U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Home
Sept. 26 - Oct. 1 at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn.
Who's Here: A field of 132 of the best 50-and-older female amateurs. The average age of the Senior Women’s Amateur competitors is 56.58 years old.
The youngest player in the championship is Patricia Schremmer, of Honolulu, Hawaii, who turned 50 on Sept. 8. There are five other players in their first year of championship eligibility: Lynn Anderson, of Hopkins, Minn.; Angela Collins, of Glendale, Calif.; Kelly Loeb, of Tucson, Ariz.; Adrienne MacLean, of Basking Ridge, N.J.; and Robin Webb, of Clive, Iowa.
Patsy Ehret, 71, of Stuart, Fla., is the championship’s oldest competitor.
Field by age (as of Sept. 23):
50-54 – 60
54-59 – 39
60-64 – 23
65-69 – 8
70-plus – 2
There are eight countries represented at the championship: Australia, Canada, France, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Spain and the United States of America.
There are 33 states represented at the championship: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Washington D.C. is also represented.
There are 13 USGA champions in the field:
· Mary Budke, 61, of Palm Springs, Calif. (1972 U.S. Women’s Amateur)
· Carolyn Creekmore, 63, of Dallas, Texas (2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Robin Donnelley, 61, of Palm Beach, Fla. (1989 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Terri Frohnmayer, 59, of Salem, Ore. (2011 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Mina Hardin, 55, of Mexico (2010 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Mary Ann Hayward, 55, of Canada (2005 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Sherry Herman, 57, of Middletown, N.J. (2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Joan Higgins, 59, of Glendora, Calif. (2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Diane Lang, 60, of Weston, Fla. (2005, 2006, 2008 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Martha Leach, 53, of Hebron, Ky. (2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Ellen Port, 53, of St. Louis, Mo. (1995, 1996, 2000, 2011 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur; 2012, 2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Anna Schultz, 60, of Rockwall, Texas (2007 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Corey Weworski, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif. (2004 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
There are 13 USGA runners-up in the field:
· Laura Coble, 51, of Augusta, Ga. (2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Susan Cohn, 52, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Carolyn Creekmore (2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Robin Donnelley (1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Jane Fitzgerald, 53, of Kensington, Md. (2012 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Elizabeth Haines, 67, of Gladwyne, Pa. (2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Mina Hardin (2001 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur; 2011 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Judith Kyrinis, 51, of Canada (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
· Martha Leach (2011 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Sue Billek Nyhus, 52, of Orem, Utah (1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links)
· Ellen Port (2002 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Kerry Postillion, 52, of Scottsdale, Ariz. (1996, 2005, 2007 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)
· Anna Schultz (2000 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur; 2006 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)
Five players were members of victorious teams in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship:
· Laura Coble (Georgia, 2005, 2009, 2011)
· Robin Donnelley (Florida, 1999)
· Elizabeth Haines (Pennsylvania, 1995)
· Leigh Klasse, 55, of Woodbury, Minn. (2001)
· Lynn Thompson, 56, of Cincinnati, Ohio (2003)
Three players have represented the USA in the Curtis Cup Match:
· Mary Budke (1974, captain 2002)
· Robin Donnelley (1990, 1992, 2000)
· Ellen Port (1994, 1996, captain 2014)
Five players have represented their home countries at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship:
· Beatriz Arenas, 67, of Guatemala (1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014)
· Mary Budke (USA, 1972)
· Maria de Orueta, 54, of Spain (1984, 1986)
· Mary Ann Hayward (Canada, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006)
· Terrill Samuel, 54, of Canada (1990)
Notable Player Bios:
Maggie Brady, 67, of Washington, D.C., is a member at six-time USGA host site Congressional Golf Club, where she has won numerous club championships.
Bronwyne Bruwer, 63, of Oldsmar, Fla., was born in South Africa. She built a 37-foot sailboat and spent five years sailing around the world, keeping her golf clubs stowed in the hull.
Mary Budke, 61, of Palm Desert, Calif., is one of the most decorated golfers in the history of her native Oregon. She is an eight-time Oregon Women’s Amateur champion, was inducted into the Oregon Golf Hall of Fame in 1991 and was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame in 2005. Budke is a retired emergency physician.
Stacey Camara, 51, of Windsor, Calif., is a retired law enforcement officer, having worked for the Los Angeles and Santa Rosa Police Departments. She currently works part time as a deputy sheriff for Sonoma County.
