Senior Women's Amateur Blog

A Caddie

The word at Fiddlesticks is if you’re a player and you need something, just look for a purple shirt and a smile. The local committees wear purple shirts. They’re a large part of what has made this a great week. One Fiddlesticks member was especially dedicated to the success of the Senior Women’s Amateur. Randy Spears is 71, yet he told his friends he just had to caddie in the championship. A caddie has a tough job. There’s lots of trotting after the player and it’s a bit warm. So Spears went into training. For several months, he made it a point to walk 18 holes a day and when he felt he was ready, he signed up. Spears indeed got a caddie position. He worked this week for Patricia Robinson of Poplar Bluf, Mo., and while Robinson played well, she missed the cut for match play by one stroke. But Robinson left Fiddlesticks this week a winner. She had Randy Spears as a caddie, and he’s a winner too. -- Rhonda Glenn

Extra Holes

A few reporters were commenting on the number of extra-hole matches this week. So far, there have been 11. That’s quite a lot, but not the record. In 1998 there were 13 extra-hole matches at The Green Course at Golden Horseshoe G.C. in Williamsburg, Va. But the second highest number was 10 at Sea Island Golf Club in 2000. This 2010 championship now moves into second place. The longest match in history, incidentally, was a 24-hole encounter that Marlene Stewart Streit won over Marianne Towersey in the semifinals in 2003. So far, the longest match here has been Claudia Pilot’s 22-hole win over Mitsue Lewis in the first round. -- Rhonda Glenn

Hole Locations

Most players will tell you that a front hole location is the most difficult, especially this week. With firm greens, it’s very difficult to stop a ball near a front hole location. Since most of these greens also slope from back to front, hitting your ball beyond a front hole location means a very speedy downhill putt back to the hole. -- Rhonda Glenn

No Complaints

And in thinking of tough hole locations and, by association, difficult golf courses, Jack Nicklaus once said that any time he heard players complaining about the difficulty of a course early in the week, he knew he had a definite advantage. Nicklaus remained positive, never let the difficulty of a course infringe on his thinking and, of course, won 18 majors, including four U.S. Opens, on some of the toughest courses in the world. -- Rhonda Glenn

It’s Quiet Out There

The early matches in a national championship can be lonely. This is far removed from Saturday golf with friends. In the early morning, it’s just two players and two caddies, maybe a family member or two. The mind’s inner turmoil is invisible in the quiet of the match. Inside, there’s a lot going on, perhaps best described in the story, “Dormie One,” from the book of the same title, written by Holworthy Hall (thought to be a pen name) and published in 1917. In the story, the champion faces the young challenger, believing that the gallery is biased for the younger man. To wit, “The champion felt his heart flutter and his knees yield a trifle as he reflected what havoc one more ineffectual shot would work upon his nerves. He was surely, steadily slipping, and he knew it.” Those feelings are familiar to any senior player. Competitive golf’s drama hasn’t changed in a hundred years. -- Rhonda Glenn

Texas’ Own

A member of the Ladies Amateur Golf Association (Dallas – Fort Worth) has been a finalist in seven USGA Senior Women’s Amateur championships since 2004. In 2004, Carolyn Creekmore of Dallas won. In 2006, Anna Schultz of Rockwall, Texas, was runner-up. Schultz won in 2007. In 2008, Toni Wiesner of Fort Worth was runner-up. In 2009, Creekmore was runner-up. This year, Mina Hardin of Fort Worth is playing in the final match. The LAGA is a group of women golfers from the Dallas–Fort Worth area competing regularly throughout the year at various area courses. You must have a USGA Handicap Index of 10.4 to be member. -- Information courtesty of Anna Schultz

The “It” Moment

When defending champion Sherry Herman gave her speech at the Players Dinner on Thursday, she talked about the “It” moment, that intangible something her husband, Ben Herman, used to hit a home run in a softball game with men on base and two out in the bottom of the ninth. In her second-round match against Noreen Mohler , Herman’s “It” moment came on the 15th hole. Mohler hit her approach shot tight, to about three feet. Herman’s approach was 10 feet from the hole. Herman was 2 up. It seemed assured that Mohler would make her 3-footer for a birdie and, if Herman missed, she’d be just 1 up with three holes to play. Herman studied the putt, stroked it, and the ball fell into the hole. Birdie. Mohler made her own birdie and Herman went to the 16th tee, 2 up. She won the match on the 16th. Every match has an “It” moment – that point where the tide of the match could turn, that one shot that simply must be made to assure a victory. It’s the most exciting point of the match. Those of us who are spectators walk along, watching the drama build, to see that one, special moment that epitomizes match play. The bottom of the ninth. The serve at 40-love. The ball on the 20 yard line with 30 seconds to play. The “It” moments. -- Rhonda Glenn

