Three Florida women and one man advanced to Round of 32 matches at the US Senior Women’s Amateur and US Senior Amateur Championships. The Senior Women's Amatuer is being conducted at Cordevalle in San Martin, California, and the Senior Amateur is being conducted at Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers, NC. Susan Cohn of Palm Beach Gardens, Mary Jane Hiestand of Naples, and Lin McMillan of Palm Coast will continue their play on Tuesday in California, as will Peter Wegmann of Sea Ranch Lakes, in North Carolina.
US Senior Women's Amateur Highlights
Taffy Brower of Boynton Beach, Gigi Higgins of Cape Cora, and Therese Quinn of Jacksonville all advanced to Round of 64 matches but were defeated in their Monday matches.
2012 Florida Women’s Senior Player-of-the-Year, Mary Jane Hiestand, faced fellow Floridian Therese Quinn in their Round of 64 match. Hiestand was never down during her match against Quinn, defeating her 2 & 1. Hiestand won the 2013 Florida Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, and placed 4th at the Senior Women’s North & South Amateur Championship. Both players will again compete against each other in the Inaugural Women’s Florida Cup Matches in November when North Florida faces South Florida.
Unlike in 2012, Lin McMillan posted rounds of 80-79-159 to make match play this week. McMillan defeated Sue Wooster of Australia, 3 & 1, never down in the match. McMillan has had a consistently strong year, recently placing 4th at the Senior Women’s North & South Amateur Championship and 5th at Florida’s Inaugural Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship with rounds of 74-77--151.
Susan Cohn also advanced to match play this year, shooting a two-day total of 76-78-154. Cohn faced Nancy Kromar of Austin, TX, in Monday’s Round of 64 matches. Never down in her match, and having a lead as great as 5 up, Cohn defeated Texas’ Kromar 4&3. In April, Cohn won the Palm Beach Women’s Amateur for the seventh time in a row, shooting 79-76-76--231.
The starting field of 132 players will play two rounds of stroke play Sept. 21-22, with the low 64 scorers advancing to match play. The schedule is as follows:
Sept. 21 (Saturday) – First round of stroke play
Sept. 22 (Sunday) – Second round of stroke play
Sept. 23 (Monday) – First round of match play
Sept. 24 (Tuesday) – Second and third rounds of match play
Sept. 25 (Wednesday) – Quarterfinals and semifinals, match play
Sept. 26 (Thursday) – Championship match (18 holes)
CordeValle will be set up at 5,894/5,968 yards and will play to a par of 36-36—72. CordeValle has hosted the Frys.com Open on the PGA Tour since 2010. The PGA Cup was also hosted by CordeValle in 2011 and the annual Gifford Collegiate Championship is conducted at the course.The course makes use of Northern California's landscape, one filled with meandering creeks, sycamore trees, canyons and broad meadows. The USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship is open to female amateurs who have reached their 50th birthday by Sept. 21 and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 18.4.
US Senior Amateur Highlights
Four Florida men advanced to the first round of match play this weekend at the US Senior Amateur Championship. The round of 64 matches began Monday morning where Michael Mercier, of Juno Beach, Ken Palladino, of Dunedin, Neil Vanleeuwen, of Tarpon Springs, and Peter Wegmann, of Sea Ranch Lakes were the four men representing the Sunshine State.
Mercier, Palladino and Vanleeuwen were defeated in their first matches, but they didn’t go down without a fight. Ken Palladino, who was defeated by Curt Knorr, of Dunwoody, Georgia, went into an extra playoff hole but was unable to match Knorr’s birdie on the par five.
Peter Wegmann, 2008 Florida Mid-Senior Champion, defeated opponent Mickey Jones, of Odessa, Texas, 4 & 3 and advances to the round of 32 matches Tuesday morning where he will face Daniel Arvanitis of Manchester, New Hampshire. Wegmann will tee off today at 8:48 AM in the seventh match of the day.
Sept. 21 (Saturday) – First round of stroke play
Sept. 22 (Sunday) – Second round of stroke play
Sept. 23 (Monday) – First round of match play
Sept. 24 (Tuesday) – Second and third rounds of match play
Sept. 25 (Wednesday) – Quarterfinals and semifinals, match play
Sept. 26 (Thursday) – Championship match (18 holes)
Wade Hampton Golf Club will be set up at 6,842 yards and will play to a par of 36-36–72. It will be the longest course in Senior Amateur history. Wade Hampton Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1987. The course has consistently been ranked among the top 100 in the U.S. by several golf publications, including Golf Digest. The USGA Senior Amateur Championship is open to amateurs who have reached their 55th birthday by Sept. 21, and who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 7.4. The deadline for entries was July 17.
