She was born Lynda Irene Smith March 22, 1952, in Winnipeg and played golf out of St. Boniface Golf Club from 1965 to 1972, then Elmhurst Golf and Country Club 1972 to 1996 before moving to Kelowna, BC, where she has been a member of Kelowna Golf Club since 1998.
As Lynda Smith, she won the Manitoba Women’s Junior Championship in 1969 and 1970 and also was a member of the provincial junior women’s team in those two years. She won the Manitoba Women’s Amateur Championship four times, in 1982, 1987, 1988 and 1992 and won the Saskatchewan Women’s Amateur title in 1996. She also teamed with her father, Art Smith, to win the provincial father-daughter honours several times.
Palahniuk won the British Columbia Women’s Senior Championship in 2002 and added the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship in 2003. She was also runner-up for the national senior title in 2007 and placed third in 2006.
In addition to her two appearances on provincial junior teams, she was a member of the Manitoba Women’s Amateur team 16 times and played five times as a member of British Columbia Women’s Senior teams.
Her Manitoba Amateur team appearances were in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993.
She was ranked No.10 in Canadian women’s golf in 1990 and was named Women’s Senior Amateur Golfer of the Year by Score magazine in 2003.
Lynda Palahniuk is an inductee into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum Inc., October 5, 2009.