So far so good for Canada’s Shelly Stouffer, looking for her second U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur title after winning the event two years ago in Alaska. The Vancouver Island resident shot a three-over 73 in the second round of the stroke play portion to complete 36 holes on four-over-par 144 and win medalist honors by a stroke over Australia’s Nadene Gole.
After a slightly nervy start during which she bogeyed two of her first three holes, Stouffer settled into a nice rhythm making just one bogey in the next 15, and finishing her round with nine straight pars.
A run like that might frustrate some similarly-accomplished players, but Stouffer was happy to keep black numbers off her card.
“It was fine,” she said. “To be honest, I wasn’t really trying to make birdies. I missed a couple of makeable putts, but it was all good. I’m more than happy with pars. Pars are good!”
The only hole at which the 54-year-old found any sort of trouble, in fact, was the 308-yard 8th where a wayward drive put her in the trees, but a smart approach saved her four.
“Really, everything worked well today,” said Stouffer who didn’t have a single three-putt all day. “That’s always a good sign, and my chipping was pretty good too which is a bonus. I’m very happy with where my game is right now.
Despite her strong showing, Stouffer actually made contact with her ball three times more than Asheville N.C.’s Brenda Corrie Kuehn whose impressive nines of 35 and 34 gave her a lone-under-par 69 – the lowest round of the week.
On another pleasant day in the Pacific Northwest with the flags behind the 18th green showing few signs of life, the usual suspects rose to the top of the leaderboard. Besides Stouffer, Gole, and Corrie Kuehn, three-time US Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up Sue Wooster shot a 73 to finish tied for fourth alongside Canada’s Judith Kyrinis who shot a very tidy 71 with a front-nine (her back nine) 33 to go with her opening 76.
Stouffer and Kyrinis’s country-woman Terrill Samuel shot 148 for the two rounds meaning three Canadians finished in the top six, while Suzi Spotleson and defending champion Sarah Gallagher tied for seventh on 149. Rounding out the top ten were Lynne Cowan and Kathy Hartwiger on ten-over 150.
The cut fell at 22-over 162, with a Monday morning playoff involving eight players set to decide the final six players for the match play bracket which begins shortly after the playoff finishes.
Among those that qualified for match play were local golfer Kim Shek who plays at Sahalee Country Club, just 18 miles due east of Broadmoor in Sammamish and, like Broadmoor, lined by some very stately conifers. A native of England, Shek was followed by a group of friends who saw her add a second consecutive 77 to end the two stroke play rounds in a tie for 17th on 14-over-par.
“It got a little stressful in the middle of the round when I went six-over for six holes, but overall I was very pleased,” said Shek who admits to having very high expectations of herself. “I missed a few putts but it’s all good. For a while I had my entire game working but then there were a few odd shots like I was getting a little tired but I finally got it together after that.”
Sleeping soundest Sunday night, however, will be Stouffer who thought she might hit a few balls before heading back to her lodging. “But I’m not really stressing out about it right now,” she added. “It’s nice to win medal honors, of course, but, honestly, it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. I’m here to win the championship and am really looking forward to match play.”
What’s Next
A playoff with eight players for the remaining six spots will begin at 7:45 a.m. PST on the par-4 10th hole. The Round of 64 will begin immediately thereafter.
Notable
Despite a brief flutter at around 2 p.m. when the wind rose to maybe 5mph, the course played 2.41 shots easier on Sunday with an average round of 79.86.
A day after the Washington Huskies won their Big Ten Conference debut with a 24-5 victory over Northwestern at nearby Husky Stadium, the hometown Seattle Seahawks made it 3-0 at Lumen Field, five miles south of Broadmoor GC.
Judith Kyrinis and Kathy Hartwiger’s 33s were the lowest score for the course’s front-nine on Sunday while Brenda Corrie Kuehn and Lara Tennant’s 35s
Quotable
“You always want to head into match play on a positive note. I’ve been playing well the last few rounds, so I think we’re in a good spot. It’s a different ballgame come match play. You just need to keep grinding and keeping your process. The ‘one shot at a time’ still matters but you don’t have to protect as much as during stroke play.” – Kyrinis looking ahead to the rest of the week.
“I actually just think it was a bit of nerves when I was out there that early. My tempo was off a little bit. But I was able to rectify that which was obviously very important.” – Shelly Stouffer on her shaky start.
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