What’s the old golf adage, the ball doesn’t know your age – or when it comes to match play your seeding. Raegan Bremer entered the knockout portion of the 37th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at historic Brae Burn Country Club, in West Newton, Mass., on Monday 15 strokes worse than her opponent, co-medalist and No. 2 seed Sabrina Coffman.
But in match play, everyone starts each day at Ground Zero and past performances are gone with yesterday’s news. Bremer, the No. 63 seed who posted 18-over 162 during stroke play, took out the 26-year-old Coffman from Toledo, Ohio, 2 and 1, in recording the biggest Round-of-64 upset.
It’s the second consecutive year that at least one co-medalist has been eliminated in the opening round. A year ago at Stonewall, in Elverson, Pa., top seed Courtney Dow and No. 3 seed Jessica Spicer both were eliminated, while No. 2 seed Jackie Rogowicz advanced to the semifinals. Texan Dow, who got married to Collin Rowles after last year’s championship, rebounded this year with a 5-and-4 opening-round victory over Taya Battistella.
The other co-medalist, top-seeded Jacqueline Setas, of East Lansing, Mich., avoided the upset bug with a 4-and-3 triumph over playoff survivor Sydney Gillespie, of Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Such upsets were not a regular occurrence in the championship during a 21-year span. From 1998-2019, not a single medalist/co-medalist lost in the Round of 64; the streak ending in 2021 when Jennifer Peng lost in the opening round at Berkeley Hall Club (no championship was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Bremer, a three-time All-American Athletic Conference performer at the University of Houston who briefly tried professional golf before regaining her amateur status in 2021, never trailed against Coffman. She converted a 35-foot birdie on No. 9 for a 2-up lead and got up and down for a winning par on No. 11 for a 3-up advantage. A clutch 12-foot par putt on the next hole allowed Bremer to keep that advantage. Despite a winning Coffman birdie at the par-5 14th, Bremer managed to tie the last three holes with pars, including a 15-footer on No. 17, to earn the upset.
“I really didn’t realize it until the last hole to be honest,” said Bremer of beating the co-medalist. “I was just keeping my head down all day.”
“It feels great. It’s so different nowadays. There’s no pressure. If I win or lose, I either get to stay here and play more awesome golf or I get to go home and see my husband and my two amazing dogs. So, it’s a different feeling than back in the day when a lot was riding on every tournament.”
Seven years ago, Setas, a former Michigan State golfer who now resides in Nashville, Tenn., was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin’s Lymphona and began six months of chemotherapy and 15 consecutive days of radiation. Deemed cancer free in 2018, Setas returned to competitive golf, making her U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur debut three years ago, where she has qualified for match play in all four starts. Against Gillespie, who advanced from a one-hole, 4-for-1 playoff on Monday morning, the 28-year-old performance media senior consultant for Allstate never trailed, eventually pulling away midway through the match.
A pivotal moment came on No. 12 when she got up and down for par to stay 3 up. Three holes later, a winning par secured the victory.
“I’ll be honest, I really didn’t want the 1 seed,” said Setas. “I think it’s just trying to feel comfortable being very uncomfortable out there all the time. Just trying to get in a good groove.”
“I didn’t have any birdies. Pars feel like birdies out here, so I feel like pars are great and if you can sprinkle in one or two birdies that’s even better. Par is a really good score out here.”
Kelsey Chugg, the 2017 champion, left last year’s championship with a sour taste after frittering away a 3-up lead with seven to play in a 2-up loss in the 18-hole final to Kimberly Dinh, her second championship-match defeat in six years.
History repeated itself again on Monday in the Round of 64, this time against four-time champion Meghan Stasi. Stasi, 46, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., coming off captaining the USA Curtis Cup Team to a tough one-point loss to Great Britain & Ireland at Sunningdale Golf Club in England, rallied from a 3-down deficit with five to play to earn a 1-up victory.
Chugg, 33, of Salt Lake City, Utah, opened the door with bogeys on the par-5 14th and par-4 15th holes, the latter a three-putt, then watched Stasi birdie 16 and 17, the latter from 3 feet, to take the lead. Both Stasi (15 feet) and Chugg (10 feet) had birdie looks at the par-4 closing hole but settled for matching pars.
“I gave away a few on the front nine,” said Stasi, who received a special exemption from the USGA into the championship. “I just wasn’t confident over a couple of shots. It’s easy to come out of them, so I came out of a few shots. I’ve been down before, so I knew these last few holes, if you can get here, that it’s really tough. I just kept grinding and was happy to make a few putts.”
“Today I learned the course a little better. I tried to put myself in better spots to have that uphill putt. That’s what I did on 16. No. 17 … that’s a hard hole. [Chugg’s tee shot] hit soft up front and mine just got up there. She hit a great shot too and then she had a great look on 18 to make birdie. I wanted to make birdie there too, but par ended up being enough.”
The path doesn’t get any easier as Stasi, a Florida State Golf Association Hall of Famer, will face 2019 champion Ina Kim-Schaad, 40, of Jupiter, Fla., in the Round of 32. Kim-Schaad eliminated Tracy Martin, of Nashua, N.H., 3 and 2. In February 2023, Stasi and Kim-Schaad teamed up to win their fourth Women’s International Four-Ball title in the last five years.
Two other past U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champions advanced, while defending champion Kimberly Dinh, 32, of Midland, Mich., and 2018 winner Shannon Johnson, of North Easton, Mass., were eliminated. Dinh bogeyed Nos. 15-17 in a 1-down defeat to 25-year-old Valeria Mendizabal, of Guatemala, and Ket Preamchuen Vanderpool, of Thailand, the wife of Georgia State Golf Association executive director Matt Vanderpool, took out Johnson in 19 holes.
