7:54 p.m. EDT: Exactly 64 players finished at +18 or better, meaning the match-play draw is set without the necessity of a playoff. Among those to earn a spot in the draw right on the number is Kareen Markle. Markle, of Meridian, Idaho, bounced back from an 87 on Saturday to post a 3-over 75 on Sunday. The 12-shot improvement from Round 1 to Round 2 was the best among the 132-player field.
The Round of 64 begins on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The full draw and starting times for each match can be found here.
6:25 p.m. EDT: Liz Corcoran and her father, Kenneth Jr., are enjoying a three-generation journey this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.
Corcoran, of Boston, Mass., is the third member of her family to compete in a USGA championship, joining her father and her grandfather, Kenneth Sr., both of whom played in the U.S. Amateur.
“My father played in four U.S. Amateurs, including the 1936 Amateur when John Fischer won,” said Kenneth Jr., who competed in the 1966 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club. He is also the third generation of the family to be a member at the Oyster Harbors Club on Cape Cod, Mass., where Liz is a six-time women’s club champion.
“I played in the 2011 Women’s Mid-Amateur and this is my first time back,” said Liz, 39, who has worked as a legislative aide to Byron Rushing, a longtime Massachusetts state representative in Boston, for 10 years. “I had a child and took a few years off, and it’s great to have a second turn at this, especially since my father couldn’t go with me in 2011.”
Liz Corcoran is a Type 1 diabetic who was diagnosed at age 9. The disease has not kept her from competing in the Boston, New York and Dublin marathons, as well as several triathlons. She has served as a member of the board for The Barton Center, a summer camp for diabetic children where she was a counselor for several years. She raised funds by running the 2015 New York Marathon to help children who could not otherwise afford to attend the camp.
“I’m a little behind my father and grandfather as far as golf goes,” she said after completing her first round with an 11-over-par 83. She finished 36 holes at 27 over and will not advance to match play. “When I was younger, I told them I wasn’t going to be a golfer. I played tennis and I was probably the worst tennis player ever.”
For his part, Kenneth is already grooming the next generation. Liz’s daughter, Caroline, 4, played in a junior golf program this summer.
6:10 p.m. EDT: It looks like there will be co-medalists in the 30th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur. Shannon Johnson, of Norton, Mass., and Julia Potter, of Indianapolis, Ind., are both in the clubhouse at 1-over 145 for 36 holes. Johnson had a one-stroke lead with three holes to play, but made double-bogey 6 on the par-4 7th hole, her 16th of the day. She hit her approach on her final hole, the par-4 9th, to seven feet and made the putt to seal a 1-over 73 for Sunday's round.
5:10 p.m. EDT: Both the race for medalist honors and the drive to make match play are in the home stretch late on Sunday afternoon. 2013 champion Julia Potter sits at the top of the leader board, having completing 36 holes at 1-over-par 145. Shannon Johnson, of Norton, Mass., is currently even par for her round and for the championship with four holes to play.
Sixty four players will advance to match play. Currently, there are 67 players at 17 over or better. The projected cut is 18 over; you can learn more about the projected cut by clicking on the “Projected Cutline Explained” text on the scoring page.
One player had a huge turnaround on Sunday to fuel a likely spot in match play. Julie Streng rebounded from an 85 in Round 1 to shoot 75 in Round 2 to get in the clubhouse at +16. After making a triple bogey, two doubles and eight bogeys on Saturday, she settled down to record 11 pars, one birdie and just four bogeys on Sunday.
4:25 p.m. EDT: Carol Semple Thompson is a seven-time USGA champion, and the Sewickley, Pa., native and lifelong amateur provided those associated with the 30th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship with a humorous, inspiring discussion of her World Golf Hall of Fame career at the Players Dinner. Read Ron Driscoll's piece here.
2:55 p.m. EDT: Julia Potter woke up on Sunday with the first-round lead in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She then solidified her opportunity to earn medalist honors for a second time with a 2-over 74 in Round 2, which puts her in the clubhouse at 1-over 145. Shannon Johnson is currently on the course at even par, but with plenty of golf left.
Potter posted two birdies and four bogeys on Sunday, and with an 8:30 a.m. EDT starting time, she dealt with wet conditions after overnight precipitation drenched The Kahkwa Club.
“I’m incredibly impressed by the staff here. I was here when it was pouring yesterday and I was really surprised that we were able to get off on time,” said Potter after her round. “I ran into one casual water (situation) and that’s incredibly amazing with how much rain came down. Much appreciation to the staff to get this course ready for the championship.”