Julie Carmichael, 51, of Indianapolis, Ind., is a noted healthcare and real estate executive and strategist in the Hoosier State. Along with her father, 1961 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist and former Indiana University golf coach Sam Carmichael, she owns the Martinsville (Ind.) Golf Club. Carmichael won the 1986 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship while attending Stanford University. She was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 2005 and has won numerous Indiana Golf Association and Indiana Women’s Golf Association championships.
Janie Carpenter, 57, of Garland, Texas, serves as secretary and president-elect of the Women’s Southern Golf Association. She is a veterinarian and volunteers for several animal welfare organizations, including a two-time appointment by the governor of Texas to the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
Helene Chartrand, 59, of Canada, won the 2014 Canadian Senior Women’s Championship. She is also the 2013 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur champion.
Angela Collins, 50, of Glendale, Calif., played volleyball at Cal State-Northridge under her maiden name of Brinton, helping her team win the 1987 NCAA Division II national championship. Collins and her husband, Jim, recently opened a restaurant, Town and Kitchen Grill. Her caddie this week, Dave Gallagher, is the director of astronomy and physics at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Lynne Cowan, 52, of Rocklin, Calif., is a four-time California Women’s Amateur champion (1999, 2000, 2005 and 2007) and two-time California Senior Women’s Amateur champion (2014 and 2015). In 2015, she was recognized by the Northern California Golf Association as one of the 10 greatest players in Northern California golf history – the only career amateur on a prestigious list that includes Paula Creamer, Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst. At age 18, Cowan was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis, and credits golf with keeping her limber.
Carolyn Creekmore, 63, of Dallas, Texas, was inducted into the Arkansas and Texas Golf Halls of Fame in 2010. She tore her rotator cuff in 2014 and had to take the entire year off from playing golf.
Maria de Orueta, 54, of Spain, has won numerous European titles, including the 2015 International European Senior Ladies, 11 Spanish Women’s Mid-Amateurs and two Spanish Senior Women’s Amateurs. De Orueta is a skilled Spanish guitar player, particularly in the flamenco style.
Theresa Delcamp, 53, of Grand Blanc, Mich., has a plot in a community garden and has donated more than 500 pounds of food to a local food pantry this year. She is the 2014 and 2015 Michigan Senior Women’s Amateur champion.
Linda DiVall, 63, of Alexandria, Va., is the president and CEO of American Viewpoint, which has conducted polling and focus groups for every Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan.
Kim Eaton, 56, of Mesa, Ariz., is a Colorado Golf Hall of Fame member who has reached three U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinals (2009, 2011 and 2014). She has won several state amateur and senior amateur titles in Arizona, California and Colorado. Eaton is a retired police officer.
Jane Fitzgerald, 53, of Kensington, Md., is a buyer and operations manager at Chevy Chase Club, where her husband, Jim, is the head golf professional. She also owns her own company, where she sells items featuring golf illustrations, and works with the Trawick Foundation, which serves nonprofit organizations in Maryland’s Montgomery County. Fitzgerald is a five-time Maryland Women’s Amateur champion, and won the 2001 Maryland Women’s Open Championship.
Debbie Friede, 55, of Washougal, Wash., spent six years on the LPGA Tour before receiving her amateur reinstatement in 2005. She is the marketing and membership director for Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, Wash., after spending time at TaylorMade-Adidas Golf and Nike Golf.
Cheryl Grigg, 58, of Sea Island, Ga., lost her first husband, Sea Island Golf Club head professional John Popa, in the same plane crash that took the lives of Davis Love Jr. and two others. Grigg has since married Tucker Grigg, calling him an incredibly and supportive husband.
Mina Hardin, 55, of Mexico, was the first Mexican woman to play on the LPGA Tour and the first Mexican-born USGA champion. A reinstated amateur since 1991, she has won the Texas Women’s Amateur five times and was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Dana Harrity, 56, of North Hampton, N.H., is a 16-time New Hampshire Women’s Amateur champion.
Toyoko Hawkins, 59, of Anchorage, Alaska, is a Japanese citizen who has lived in Alaska for nearly 25 years. She is a former flight attendant for Japan Airlines, and has been able to play courses around the world during her work travels.
Mary Ann Hayward, 55, of Canada, is the manager of sports performance for the Golf Association of Ontario. The four-time Canadian Women’s Amateur champion has been inducted into the Canada, Ontario and Quebec Golf Halls of Fame.
Mary Jane Hiestand, 56, of Naples, Fla., is the assistant men’s golf coach at Florida Gulf Coast University. The five-time Florida Women's Golf Association Senior Player of the Year and Michigan Golf Hall of Famer has competed in 34 USGA championships since 1995. She met her husband, Jeff, who doubles as her caddie, at a USGA qualifier in 1997. Hiestand had the honor of hitting the first ball in competition at the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, conducted in May at Bandon Dunes.