Lauren Greenlief, 34, of Ashburn, Va., the 2015 champion, had the shot of the day, acing the 163-yard eighth hole with an 8-iron en route to a 3-and-2 win over Samantha Perrotta. It was the ninth known hole-in-one in championship history. Greenlief built as much as a 5-up lead, then saw Perrotta reel off three consecutive holes from No. 10 to tighten things up before Greenlief closed out the match with a conceded eagle on the par-4 16th.
“The pin was on the back right of the green, so we were looking for that 145 in the air number up the left side and hoping it would just trickle back there,” said Greenlief, a quarterfinalist in four of the last five Women’s Mid-Ams. “I hit my spot perfect. We thought it was a good shot, then 15-20 seconds later there were a bunch of cheers, so we knew it went in.”
Two-time champion Julia Potter-Bobb, a 36-year-old lefty from Indianapolis, Ind., won Nos. 15-17 in putting away Ashley Freeman, of Houston, Texas, 3 and 1.
What’s Next
The Rounds of 32 and 16 will take place on Tuesday beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT. That will be followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday and the 18-hole championship match on Thursday morning at 8:30. Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Notable
- The 4-for-1 playoff lasted just one hole with Sydney Gillespie, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., getting up and down for par to advance. The 27-year-old, who played collegiately at Creighton University, holed a 10-footer for par on the 156-yard, par-3 eighth hole.
- Among the 64 qualifiers for match play, four were over the age of 50, including two U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champions: Judith Kyrinis and Shelly Stouffer, and two-time USGA runner-up Brenda Corrie Kuehn. The fourth was Hui Chong Dofflemyer. At 60, Kyrinis was the oldest to qualify. The No. 5 seed defeated Lucy Burke, 4 and 2.
- On the other end of the age spectrum, 25 match-play qualifiers were under 30, including four in their first year of eligibility: Ashley Zagers, Hana Ryskova, Sarah Busey and Valeria Mendizabal. Busey was the youngest player to start the championship.
- Besides Shannon Johnson’s 19-hole loss to Ket Preamchuen Vanderpool, six other matches went extra holes, including three that went 21. No. 6 seed Hana Ryskova, of Czechia, defeated 2022 semifinalist Isabella DiLisio; Mimi McAndrew outlasted Jessica Mangrobang, and Sherry Zhong, of the People’s Republic of China, over 2023 semifinalist Jackie Rogowicz. Taylor Ledwein saw a 5-up lead evaporate over the final eight holes, but won on the 20th hole over Laura Bavaird. Alyssa Roland eliminated 2023 semifinalist Gretchen Johnson in 20 holes; and Elayna Bowser defeated Betsy Kelly in 19 holes.
- While the USA dominated the qualifiers with 55 competitors, two were from Canada, and one each from Australia, the People’s Republic of China, Czechia, France, Germany, Guatemala and Thailand.
- Catherine McEvoy’s 8-and-7 win over Mia Zanghetti, tied for the sixth largest in championship history.
- In a battle between a future mom and a mother of two, Alexandra Austin, six months pregnant with her first child, defeated Olivia Herrick, 4 and 3. Austin, a quarterfinalist last year, birdied three consecutive holes from No. 13 – two from 10 feet and a third from 15 feet – to secure the win. Herrick, of Hugo, Minn., and owner of a graphic design business, has two young daughters ages 5 and 2. Austin, a quarterfinalist last year, is due to deliver a baby boy with husband Justin Groves in January. In June, she tied for second in the Virginia State Women’s Open.
- With 2018 champion Johnson’s loss in 19 holes, fellow North Easton resident Megan Buck remains the last player from Massachusetts in the field. Buck, who has been Johnson’s partner in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, eliminated Ali Green.
- Clare Connolly nearly aced the par-3 12th hole in holding off 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up and 1995 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am runner-up Brenda Corrie Kuehn, 1 up. Kuehn, who was 4 down after the near ace, came to Boston from the Curtis Cup in England, where she watched daughter, Rachel, compete in her third consecutive Match.
Quotable
“It’s so hard, especially the first match. But there’s so many good players now and it’s really fun to see some new faces. [Kelsey and I] don’t get to see each other a lot anymore just with traveling and everything, but she’s so strong. You know she’s not going to let up either. She’s not going to give it away.” – four-time champ Meghan Stasi on beating 2017 champ/two-time runner-up Kelsey Chugg
“I was thinking to myself to just keep playing my game. Actually, on the ninth green, I said, ‘Why don’t I try to switch my mindset from playing her to just playing the golf course again, like stroke play,’ so that’s what I tried to do.” – Alexandra Austin on her comeback win over Olivia Herrick
“Eat lunch, and I might drink a soda because I quit soda like six months ago. Then get some practice in before tomorrow.” – Lauren Greenlief on how she would celebrate her second career ace
“The back nine was a tough test. You never like to give up a big lead, but I did like that I was tested a bit on day one [of match play.] I got to feel some nervy putts there at the end. I made a couple of really good two-putts on No. 14 and 15 which really helped me out, so I was happy with that.” – Greenlief on 3-and-2 win over Samantha Perrotta
“Playing Brenda, I couldn’t ask for a better competitor. Her history with the USGA, her family’s history with the USGA, her being over at the Curtis Cup and hearing about that was great. When in doubt, never count Brenda out. At one point I was 5 up and that doesn’t mean anything in match play. She came firing right back at me and played great.” – Clare Connolly on holding off two-time USGA runner-up Brenda Corrie Kuehn, 1 up
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