bout with cancer. “It’s just golf. There are a lot more important things in life.”

When asked if Duguay’s five win summer ranked as the best season she’s seen, Breen, a friend and tournament partner for years, didn’t hesitate: “Absolutely,” she said. “By far, at least since I’ve been around.”

Carver, meanwhile, entered the Women’s Allied as the two-time defending champion, and had recently abandoned her Adams Hybrid irons for a set of Callaway’s. But a balky putter kept from the winner’ circle.

“I kind of figured Kathy was going to do something today,” said Carver, who’s competed against Duguay for the past 15 years. “We kept our fingers crossed she’d get through her surgery. She went to the doctor’s and they said everything was fine. She’s played great this year.”

Duguay’s victory, worth 275 points, pushed her season total to 1005, and assured that she would win the first-ever Berkshire County women’s player of the year award, a system that was implemented with the help of Women’s Allied President Sharon Connelly.

“She hits the ball a mile,” Connelly said of Duguay. “She’s so solid. It’s awesome. Every shot you know exactly what you’re going to get, which is awesome when you’re her partner but awful when you’re playing against her.”

Duguay will look to punctuate her summer campaign with a win in this weekend’s Waubeeka Club Championship before she returns to north east Pennsylvania to resume her duties as an English professor at a local university.

“I’ve had a great year,” said Duguay. “It’s all mental for me. That’s been the story.”

A great story.

Women’s Allied

Wahconah Country Club

August 23

*Allied Team Champions: Wahconah Country Club (357)