Kevin Duke / The BulletinRosie Cook pitches out of the tall grassesin the hazard on the par-5 13th hole at Bend Golf and Country Club earlier this month. Cook made birdie on the hole and went on to win the 50th Bend Ladies Invitational.

Rosie Cook left no doubt Sunday afternoon, distancing herself from the rest of the field with a hot back nine to win the 50th Bend Ladies’ Invitational at Bend Golf and Country Club.

Cook, 44 and from Awbrey Glen Golf Club in Bend, got the swing and the putter working together early on the back nine Sunday, running off three straight birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13 to seal the win. She successfully defended the title she won for the first time last year.

The birdies got her to 3 under par on the day minus 4 for the tournament) and put her well in front of her closest competitors. She would cruise in from there to an eight-shot win with a two-day total of 3-under-par 141.

Two wedges within 6 feet on 11 and 12, and then a fantastic birdie from the hazard to the left of the 13th green, ensured the repeat for Cook.

“I had a problem on the back nine yesterday,” Cook, originally from Malaysia, said. “I was in trouble the whole nine and I think I shot like 38, so today on the back I decided I better pay attention.”

While she knew the birdie run put her in the lead, Cook tried to put that out of her mind.

“I try not to think about making birdies so much, it makes me feel like I’m working too hard,” she said. “I try to just play the course, put the ball on the green and if birdies happen, they happen.”

While the first two birdies seemed fairly routine, the third was anything but.

A perfect drive left her about 200 yards into the par-5 13th, but her second shot went too far left, into the tall grasses on the edge of the pond guarding the left side of the fairway.

“I was trying to draw it and saw that it was turning a little too much,” Cook said. “But I didn’t see a splash, so that was a good thing.”

When members of her group found her ball, Cook opted to play it rather than taking a drop and hacked it out of the weeds beautifully, the shot running 25 feet past the hole.

One super stroke later, she had drained the speedy, downhill putt for her third birdie in a row — although she was just playing for the par.

“We found it, thank God,” she said. “When you find it and you’re safe, you have to pay attention. Don’t be a hero and remember par is a good score.”

Winning the 50th edition of the tournament was important for Cook.

“When I thought about it being the 50th anniversary of the tournament,” Cook said, “I thought to myself, ‘I need that number,’ because it will be special.”

Cook will take her game next to the 106th Oregon Amateur Championship at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club, June 22-27 in Aloha.

Royal Oaks Country Club’s Debbie Friede, 55, finished second after shooting 75-74-149 for the two days.

“I had a great day,” Friede said. “I was in Bend, Oregon, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful golf course … I just got beat.

“You get beat by somebody and you can’t do anything about it.”

Freide took notice of Cook’s play on the back nine.

“I don’t know what Rosie shot, but she had to be a couple under easily. She played well and I made some bogeys that hurt my birdies (three on the day.)”

The second-place finish was not much consolation for the competitive golfer from Vancouver, Washington.

“It’s probably good for second,” Friede said of her score after the round. “But I like to win.”

Bend High product and former Weber State golfer Amy Anderson, 31, finished third with her rounds of 76-78-154.

“It was alright today. I had a rough front nine, but got those couple of birdies on the back, so I was happy with that,” Anderson, a member at Bend G&CC, said.

She noted that motherhood has gotten in the way of her golf game.

“I don’t really play enough to be good any more,” she laughed.

Her second birdie on the back nine came after a beautiful punch shot through the trees that rolled through the fairway on 14 — and stopped about 15 feet below the hole. She drained the uphill putt to take advantage of the good shot.

“I had that little tree in my way, ended up punching it up there and it worked out,” Anderson said.

She was also impressed with Cook’s play on the back nine Sunday.

“Rosie’s a great player, I’ve played with her a few times and she totally deserved it today — she played awesome.”

Former Oregon State golfer Chelsey Lind was fourth at 156. Tied for fifth were 70-year-old Nettie Morrison (Bend G&CC), Leilani Norman (Shadow Hills CC), and Athena Douglas (Illahe Hills CC) at 157.

—Reporter: 541-617-7868, kduke@bendbulletin.com.