Jennifer Hocking, 60, of Colorado Springs, Colo., is a ballet instructor at the Ballet Society of Colorado Springs.
Louella Kanew, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., is a breast-cancer survivor. The native of South Africa reached the Round of 16 at the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur after having undergone a double mastectomy just eight months prior.
Leigh Klasse, 55, of Woodbury, Minn., has won several Minnesota State Golf Association and Minnesota Women’s Public Golf Association titles, including the Minnesota Women's Mid-Amateur in 2004 and 2009, and Minnesota Senior Women’s Amateur from 2012-14.
Pamela Kuong, 54, of Wellesley Hills, Mass., won the 2008 and 2010 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur championships. She is also the 2011 New England Women’s Amateur champion.
Judith Kyrinis, 51, of Canada, is a registered nurse at Toronto General Hospital. She recorded a hole-in-one while 8½-months pregnant with her oldest child. In August, Kyrinis won the 2015 Senior Women’s North & South Championship.
Bev Lane, 54, of Great Falls, Va., is the first female chairman of the golf committee at six-time USGA host site Congressional Country Club.
Martha Leach, 53, of Hebron, Ky., is the sister of six-time USGA champion Hollis Stacy. Leach, who introduced her sister at her 2012 World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony, will be inducted into the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame in November. She partnered with her daughter Madison Gerstle to compete in May’s inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Adrienne MacLean, 50, of Basking Ridge, N.J., has been a reinstated amateur since 1997 when she and her husband, John, had their first of two sons. John is a former NHL player who won the 1995 Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils. She also played golf for Stanford University under her maiden name, Gilmartin.
Kathy Malpass, 59, of Evergreen, Colo., is a member of the USGA’s Women’s Mid-Amateur Committee.
Kareen Markle, 53, of Meridian, Idaho, is a three-time Pacific Northwest Golf Association Women’s Mid-Amateur champion and three-time Idaho Senior Women’s Amateur champion. She is a registered nurse, and also serves as a volunteer golf coach at Mountain View High School.
Terri McAngus, 53, of Mount Juliet, Tenn., won the 2015 Tennessee Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. She recently moved to Tennessee from Alaska, where she won numerous state titles.
Georgia McCravey, 60, of Chattanooga, Tenn., has coached and mentored many young girls in her area, including LPGA professional and 2012 USA Curtis Cup Team member Brooke Pancake. The two-time Tennessee Women’s Amateur champion has been involved with Chattanooga’s Drive, Chip and Putt Championship qualifiers for the last two years.
Donna McHugh, 55, of Montville, N.J., and her husband Jim are active with the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, a charity in honor of Jim’s brother Col. John M. McHugh, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 after 24 years of service in the United States Army. The foundation has donated more than $1 million to the Children of Fallen Soldiers charitable organization.
Janet Moore, 51, of Cherry Hills Village, Colo., and her husband Kent served as the women’s and men’s (respectively) golf coaches at Wheaton (Ill.) College from 2011-15. She has won five Colorado Women’s Stroke-Play Championships and was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2001, while her husband was inducted in 2004.
Patty Moore, 65, of Charlotte, N.C., was inducted into the Carolinas Hall of Fame in 2009, having won 18 Carolinas golf titles. She is also a two-time North Carolina Women’s Amateur champion.
Courtney Myhrum, 53, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a member of the USGA Women’s Committee and serves as chairman of the Girls’ Junior Committee.
Leilani Norman, 65, of Eugene, Ore., won the 2015 Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
Sue Billek Nyhus, 52, of Orem, Utah, is in her fifth season as the head women’s golf coach at Utah Valley University, where she coaches her daughter, Kimberly. Prior to coaching at UVU, the two-time winner of the Utah State Women’s Amateur (1985, 1999) coached at Brigham Young University for 11 years. Nyhus, a reinstated amateur, was named Utah Women's Golf Association Golfer of the Year in 1996 and 1998, and became the first woman to be named Utah Golf Association Player of the Year in 1999. She was also named Female Golfer of the Decade by the UGA. Nyhus has competed in every USGA women’s championship (Women’s Open, Women’s Amateur, Girls’ Junior, Senior Women’s Amateur, Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, Women’s State Team, Women’s Amateur Public Links).
Linda Pearson, 60, of Glendale, Calif., owns Dinah’s Chicken, a restaurant in her hometown. The restaurant has been owned and operated by the Pearson family since 1967.
Heidi Person, 54, of Pauma Valley, Calif., spent 12 years working for the U.S. National Park Service and the California State Park System. For 15 years, she worked for the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona.
