MARION, Massachusetts – On Monday at the Kittansett Club in Marion, 10 competitors netted their spots in next month’s 58th playing of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Cedar Rapids Country Club in Iowa, including five competitors who reside in Massachusetts.
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur qualifier held Monday followed the morning’s 18-hole U.S. Senior Amateur Championship qualifier, which was hosted on the same Marion layout. There, four competitors, including three from Massachusetts, earned a spot in the 65th Championship Proper.
Leading the charge in the afternoon was Colombia’s Liliana Ruiz-Munoz, who earned medalist honors after carding a 3-over 75 in the 18-hole qualifier to best the field of 38 who were eyeing a spot to the Championship Proper, which will kick off with two rounds of stroke play beginning on August 24 in Iowa. In addition to Ruiz-Munoz, Canada’s Marie Therese-Torti finished as runner-up at 7-over 79 to punch her ticket to her second straight Championship Proper. Last year, she earned medalist honors at the Wianno Club qualifier before advancing to the Round of 16 at Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Florida.
ONLINE: Kittansett Results | U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Home
Marlborough Country Club’s Mimi Johnson, who plays out of Wedgewood Pines Country Club in Stow, was the top Bay State finisher after carding a 9-over 81 while Lexington’s Sharon Hayes, of Oakley Country Club, Connecticut’s Mercedese Large and New Hampshire’s Dana Harrity each shot a 10-over 82 to finish T4 on the leaderboard to advance to next month’s Championship Proper, while Marion’s Temple Mitchell, Cataumet’s Natalie Galligan, Auburn’s Kris Henderson and New York’s Mary Jo Kelly each finished at 11-over 83 and advanced from a 6-for-4 playoff.
For both Hayes and Henderson, this marks the second straight year that the two will represent Massachusetts in the USGA’s national championship.
Monday’s qualifier marked the 15th of 25 such qualifiers across the United States until Monday, August 5. Today’s 10 qualifiers will join Wellesley’s Pam Kuong in the Championship Proper next month. Kuong finished as the stroke-play medalist at the 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship before falling in the Round of 32, and was previously the runner-up in the 2015 Championship Proper.
STAY INFORMED
Mass Golf will provide coverage of its Massachusetts competitors competing in the 58th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from August 24-29. Visit MassGolf.org and follow @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest information. To join the conversation, use the hashtags #MassGolf and #USSeniorWomensAm.