Florida Daze

The Orange Blossom circuit began in the early 1920s. The big resort hotels could fill rooms and entertain guests with these women’s amateur tournaments. The array of players is astounding: Glenna Collett Vare, Virginia Van Wie, Marion Miley, Patty Berg, Babe Zaharias and many more. The late Polly Riley told me that at one time, ten tournaments were on the Florida schedule – from the International Mixed Foursomes at the posh Everglades Club in Palm Beach, to the Biltmore Invitational on the west coast, to the Doherty at the Miami-Biltmore.  The golf was good, the parties frequent. It was also exhausting. One player told of trying to lose in the Palm Beach Championship consolation flight at the Breakers, ruled by the doughty Bessie Fenn, one of the first women pros. The players were so tired they’d roll dice in the locker room before they played, then write numbers on their scorecards that corresponded with whether they won the dice hand. They’d play the first four holes, leave their clubs behind the shrubbery on County Road, stroll to Testa’s for martinis, sign their scorecards, and come back to play the last hole, reporting their “score” for the matches. The practice stopped when Bessie found out about it and they returned to find her standing with their golf bags. The Florida circuit today has only four events, but it’s still fun to play. -- Rhonda Glenn

Sweethearts

There’s a lot of power in this field. It seems as if every player has won a lot of tournaments or runs a big business. Not many are like Mrs. George Wilcox. I don’t know that Ruth Wilcox accomplished much, but she was a presence in the 1960s. She seemed to have been around forever because she was up there in years. Mrs. Wilcox was about 5’2” and overweight. She had graying black hair and big, horned-rim eyeglasses. She also had George Wilcox. Her husband was a big guy, about 6’2”, rotund, full of enthusiasm, and he adored Ruth Wilcox. She’d play in Florida, then hit the big summer events. George grinned at her from the sidelines like a man on his honeymoon. You just believed that he still saw her as a young sprite whose feistiness had attracted him long ago. They stuck to themselves, didn’t socialize much and seemed terrifically happy. If she made a long putt, she’d kick her leg in the air or wave her arm. For George. He’d stand in the trees, smiling with delight, applauding her good shots. As far as her game, Ruth hit the ball solidly but not far. She was a great competitor. You had to watch out. She could sneak in and flatten a champion in a match, just popping the ball down the middle. A friend of mine who was U.S. Women’s Amateur champion at the time got beaten by Ruth Wilcox in the Women’s Western Amateur.  My friend was devastated. George grinned throughout the match. -- Rhonda Glenn

No one doubts the seriousness of this event. It is, after all, the national senior championship and players put a lot on the line. Many of them know each other well. They’ve competed for years and while there are surely rivalries among them, they’re not outward. Most are friends. Two past champions, Carolyn Creekmore of Dallas and Nancy Fitzgerald of Carmel, Ind., played each other yesterday in the first round. Luck of the draw. Encountering the two on their way back from the practice tee, you’d think it was Ladies Day. Creekmore, “Creekie,” and Fitzgerald, “Fitzie,” were sharing a cart and laughing. Fitzie had broken a fingernail and Creekie had provided an Emory board for repairs. They laughed that they’d no doubt be penalized for sharing equipment. Creekmore won, 3 and 1. – Rhonda Glenn 

The second USGA Senior Women’s Amateur was played at The Country Club of Florida in Delray Beach. It wasn’t the first USGA championship in Florida – the 1930 Amateur Public Links in Jacksonville has that honor – but it was the first USGA women’s championship here. Marion “Sis” Choate of Rye, N.Y., outlasted the great Maureen Orcutt to win in stroke play. After 54 holes of regulation play, they were tied at 239. After an 18-hole playoff, they were tied at 81. Choate finally won it on the fourth extra hole with a birdie to claim her first USGA title.

