Virginia Beach, Va. – Stroke-play medalist Brenda Pictor and defending champion Meghan Stasi advanced to Tuesday afternoon’s second round of match play at 6,187-yard, par-72 Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach, Va.
Pictor, 56, of Marietta, Ga., immediately faced a difficult opponent in 2004 Senior Women’s Amateur champion Carolyn Creekmore, who survived Monday’s six-way playoff for the final match-play berth against Pictor.
You and the golf course is one thing, said Pictor, a commercial realtor. But when you get head-to-head with somebody and they pull off a shot and your adrenaline is flowing, match play is just a totally different thing.
Carolyn’s won a lot – probably 100 times more matches than I have. I respected her a lot.
Creekmore, 59, of Dallas, Texas, carried the momentum from her playoff victory into the match, taking advantage of Pictor’s putting struggles to build a 3-up lead through seven holes.
I just didn’t have the feel for the greens, said Pictor, so I wasn’t confident like you should be going into match play.
However, Pictor fought back and knocked two holes off Creekmore’s lead before play was suspended for darkness after they had completed 11 holes.
It was a relief overnight to go and figure out the greens, said Pictor, who lost in the round of 16 at last week’s Senior Women’s Amateur.
The night’s game plan worked for Pictor, who was able to square the match going to the par-5, 477-yard 18th. Pictor clearly enjoys the final hole, as she converted her third birdie of the championship on the 18th to take a 1-up victory.
The win provided a modicum of redemption for Pictor, who fell to Creekmore in the semifinals of the 2009 Senior Women’s Amateur.
We had a bit of a history and I hadn’t beat her yet, so this was a little sweet revenge, said Pictor with a smile.
Stasi continued her march toward a historic fourth Women’s Mid-Amateur title with a smooth 6-and-5 triumph over Annette Gaiotti of Holladay, Utah. The 33-year-old from Oakland Park, Fla., never trailed in the match.
I was hitting it pretty solid, a little above average, said Stasi, a 2008 USA Curtis Cup Team member who owns and operates a seafood restaurant with her husband, Danny. I just got the job done.
Stasi’s 2010 opponent, local favorite Carol Robertson, did not fare as well. The 28-year old from Virginia Beach, who is the head women’s golf coach at nearby Old Dominion University, fell to 2010 Senior Women’s Amateur champion Mina Hardin, 4 and 3.
Hardin, 51, did not think her qualifying score of 164 would be good enough to move her into match play, and planned to return home to Fort Worth on Monday night. Those plans quickly changed as she watched the scores being posted on the leader board.
I was very excited to have another chance at this golf course, said Hardin, who came to Bayville directly off her runner-up finish at last week’s Senior Women’s Amateur.
Hardin’s birdie on the par-4 fourth sparked a run of four consecutive hole wins that gave her a 4-up lead and placed the match firmly under her control.
I hit the ball really good and we hit the putts really well, said Hardin, a reinstated amateur who was the first Mexican woman on the LPGA Tour. She unfortunately missed a couple of putts and gave me the opportunity, so I went ahead and took it right away.
In addition to Stasi, there is another player with the opportunity to put her name on the Mildred Prunaret Trophy for the fourth time. Ellen Port, 49, of St. Louis, Mo., who won the 1995, 1996 and 2000 championships, defeated Mexico’s Liisa Kelo Escartin by a 3-and-1 margin.
Also advancing were past Women’s Mid-Amateur champions Martha Leach, 49, of Hebron, Ky., and Virginia Grimes, 47, of Meridian, Miss. Both players cruised to 6-and-5 victories over Judith Allan-Kyrinis and Meredith Chiampa, respectively.
Both USA Curtis Cup Team captains in the field also advanced. Noreen Mohler, of Bethlehem, Pa., who captained the victorious 2010 squad, defeated 2004 Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Corey Weworski, 4 and 3. Patricia Cornett, of Mill Valley, Calif., took a 3-and-2 victory over Amanda Pettit. Cornett, who was the runner-up at the inaugural Women’s Mid-Amateur in 1987, will lead the 2012 Team at The Nairn Golf Club in Scotland.
At 57, Mohler and Cornett are the oldest players remaining in the championship, by one year over Pictor.
The second round of match play is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The third round will be conducted Wednesday morning, followed by the quarterfinal round Wednesday afternoon. The semifinals will be played Thursday morning, and the 18-hole championship match is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Christina Lance is a coordinator of championship communications for the USGA. Email questions or comments to clance@usga.org.
