2008 U.S. Women?s Mid-Amateur Championship
Barton Hills Country Club, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Sept. 6-11
STORYLINES
USGA LEADERSHIP ? Two members of the USGA leadership are playing this week: Christie Austin of Cherry Hills Village, Colo., is a member of the USGA Executive Committee and Stacey Collins of Cockeysville, Md., is a member of the USGA Women?s Committee. Collins will stay and serve as a Rules official once her playing portion of the championship is over. For Austin, this is her eighth Women?s Mid-Amateur. She is an 11-time club champion at Cherry Hills Country Club, near Denver, Colo., and was the Colorado Senior Player of the Year in 2007. Collins attended Michigan and Michigan State (1985 graduate). She has won numerous club championships but is playing in her first Women?s Mid-Amateur.
8 PAST WOMEN?S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONS ? A total of eight past Women?s Mid-Amateur champions are in the field: Meghan Bolger (2006 and 2007), Robin Weiss Donnelly (1989), Virginia Grimes (1998), Kathy Hartwiger (2002), Mary Ann Lapointe (2006), Ellen Port (1995, 1996, 2000), Carol Semple Thompson (1990, 1997) and Corey Weworski (2004).
11 USGA CHAMPIONS IN ALL ? The other USGA champions are: Carolyn Creekmore (2004 USGA Senior Women?s Amateur), Diane Lang (2005 and 2006 USGA Senior Women?s Amateur), Anna Schultz (2007 USGA Senior Women?s Amateur) and Semple Thompson (1973 Women?s Amateur, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Senior Women?s Amateur).
USA CURTIS CUP TEAM MEMBERS ? Six USA Curtis Cup team members are playing this week: Meghan Bolger (2008), Robin Weiss Donnelly (1990, 1992, 2000), Virginia Grimes (1998, 2000, 2006), Noreen Mohler (1978), Ellen Port (1994, 1996), Carol Semple Thompson (1974, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, captain in 2006 and 2008),
IT?S NOT A WOMEN?S MID-AM WITHOUT THEM ? Carol Semple Thompson of Sewickley, Pa., and Toni Wiesner of Fort Worth, Texas, are each playing in their 22nd Women?s Mid-Amateur. They have played in every championship since its inception in 1987.
HISTORIC RECORD ? Carol Semple Thompson is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and a seven-time USGA champion. The 2008 U.S. Women?s Mid-Amateur is her 108th appearance in a USGA national championship.
MOST REPRESENTED STATE ? California boasts the most participants with 24, followed by Texas (13), Florida (10), Colorado (7) and Michigan (6).
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION ? A total of 33 states and four other countries (Canada, Jamaica, Philippines and Sri Lanka) are represented. Canada has five participants.
OLDEST ? Robyn Puckett, 61, of Irvine, Calif., who was the runner-up at the 2007 USGA Senior Women?s Amateur, is the oldest competitor. She was also the oldest competitor at the 2008 Women?s Amateur in Oregon in August. She was born in Australia and represented that nation at the 1970 World Amateur Team Championship.
MICHIGAN REPRESENTATIVES ? A total of six players from the state of Michigan are participating: Theresa Delcamp (Grand Blanc), Joan Garety (Ada), Suzanne Keller (Farmington Hills), Stacy Slodonik-Stoll (Haslett), Mary Vajgrt (Kalamazoo) and Sydney Wells (Menominee).
15 RETURN TO BARTON HILLS ? Fifteen players who participated in the 1998 U.S. Women?s Amateur at Barton Hills C.C. are returning for the 2008 Women?s Mid-Amateur. They are: Carolyn Creekmore, Theresa Delcamp, Robin Weiss Donnelly, Virginia Grimes, Mina Hardin, Marilyn Hardy, Kathy Hartwiger, Laura Ladden (then Hammond), Martha Leach, Lisa McGill, Ellen Port, Erin Roth (then Carney), Carol Semple Thompson, Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll and Toni Wiesner.
INDIVIDUAL STORYLINES
Nancy Beck, 51, of Dallas, Texas, comes from a long line of competitive golfers. She was won her club championship (Brook Hollow Golf Club) in three different decades (1989, several in the 1990s and 2007). Her paternal and maternal grandmothers were state champions and her mother played in state and national events in the 1950s and 1960s.
Barbara Byrnes, 54, of Mesa, Ariz., volunteers as the president of the Arizona Women?s Golf Association, which has 25,000 members and is the second largest organization of its kind in the nation. She has won three Arizona Senior Player of the Year Awards. A retired financial executive, Byrnes is a veteran of many USGA championships. This is her third Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Cyndi Carlson, 44, of Chesapeake, Va., started playing Putt-Putt golf at age 10. By the time she was 20, she joined the Professional Putters Association and was the runner-up in the national match play championship in 1984.
Julie Carmichael, 44, of Indianapolis, Ind., co-owns Martinsville Golf Club with her father, Sam. It has been a family business since 1969. With her induction into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 2005, she joined her father making them the only parent-child combination. She played college golf at Stanford. This is her 18th USGA championship and her eighth Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Janie Carpenter, 49, of Garland, Texas, is a practicing veterinarian and who serves on the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and is president of the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation. She ?survived? a golf trip to Scotland with 14 men (she was the lone female) and has been back there three times.
Angela Collins, 43, of Glendale, Calif., played college volleyball at California-Northridge, where the team won the NCAA title in 1987. She was named national player of the year and the NCAA Athlete of the Year for all sports in 1987-88. Her maiden name is Brinton. This is her second Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Lynne Cowan, 45, of Davis, Calif., is playing in her 10th Women?s Mid-Amateur. A golf sales representative, she is a four-time California Women?s Amateur champion and she won the 1994 Chrysler National Club championship. She?s been rewarded with her own parking spot at her home club.