The year before, at the inaugural Senior Women’s Amateur, Orcutt had finally won her first USGA title after twice finishing as runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1927 and ‘36. Her victory was a long time coming, and when she was handed the trophy, the great and stoic Metropolitan champion who had played on four Curtis Cup teams, broke down in tears. – Rhonda Glenn

I was thinking about Bea Gottlieb this morning. Playing at Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course as about age 13, I’d show up and ask to be paired with someone. Sometimes the starter would pair me with “Miss Gottlieb,” a tiny, wizened lady with a New York accent. We trudged down the fairways, dragging our carts. We never talked. I was too shy and she was too into her game. Just, “Good shot,” or, “You’re away.” I do recall that she sold small items of golf jewelry. She was a very short hitter, but nearly every shot was struck with authority and her putting was true. She had short, reddish-blonde hair on which was perched a battered old porkpie hat. While she almost never smiled, her eyes darted around like those of a little bird. She could have been in her 70s, or 80s, or even 90s. It was hard to tell. Sometimes we were paired with Becky Dickey, but that’s another story. In researching women’s golf, I’ve run across Miss Gottlieb’s name several times. I gather she was a pretty good player at one time. She’s listed here and there in big amateur tournaments, although she never won. Later, when there were only about a dozen women professionals, her name appears in professional events. There wasn’t much future for women professionals then. Some gave lessons, if they were lucky. Others sold jewelry and played municipal golf with little girls. Funny, the people we meet in golf. – Rhonda Glenn

 By Rhonda Glenn, USGA

Reinstated Amateurs Do Well

Reinstated amateurs have won five of the last six Senior Women’s Amateur Championships. Carolyn Creekmore (2004), Diane Lang (2005, 2006, 2008) and Sherry Herman (2009) are all reinstated amateurs.  In the 2009 championship, three of the four semifinalists were reinstated amateurs; Herman, Creekmore and Robyn Puckett. Brenda Pictor was the only career amateur to reach the semifinals.

Florida’s Junior Golf

Without much organization, the junior game was an integral part of Florida golf in the 1950s and 1960s. No junior tours. No big entry fees. No swing gurus. Just Florida youngsters playing golf and some of them, such as Gary Koch, “Turned out real well,” as we used to say.

City recreation departments offered free summer clinics for kids. I started the game that way myself. The MAGA (Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association) conducted junior events in the Miami area ram-rodded by Frank Strafaci, a fine player from the Met Golf Association. Strafaci was dedicated to helping the game to grow and had great knowledge.

The Florida State Golf Association and Florida Women’s Golf Association conducted state junior championships. The Florida PGA conducted the PGA Junior, and many towns had a junior event. One of the grandest was the S.W. Florida Junior, here in Fort Myers, where hundreds of youngsters played for big trophies and the winner got a white blazer. (Our Masters!) High school golf was a big deal, with after-school matches in the spring, then conference championships and the state championships. (Our U.S. Open.) The greatest factor was the willingness of so many Florida PGA and LPGA professionals to help sincere kids to learn the swing. They never charged them a dime. In the summer, kids rode their bikes to the golf course with their golf bags slung over their shoulders, and a bag of shag balls dangling from their handlebars.  It was an idyllic introduction to golf.

Golf is Like, Well, Nothing Else…

In writing about the game, I’ve often tried to find a comparable sport or activity. Is hitting a golf ball anything like hitting a baseball? After all, famed Major League Baseball batting coach Charlie Lau used the principles of the golf swing in teaching his players to become better hitters; strong left side, the un-cocking of the wrists, etc. (This may explain why many baseball players become really fine golfers.) Or, as I later thought, perhaps golf most resembles ballet, with its discipline of precise positions. And then, there was a famous black-and-white magazine advertisement showing a miner attacking a slab of vertical rock with a pick axe, and everyone thought he looked just like Ben Hogan at impact.

After all of these years of pondering comparisons, I've determined that golf – with its power and finesse, with its exacting positions for which rhythm can remedy almost any error, with its sense of outdoor adventure in which wind and rain and the grain of the grass can so often influence a shot – is unlike anything else on earth. Besides, golf calls for better manners.

