PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts – A field of 23 players took to the Nicklaus Course at Pinehills Golf Club on Wednesday morning, with eyes on five available spots at the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, set to take place at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle, Washington, this September.
It was an overcast and humid day, with a fairly steady wind that proved challenging to gauge among the pine-lined holes. As play wore on, the cutline ticked up steadily, culminating in a difficult closing stretch that put the field to the test.
Jayne Pardus (Mount Pleasant, SC), who plays out of Boston Golf Club, qualified through Massachusetts at Greathorse in 2023, and followed it up with a run to the round of 32 at the Championship proper. A 3-over par round of 75 was not only good enough to get her back in the field, but she also earned medalist honors. At one point late in the morning, that medal seemed inevitable. Pardus birdied 5 of her first 11 holes and arrived at the 14th hole 2-under, the only player in the field under par.
From there, it turned from ‘how low can you go’ to ‘how quickly can we get this thing in the house?’ Pardus played the final 5 holes in 5-over, including a double on the 18th. “This course was a challenge,” said Pardus. “I had fewer pars than anything else on my card.” Despite the rocky finish, Pardus can go ahead and book her flight to Seattle.
So too can Pardus’ playing partner and fellow Boston Golf Club member Sue Curtin (Westwood, MA), who battled her way into September’s field. Curtin when out in 40 with 4 bogeys, but played a sporting back-nine, matching two bogeys with two birdies to finish her day one shot behind Pardus at 4-over.
It was a comfortable pairing for the two qualifiers, who’ve played plenty of golf together. “Sue Curtin is one of my best friends and we play together at Boston Golf Club. We’re four ball partners, but have never been paired together for one of these events. She struggled on the front but really pulled it together well on the back and it really flip-flopped for me. I’m excited we get to go together and rep Massachusetts well,” said Pardus.
Curtin, the reigning Massachusetts Women’s Senior Amateur Champion, is looking forward to her first appearance at the U.S. Senior Women’s Am since 2021, when she made it to the round of 16. “I was exempt last year but got pretty sick so I wasn’t able to go. I’m so excited about this year,” said Curtain.
Tied with Curtin was Erin O’Hara (Bradenton, FL), who plays out of Worcester Country Club. O’Hara carded 6 bogeys to 2 birdies. Perhaps most crucially, she battened the hatches down the stretch, playing her final five holes in 1-under.
The par-4 17th loomed as a difficult test for the players. The landing area is guarded by a series of uncomfortably placed bunkers, and another guards the front of a small, shallow green framed by a grove of pines. The top six finishers in regulation played the hole in 5-over, and the field averaged nearly a stroke-and-a-half over par, making 0 birdies and 12 doubles or worse.
Ann Schultz (Heath, TX) suffered what must have felt like a back-breaking double on the hole, but she had built up enough positive equity with birdies on 11 and 13 to survive the hiccup. Schultz is headed to the great northwest after a 5-over 77.
2016 Mass Women’s Senior Am and 1990 Mass Women’s Am champion Natalie Galligan (Cataumet, MA) also struggled with the stout finishing holes, going 4-over her last 3. She then squared off with Kim Walecka (Dartmouth, MA) in a playoff to determine who would walk away with the 5th and final ticket to Broadmoor. Galligan and Walecka posted matching 78s in regulation.
With the wind freshening, leaving the tops of the tall skinny pines jostling with each other, the players headed back to the par-4 1st, which was playing straight downwind. Both players hit the green in regulation, then tied with 3-putt bogeys. The 2nd turns straight around, playing as a long par-5 into the stiff wind. Both players hit their approach shot thirds with woods.
Playing first, Walecka couldn’t thread the needle into the narrow opening to the front-cut hole location, and was left just shy of hole high in the fringe. Galligan then hit a laser that landed near the flag and ran about 18 feet past. Walecka’s downhill chip rolled 8 feet beyond the hole, while Galligan’s lag putt settled comfortably inside 2 feet. Walecka’s par bid missed left on the low side, clearing the path for Galligan to tap her way into the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Which she did.
QUALIFIERS (Names; Cities)
Jayne Pardus (Mount Pleasant, SC); (+3) 75
Susan Curtin (Westwood, MA); (+4) 76
Erin O’Hara (Bradenton, FL); (+4) 76
Anna Schultz (Heath, TX); (+5) 77
Natalie Galligan (Cataumet, MA); (+6) 78*
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Kim Walecka (Dartmouth, MA); (+6) 78
Christine Gagner (North Oxford, MA); (+7) 79*
*Denotes advanced in a playoff
The Nicklaus Course at Pinehills was opened after Rees Jones’ Jones Course, and was met with positive reviews. Here’s what Jim McCabe (don’t miss his work in Volume II of The Massachusetts Golfer, coming this fall) wrote in the Boston Globe upon the Nicklaus Course’s debut in 2002:
“In taking yet another major step in establishing himself apart from his famous father, Jack Nicklaus II has given the New England landscape yet another premier daily fee attraction. Incorporating rolling fairways and working around the few wetlands he had to work with, young Nicklaus hits a home run. The fairways are generous, though in many cases he presents ”risk-reward” type drives that will challenge the better players – perhaps to their dismay if they don’t pull off the shot – and that’s a hallmark of any design.
But once you’ve navigated your drive into the wide, plush fairways that have flourished under the guidance of superintendent Joe Felicetti, the fun truly begins on the Nicklaus Course. That’s because the oldest of the Golden Bear’s four sons and five children employs a number of devices – delightful false fronts, shallow greens that are angled, deep bunkers, strategic collection areas, and undulated putting surfaces, which put a high emphasis on quality approach shots. They can be pulled off on each and every hole, too, because Nicklaus has accomplished what good architects do: He has provided a fair and enjoyable test in which good shots are rewarded.”
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur was first contested in 1962, functioning as a three-day stroke play competition until 1997, when match play was introduced. This year, the USGA accepted 492 entries for 132 slots in the final field.
The 2024 Championship will be held at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle, Washington, from September 21st to the 26th. Female golfers over the age of 50 as of September 21st, whose Handicap Index® does not exceed 14.4., are eligible. The Championship consists of two days of stroke play, followed by a 64-player match play bracket that is resolved over the next four days.
Two Massachusetts golfers are already exempt for the Championship. Tara Joy-Connelly and Pam Kuong are exempt by virtue of their top-30 ranking in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. Joy-Connelly and Kuong both made it to the round of 32 in 2023. Kuong made it as far as the final match in 2015.
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