Results
Virginia Beach, Va. – Results from Tuesday morning’s completion of the first round of match play at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at the par-72, 6,187-yard Bayville Golf Club:
Upper Bracket
Brenda Pictor, Marietta, Ga. (146) def. Carolyn Creekmore, Dallas, Texas (166), 1 up
Janet Moore, Greenwood Village, Colo. (159) def. Rylee Plitz, Canada (160), 1 up
Pamela Kuong, Wellesley Hills, Mass. (155) def. Tanya Olson, Naperville, Ill. (163), 4 and 3
Shawn Farmer, Bellevue, Wash. (162) def. Wendi Golden, Bradenton, Fla. (155), 23 holes
Mina Hardin, Fort Worth, Texas (164) def. Carol Robertson, Virginia Beach, Va., 4 and 3
Noreen Mohler, Bethlehem, Pa. (158) def. Corey Weworski, Carlsbad, Calif. (160), 4 and 3
Sydney Wells, Menominee, Mich. (153) def. Ann Lahey, La Quinta, Calif. (164), 5 and 4
Ellen Port, St. Louis, Mo. (161) def. Liisa Kelo Escartin, Mexico (157), 3 and 1
Dawn Woodard, Greer, S.C. (149) def. Maggie Leef, Brookfield, Wis. (165), 3 and 2
Sharon Park, Irvine, Calif. (159) def. Reana Yun, Glendale, Calif. (160), 1 up
Meghan Stasi, Oakland Park, Fla. (154) def. Annette Gaiotti, Holladay, Utah (164), 6 and 5
Helene Beat, Sylvania, Ohio (156) def. Alexandra Frazier, Conshohocken, Pa. (162), 5 and 4
Jennifer Lucas, Knoxville, Tenn. (149) def. Deby Anderson, Rancho Mirage, Calif. (165), 6 and 5
Thuhashini Selvaratnam, Sri Lanka (159) def. Joan Garety, Ada, Mich. (160), 7 and 5
Laura Coble, Augusta, Ga. (154) def. Staci Creech, Chapel Hill, N.C. (164), 6 and 5
Kim Eaton, Greeley, Colo. (156) def. Anna Morales, Austin, Texas (161), 3 and 1
Lower Bracket
Robin Burke, Houston, Texas (165) def. Leigh Klasse, St. Anthony, Minn. (148), 4 and 3
Shirley Trier, Hartville, Ohio (160) def. Paige Bromen, Stillwater, Minn. (159), 19 holes
Kathy Kurata, Pasadena, Calif. (163) def. Patti Hogeboom, Canada (155), 19 holes
Christy Larrimore, Baltimore, Md. (155) def. Linda Jeffery, Abilene, Texas (162), 19 holes
Martha Leach, Hebron, Ky. (152) def. Judith Allan-Kyrinis, Canada (165), 6 and 5
Akemi Khaiat, Japan (160) def. Suzi Spotleson, Canton, Ohio (158), 3 and 2
Patricia Cornett, Mill Valley, Calif. (164) def. Amanda Pettit, Irving, Texas (153), 3 and 2
Stefani Markovich, Canada (157) def. Ashley Slavich, Oklahoma City, Okla. (161), 3 and 2
Tara Joy-Connelly, Pembroke, Mass. (148) def. Amy Suleiman, North Olmsted, Ohio (165), 5 and 4
Cissye Gallagher, Greenwood, Miss. (160) def. Liz Waynick, Scottsdale, Ariz. (159), 2 up
Kerry Postillion, Scottsdale, Ariz. (154) def. Susan Rheney, Greensboro, Ga. (163), 5 and 3
Andrea Kraus, Baltimore, Md. (162) def. Jordan Craig, Connellsville, Pa. (156), 5 and 4
Virginia Grimes, Meridian, Miss. (149) def. Meredith Chiampa, New York, N.Y. (165), 6 and 5
Julie Harrison, Baton Rouge, La. (160) def. Marilyn Hardy, Houston, Texas (159), 1 up
Lynne Cowan, Davis, Calif. (153) def. Lisa McGill, Philadelphia, Pa. (164), 4 and 2
Margaret Shirley, Roswell, Ga. (157) def. Jill Johnson, Tulsa, Okla. (161), 7 and 6
Pairings
Virginia Beach, Va. – Pairings for Tuesday’s afternoon’s second round of match play at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at the par-72, 6,187-yard Bayville Golf Club:
Upper Bracket
11:45 a.m.: Brenda Pictor, Marietta, Ga. (146) vs. Janet Moore, Greenwood Village, Colo. (159)
11:55 a.m.: Pamela Kuong, Wellesley Hills, Mass. (155) vs. Shawn Farmer, Bellevue, Wash. (162)
12:05 p.m.: Mina Hardin, Fort Worth, Texas (164) vs. Noreen Mohler, Bethlehem, Pa. (158)
12:15 p.m.: Sydney Wells, Menominee, Mich. (153) vs. Ellen Port, St. Louis, Mo. (161)
12:25 p.m.: Dawn Woodard, Greer, S.C. (149) vs. Sharon Park, Irvine, Calif. (159)
12:35 p.m.: Meghan Stasi, Oakland Park, Fla. (154) vs. Helene Beat, Sylvania, Ohio (156)
12:45 p.m.: Jennifer Lucas, Knoxville, Tenn. (149) vs. Thuhashini Selvaratnam, Sri Lanka (159)
12:55 p.m.: Laura Coble, Augusta, Ga. (154) vs. Kim Eaton, Greeley, Colo. (156)
Lower Bracket
1:05 p.m.: Robin Burke, Houston, Texas (165) vs. Shirley Trier, Hartville, Ohio (160)
1:15 p.m.: Kathy Kurata, Pasadena, Calif. (163) vs. Christy Larrimore, Baltimore, Md. (155)
1:25 p.m.: Martha Leach, Hebron, Ky. (152) vs. Akemi Khaiat, Japan (160)
1:35 p.m.: Patricia Cornett, Mill Valley, Calif. (164) vs. Stefani Markovich, Canada (157)
1:45 p.m.: Tara Joy-Connelly, Pembroke, Mass. (148) vs. Cissye Gallagher, Greenwood, Miss. (160)
1:55 p.m.: Kerry Postillion, Scottsdale, Ariz. (154) vs. Andrea Kraus, Baltimore, Md. (162)
2:05 p.m.: Virginia Grimes, Meridian, Miss. (149) vs. Julie Harrison, Baton Rouge, La. (160)
2:15 p.m.: Lynne Cowan, Davis, Calif. (153) vs. Margaret Shirley, Roswell, Ga. (157)