 By Rhonda Glenn, USGA

A Florida Championship – The 1969 U.S. Women’s Open

Only once has Florida hosted the U.S. Women’s Open, in 1969 at Scenic Hills C.C. in Pensacola. There’s an interesting story about the finish of that championship. Donna Caponi eagled the par-5 15^th to take the lead, but bogeyed the 17^th to fall into a tie with Peggy Wilson. At the 18^th, Caponi hit her approach shot to within hailing distance of the hole. Wilson was in with a 295 total. There are two versions of what happened next: As Caponi stood over her birdie putt to win, she could hear the voice of announcer Byron Nelson from the TV tower behind the green saying the putt would break to the left. Wilson always believed Nelson’s loud proclamation gave Caponi the true line. At the 50^th reunion of Women’s Open champions in 1995, however, Caponi told a different story. Yes, she heard Nelson say the putt was going to break to the left. Caponi, however, had read the line and believed the putt would break to the right. Standing over the ball, she suddenly realized, “Byron was reading the putt from his point of view, which was to break to his left, which meant that it would break to my right, which is what I had figured.” Anyway, Caponi made the birdie putt and won by a stroke. It’s still a tough one to figure out.

Marlene Stewart Streit

 Marlene Streit’s absence from the 2010 field leaves a void. She’s won the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur three times in three different decades, the last in 2003 when she was 69. She was runner-up an astounding five times. Streit isn’t here this year, which caused concern that, at 76, she was hanging it up. Not so. The Canadian, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, is simply staying at home to celebrate her daughter’s 50^th birthday. “Good to be missed, but I still wish I was there,” Streit e-mailed. “I’ll be there next year!”

Weather Highlight

Surprisingly in Florida, conditions at Fiddlesticks are dead calm, despite the fact that this beautiful course is just 12 miles from the Gulf. Which reminds me…The great Mickey Wright, even more than 40 years after retiring from competition, used to note the weather. When I sometimes talked to her and asked about her weather in South Florida, Mickey would respond with the glee only a golfer knows, saying, “No wind!” 

A Funny Thing Happened…

Defending champion Sherry Herman’s speech at Thursday night’s Players Dinner contained one of the funniest anecdotes about playing a hole that I’ve ever heard. We all thought those things happened only to us, but Herman’s march to the 2009 championship included something of a miracle. We’ve reprinted her speech on this site, and it’s titled, “A Champion Speaks.” If you haven’t read it, you’re in for a treat. If you’ve already heard it, it’s worth reading anyway.

Sports Spectacular!

Baseball playoffs are underway, the football season is in full swing, the National Hockey League just opened the season and golf, as always, is being played somewhere. For the avid sports fan, it’s a great time of year. Years ago there was a conversation between Sam Snead and baseball’s great hitter, Ted Williams, on Tom Snyder’s late-night “Tomorrow” show on NBC. Snead and Williams talked about the relative difficulty of hitting a ball in their respective sports. The hitting icon, Williams, spoke of the perfect coordination and talent needed for hitting a moving target, such as a 94 mph fastball. Snead responded curtly. “Ever try to hit a 2-iron?” he barked.

One of the joys of covering the Senior Women's Amateur is coming across all the friendly faces. It's not to say there aren't any friendly faces at other championships. But it's rather fun to be able to share stories with someone like the legendary Carol Semple Thompson, or come across someone like Marsha Butler, who I haven't seen in three years. It's not easy to keep track of every subject you write about. The best example of this is Mary Ann Hayward, who won the 2005 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur as Mary Ann LaPointe.

On a separate note, past U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion Corey Weworski stopped by the course to watch friend Carolyn Creekmore play Sunday.

Florida the Beautiful

Here at Fiddlesticks, some 12 miles east of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida’s autumn is soft and purring. Just a few puffs of white clouds dot the sky. It’s warm and, in a land that is often humid, incredibly dry and pleasant. Best of all, the word is, “No wind,” virtual music to the ears of all good golfers. The Fiddlesticks “Long Mean” Course, the championship site, is indeed that – longish at 5,862 yards, but playing longer, and mean in its water hazards and the big greens that tumble over peaks and swales. The course features waste areas that are pretty to look at but mean to play from. Long expanses of native terrain feature white sand, some shell-rock and small pines with their accompanying blankets of pine needles. They’re unraked, so a random footprint poses a threatening shot, but the sand is mostly firm and solid.

Florida offers a variety of terrain. Steep hills and valleys roll across the panhandle near Pensacola. North Central Florida, such as Ocala, where the 2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur was played, features beautiful rolling horse country. Courses on the Sunshine State’s east coast are buffeted by winds off the Atlantic Ocean and as you travel south, Florida’s southern peninsula, which was long ago covered by the sea, is a wide, flat expanse. This means an easy stroll around the course for the golfers, and they have a lot to look at.