Brenda Pictor, 60, of Marietta, Ga., is the 2008-14 Georgia Senior Women’s Player of the Year, having taken the Senior Women’s Amateur title six times. She won the 1994 Georgia Women’s Amateur Championship, and again captured the title 20 years later in 2014.
Gail Pimm, 55, of Canada, won the 2015 Ontario Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. From 1984-90, she was a member of the Canadian National Squash Team, and she captured the national squash championship in 1986.
Ellen Port, 53, of St. Louis, Mo., is one of the most decorated U.S. amateur golfers of all time. In addition to her six USGA championship titles, she represented the USA Team in two Curtis Cups (1994 and 1996), is an eight-time Missouri State Amateur champion and 13-time St. Louis Metropolitan champion. In 2012, she was inducted into both the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. She also captained the victorious USA Team in the 2014 Curtis Cup Match at St. Louis Country Club. On Aug. 10, she was named head women’s golf coach at Washington University in St. Louis, a role she will fill after nearly 30 years of teaching and coaching at John Burroughs School, also in St. Louis.
Gail Regan, 58, of Quincy, Mass., is a golf course rater for Golfweek, where she helps with their America’s Top 100 Greatest Golf Courses ranking. She and her husband Mike will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on Sept. 22.
Tanna Richard, 58, of Fort Smith, Ark., was inducted into the Arkansas State Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2006. She won back-to-back Arkansas Girls’ Junior titles in 1973 and 1974, and the 1980 Arkansas State Match Play and 1996 Arkansas State Stroke Play championships. She was also a quarterfinalist in the inaugural 1987 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. She played for the University of Missouri golf team under her maiden name, Lee.
Terrill Samuel, 54, of Canada, won the 2012 and 2015 Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Senior Championships.
Lisa Schlesinger, 57, of Laytonsville, Md., won the 2008 and 2009 Maryland Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships. She was the stroke-play medalist in the 2011 and 2012 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championships. Schlesinger, who played basketball at the University of Maryland and in the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) with two teams, is a member of the Greater Washington D.C. Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame.
Patricia Schremmer, 50, of Honolulu, Hawaii, has three daughters, all of whom are competitive surfers.
Anna Schultz, 60, of Rockwall, Texas, won the 2006 and 2007 Women’s Southern Senior Amateur Championship; 2012 and 2014 Women’s Texas Golf Association Senior Championship; and 2013 Texas Women’s Open Senior Championship. Schultz was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.
Angela Stewart, 60, of Greenville, N.C. is a physician and founder of Our Children’s Clinic in Winterville, N.C., a full-service medical clinic providing comprehensive pediatric healthcare from birth to adolescence. She won the 2011 North Carolina Women’s Senior Amateur, becoming the first African American to win a Carolinas Golf Association championship. In 2012, her oral history was documented for the USGA Museum.
Marlene Summers, 61, of Montgomery, Texas, started a nonprofit organization called Grammy’s Cookie Convoy that ships cookies, cards and letters to troops serving overseas. In 2007, Summers was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, a rare and incurable autoimmune disease. She was bedridden for six months and had to relearn how to walk. She credits the courage of the troops she supports with helping her overcome her health struggles.
Lynn Thompson, 57, of Cincinnati, Ohio, reached match play at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship with her partner Janie Klare when she sank a 30-foot putt for a birdie on the first playoff hole on Bandon Dunes’ Pacific Dunes course.
Elisabet Wahlquist-Levy, 57, of Fort Worth, Texas, was born in Sweden. She won the 2014 Scandinavian Seniors Ladies Championship.
Kathy West, 62, of Tulsa, Okla., is a former competitive tennis player and played in the 1971 US Open.
Susan West, 51, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., is a retired president of the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission. West was previously assistant dean and director of the MBA program at the University at Alabama. She was a member of the Crimson Tide’s tennis program as undergraduate. A nationally ranked tennis player, West won the 1993 USTA National Clay Court Doubles Championship, as well as the 2015 Alabama Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
Caryn Wilson, 54, of Rancho Mirage, Calif., is one of two women to compete in a U.S. Open championship in both golf and tennis, joining only Althea Gibson. Wilson, a reinstated amateur, was a three-time All-America selection in tennis at Stanford University, leading her team to a national title in 1982.
Sandy Woodruff, 66, of Santa Cruz, Calif., owns and operates Valley Gardens Golf Course, a nine-hole executive layout in Scotts Valley, Calif.
Lindsay Wortham, 64, of Richmond, Va., won the 2010 USTA Mother-Daughter and Senior Mother-Daughter national grass court championships with her daughter Ginny.