Potter was the stroke-play medalist in 2013 at Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, N.C., and went on to win the Women’s Mid-Amateur in her first try.
1:28 p.m. EDT: After a disappointing Round 1 on Saturday, Annie Hogan, 28, is unlikely to make match play, but is turning things around a little bit in Round 2. The Medford, Mass., native shot 19-over 91 yesterday, but is just 6 over for her first 15 holes on Sunday.
Seeing improvement is a big part of measuring success for Hogan. In 2015, she qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur after having just picked up the game of golf in 2012. That was a year after she wrapped up a standout career on the women’s hockey team at Northeastern University. In August, she qualified for the championship for a second straight year, one year wiser on the links.
“Everything’s been great,” said Hogan, who works as a hockey instructor. “I do feel like I understand the game a little better. I’m a little more confident going into greens.”
Hogan was surprised by her struggles on Saturday, and thought she was prepared to play better at The Kahkwa Club.
“It’s actually weird, I’ve been playing in mini-tour events all winter, with pros, and I felt like I was in over my head, and I played well,” she said after her round on Saturday. “I played well all winter, so then to come back to [amateur competition], I don’t know if I was a little complacent.”
11:16 a.m. EDT: After an even-par 72 on Saturday, Cortney Reno is keeping herself in the stroke-play medalist conversation on Sunday morning. The 36-year-old from Detroit, Mich., shot a 2-over 38 on the inward nine at The Kahkwa Club, her first nine of the day, and currently sits just two strokes back of leader Julia Potter. Reno is a reinstated amateur; she spent several years playing on the Futures (now Symetra) and Canadian Women’s tours. She now works as a production, travel and entertainment coordinator and is competing again after taking a break for a few years. Reno is competing right-handed, but is actually learning to play the game left-handed as well.
10:35 a.m. EDT: Rachel Sadowski, director of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, shared some thoughts on course setup for the stroke-play portion of the championship at The Kahkwa Club. The course is playing at an even 6,000 yards during Round 2.
“We’ve got some good birdie opportunities, there are some tough holes out there. Keeping the green speeds under control is probably most important, given the severity of the undulations of the greens,” said Sadowski. “Keeping the course ready for the weather, the rough is one thing we wanted to control because the rain makes it even thicker.”
The course received more than 1½ inches of rain Saturday night, halting play with six players still on the course. They completed their rounds early Sunday morning and Round 2 began on schedule.
All 132 players in the field will play both rounds of stroke play, with 64 advancing to match play. With a much larger volume of play during the first two days of competition, pace of play is also an important consideration.
“It’s definitely a factor,” said Sadowski. “It’s not the number-one factor. We do have to get everybody around the golf course, and that goes with having fair locations on the greens and keeping the conditions as we want them.”
9:40 a.m. EDT: Linda Pearson opened the 30th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur with a 12-over-par 84, and will need a solid score on Sunday to advance to match play. After three decades of competing in the championship, nerves will likely not play a role in how she fares in Round 2. Along with Tanna Richard and Robin Weiss Donnelley, Pearson is one of just three competitors in the field this week to have played in the inaugural Women’s Mid-Amateur, which took place in 1987 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla..
“It was spectacular. I remember they had this museum for the club party that was unbelievable,” said Pearson, 61, who owns a restaurant, Dinah’s Chicken, with her husband, Dave, in their home city of Glendale, Calif. “The weather was horrendous. I came in with an 86 and they thought it was a great round, that’s how horrendous the weather was.”
Pearson qualified for this year’s championship by shooting 83 at South Hills Country Club in West Covina, Calif. While she recalls it taking about the same qualifying score to earn a spot in the field when the championship debuted, she definitely sees a difference in the competitors between then and now.
“The quality of play is much deeper. It’s great to see the younger ladies that you can tell have played college golf,” said Pearson, who will also compete in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Wellesley (Mass.) Country Club next week. “And their etiquette is great. I think the way they’re brought up now in junior golf, they know everything about how to present themselves on the course.”
8:40 a.m. EDT: The second round of stroke play is underway at The Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pa. The round began as scheduled, at 8 a.m. EDT, despite two groups having to finish their first rounds this morning due to Saturday evening's weather suspension. All 132 players in the field are competing on Sunday; after everyone has completed Round 2, the field will be cut to 64 for match play. If there is a tie for the final spots in match play, a playoff will break those ties.