Lisa Fern-Boros, 47, of Shelton, Conn., is married to Lance Boros, the nephew of two-time U.S. Open champion Julius Boros.
Melanie Furuta, 27, of South Pasadena, Calif., is the assistant director of Rules and competitions at the Southern California Golf Association. This is her second Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Joan Garety, 52, of Ada, Mich., is playing in her 14th Women?s Mid-Amateur. She is a member of Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (2005) and the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame (2006). She is a graduate of Michigan State.
Donna Gonsalves, 36, of Bluffton, S.C., is making a return to Ann Arbor. As a child ,she lived in Ann Arbor and went to Clinton Elementary School for first, second and part of third grade. Her maiden name is Moore and she is playing in her fourth consecutive Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Michelle Griffin, 28, of LaGrange, Ga., is the daughter of two-time U.S. Senior Open champion Allen Doyle. This is her third Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Mary Jane Hiestand, 49, of Naples, Fla., was born in Pontiac, Mich., and is a familiar name in Michigan golf. This is her 19th Women?s Mid-Amateur. She attended the University of Michigan and played competitive golf in Michigan for many years. She was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2004 and was named the Player of the Decade for the 1990s, by the Golf Association of Michigan.
Tracy Hubly-Starkjohann, 47, of Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., is married to Champions Tour player Chris Starkjohann, who will caddie for her. She has reciprocated by caddieing for him on Tour for the last 12 years.
Shannon Johnson, 25, of Peoria, Ariz., is playing in her first Women?s Mid-Amateur. She was an all-conference golfer at two different schools (Indiana in 2006) and New Mexico in (2003 and 2004).
Tara Joy-Connelly, 35, of Marshfield, Mass., has advanced to match play in all four previous Women?s Mid-Amateur appearances. However, in 2007, after shooting 75-73 and ostensibly making the match play cut, it was discovered, after the match play draw was established, that she had signed for an incorrect score and was thus disqualified. Joy-Connelly rebounded from that incident and is on course to win her fifth Massachusetts Player of the Year Award.
Suzanne Keller, 51, of Farmington Hills, Mich., grew up in Ann Arbor and her parents were members at Barton Hills. She played junior golf and won the ladies club championship numerous times. At age 18, she also won the Michigan Amateur while she was a junior member at Barton Hills (1975).
Kathy Kurata, 37, of Pasadena, Calif., is playing in her second Women?s Mid-Amateur but is a professional Japanese classical dancer, an art she started at the age of four.
Laura Ladden, 32, of Coatesville, Pa., is a thyroid cancer survivor. She is a seven-time Philadelphia Amateur winner. She is playing in her second Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Mary Ann Lapointe, 48, of Canada, is a past Women?s Mid-Amateur champion. She is a bookkeeper by profession and has been inducted in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame (2007). She has represented Canada eight times in the World Amateur Team Championships. In October, she will serve as non-playing captain of Canada?s women?s team in Australia.
Martha Leach, 46, of Hebron, Ky., is the sister of six-time USGA champion Hollis Stacy.
Lisa McGill, 49, of Philadelphia, Pa., played in the 1998 U.S. Women?s Amateur at Barton Hills and was eight months pregnant at the time.
Deb Mielke, 53, of McKinney, Texas, is enjoying a homecoming to Ann Arbor. She graduated from Michigan and is a marketing and strategy consultant. This is her third Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Noreen Mohler, 54, of Bethlehem, Pa., is a past Curtis Cup team member. She was a quarterfinalist at the 2007 USGA Senior Women?s Amateur and holds state amateur championships in three states ? Massachusetts in 1976, 1980-81, Pennsylvania in 1977 and Rhode Island in 1978. She and her husband, Jeff, own a seafood restaurant.
Janet Moore, 44, of Greenwood Village, Colo., arrived at Barton Hills on Thursday, the same day her mother underwent cancer surgery. A five-time Colorado Women?s State Amateur Stroke play winner, she is also an 11-time club champion at Cherry Hills Country Club.
Shannon Ogg, 31, of Columbia, Md., was the runner-up at the Women?s Mid-Amateur in 2003. In May of 2007, she quit her job and spent more than a year traveling the world, visiting 40 countries in six continents. By the way, she is back working in financial sales.
Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, 36, of Haslett, Mich., is the head women?s golf coach at Michigan State. She was won Big 10 Conference coach of the year honors twice. She won the Golf Association of Michigan Women?s Mid-Amateur for the fourth consecutive time this summer.
Heidi Stark, 34, of Lincoln, Neb., is a pediatric dentist. She helps run mission trips, through her church, to Honduras. She is playing in her third Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Sharon Park, 30, of Irvine, Calif., is a 1999 University of Michigan graduate. This is her second Women?s Mid-Amateur.
Mary Vajgrt, 34,of, Kalamazoo, Mich., is a primary care sports medicine physician. She won the 2008 Michigan Women?s Golf Association championship in 2008 and the Golf Association of Michigan Women?s championship in 2006.
Corey Weworski, 46, of Carlsbad, Calif., is playing in her 15th Women?s Mid-Amateur with a heavy heart. Her brother passed away just three weeks ago. Prior to his passing, Weworski and her mother had planned to drive to Barton Hills and visit people they knew along the way. Her brother?s death almost put the ?drive? on hold but Weworski and her mom left the San Diego area on August 16 and spent the time talking, crying and talking some more. She credits her Mom as being ?the rock of the family.?
Kelly Wilson, 34, of Cameron Park, Calif., is a former professional tennis player. She is the tennis professional at Gold River Racquet Club in California. She played in the 1996 and 1997 U.S. Open tennis championships. Her maiden name is Pace. This is her second Women?s Mid-Amateur.
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