Jenny McRae has a long list of golfing accolades to her name.
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Chief among them are her 21 Horsham Golf Club A Grade club championships and her ongoing streak of 18 consecutive titles.
But for McRae, the passion for golf comes from testing and bettering herself, rather than awards and accolades.
"As proud as you are of what you've achieved and what you've done, I just like to keep a lid on it," McRae said. "I don't play for the awards or trophies, it's more that I've always been the person to set goals for myself and to really work hard to achieve those goals.
"I go out to play for myself, and just to do the best I can."
That self-driven determination is the perfect mindset for the game of golf.
But in McRae's early years growing up in Murtoa, she was far more interested in team sports.
"I played sport all my life," McRae said. "I had a sister Sandy who shared the same interests. Tennis, Basketball, Hockey, we played whatever we could try."
Golf was a long way down on McRae's list of sports to pursue. But when playing high-intensity sports became a little more difficult, golf became her number one.
"As a kid, I probably had a few hits of golf, but I could never really see much a point to it at that stage," Mcrae said. "I only really took up golf when I met my husband Garry.
"I would've been nearly 30 when I took it up seriously. At that stage I had knee problems and couldn't sort of do the things that I wanted to anymore, so golf being a little more sedate suited me."
McRae was almost immediately caught by golf's allure and the endless quest for self-betterment.
"When I first started, I always said tennis would be my number one love. But golf is an addiction, it really grabs you," McRae said.
"It's probably the most challenging sport I've ever taken up, but I've loved it from the time I started."
McRae quickly discovered a natural talent, and soared toward Horsham's Club Championships straight away.
"I started off on the max handicap of 36, and I think my first round of competition I reduced it by four strokes," McRae said.
"In my first year at the Club Championships I actually won the intermediate championships, then I was into A Grade for the following year."
McRae faced some stiff competition early on from some of Horsham's renowned golfing stars such as Joyce Mills and Glenda Crouch.
"I finished runner-up in A Grade three times before I actually broke through," McRae said.
"But it was just a thrill to be in the running alongside people like Joyce and Glenda. They were the two playing off for the championships every year, then I just snuck into the picture."
McRae won her first A Grade championship in 1997, her second in 1999 and third in 2000. She missed out in 2001 but has proceeded to win the next 18 consecutive titles.
"I don't think about that number so much, I just keep taking each one as it comes," McRae said. "Reading back on the scores I've had and things like that I'm proud of what I've done, but I don't dwell on it too much."
McRae said one of her most precious wins came in 2016.
"2016 I donated a kidney to my daughter Courtney in March," McRae said. "She's been type one diabetic since she was five years old and she needed a kidney transplant.
"The surgery all went well ... and I went in (to the club championships) with no expectations, I was just happy that the transplant had gone well.
"It sort of put it all in perspective that year. In the scheme of things it was only a game of golf. It was just nice to be able to play, and it was just a bonus I won."
While she has made a full physical recovery since the transplant, McRae said there was still one lingering issue.
"I'm all well now and you wouldn't even know it had happened," she said.
"But I do blame Courtney - I think I've struggled with my golf swing ever since.
"I keep saying to her, I think I gave you the kidney with the swing."
Beyond the club championships, McRae has a host of other golfing highlights. One highlight was winning the Victorian Senior Women's Golf Championship in thrilling fashion when it came to Horsham in 2013. McRae won three consecutive match-play contests against some terrific golfers to claim the title.
"They're held all over the state but I had never been away to play before. But because it was at Horsham I thought I'd give it a go," McRae said. "I hadn't really given myself much of a chance. The quarter final went to the 19th hole, my semi went to the 20th.
"Then in the final I played against Heather Gellatly who was an ex-Murtoa girl, so it was a bit of a Murtoa rivarly and I managed to beat her on the 17th hole.
"That was one of the biggest thrills I've had in recent years."
McRae is also a multiple-time winner of the Wimmera Ladies Championships, a pennant premier, a finalist at the 1999 Volkswagon Scramble and a course record holder at Horsham with 71 off the stick.
But above all, McRae simply loves the game of golf.
"What I like about the game is that when you're just out there, you're just up against the course," McRae said.
"I just love getting out there, getting lost in your own thoughts and playing mind-games with yourself. It's just relaxing for me."
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