Towering pines and smaller live oak trees stand in the rough. Stately cypress trees are hung with Spanish moss. The snarled tangles of native palmettos are areas for golfers to avoid. Another hazard, of a sort, might be an alligator. They’re a rarity here, but some six or seven live on the course at Fiddlesticks and one was spotted by players this morning.  Around the clubhouse, bright periwinkles nod from flower beds, along with bougainvillea, sleek crotons and towering specimens of Birds of Paradise. Trimmed ficus trees stand behind the clubhouse and royal palms tower behind the 18^th green. It’s a lovely, tropical garden-like setting and a wonderful place to play golf.

Creekmore, the late Wiesner to Hall of Fame

The 2004 Senior Women’s Amateur champion, Carolyn Creekmore, of Dallas, campaigned for two years to get her friend Toni Wiesner inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Wiesner, who was runner-up in this championship in 1997, 2000 and 2008, died of cancer last year. Creekmore had hoped Wiesner would be inducted during her lifetime, but it was not to be. It has now been announced that Wiesner, who was perhaps the best lefthander in the women’s side of the game, will be formally inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame on Oct. 25. (Wiesner’s three runner-up finishes in this championship are eclipsed only by the five second-place finishes of Marlene Stewart Streit.) Creekmore was then startled to find that she too will be inducted into the Texas archive. And a few days later, on Oct. 28, Creekmore will also be inducted into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame. She’s a native of that state.

Fashion Statements

An informal survey of contestants during the practice rounds and on the putting green today finds there is more color in their attire than last year. Not as many browns and blacks. But then, we’re in Florida, where color and white shoes are always in fashion. Shorts and Capri-length pants prevailed, with a lot of citrus-colored shirts, in oranges or yellow. A few wore pink. Baseball-style golf caps and visors were the head gear of choice. And everyone, at least among the players I saw, wore white golf shoes.

Florida the Beautiful

Here at Fiddlesticks, some 12 miles east of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida’s autumn is soft and purring. Just a few puffs of white clouds dot the sky. It’s warm and, in a land that is often humid, incredibly dry and pleasant. Best of all, the word is, “No wind,” virtual music to the ears of all good golfers. The Fiddlesticks “Long Mean” Course, the championship site, is indeed that – longish at 5,862 yards, but playing longer, and mean in its water hazards and the big greens that tumble over peaks and swales. The course features waste areas that are pretty to look at but mean to play from. Long expanses of native terrain feature white sand, some shell-rock and small pines with their accompanying blankets of pine needles. They’re unraked, so a random footprint poses a threatening shot, but the sand is mostly firm and solid.

Florida offers a variety of terrain. Steep hills and valleys roll across the panhandle near Pensacola. North Central Florida, such as Ocala, where the 2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur was played, features beautiful rolling horse country. Courses on the Sunshine State’s east coast are buffeted by winds off the Atlantic Ocean and as you travel south, Florida’s southern peninsula, which was long ago covered by the sea, is a wide, flat expanse. This means an easy stroll around the course for the golfers, and they have a lot to look at.

Towering pines and smaller live oak trees stand in the rough. Stately cypress trees are hung with Spanish moss. The snarled tangles of native palmettos are areas for golfers to avoid. Another hazard, of a sort, might be an alligator. They’re a rarity here, but some six or seven live on the course at Fiddlesticks and one was spotted by players this morning.  Around the clubhouse, bright periwinkles nod from flower beds, along with bougainvillea, sleek crotons and towering specimens of Birds of Paradise. Trimmed ficus trees stand behind the clubhouse and royal palms tower behind the 18^th green. It’s a lovely, tropical garden-like setting and a wonderful place to play golf.

Creekmore, the late Wiesner to Hall of Fame

The 2004 Senior Women’s Amateur champion, Carolyn Creekmore, of Dallas, campaigned for two years to get her friend Toni Wiesner inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Wiesner, who was runner-up in this championship in 1997, 2000 and 2008, died of cancer last year. Creekmore had hoped Wiesner would be inducted during her lifetime, but it was not to be. It has now been announced that Wiesner, who was perhaps the best lefthander in the women’s side of the game, will be formally inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame on Oct. 25. (Wiesner’s three runner-up finishes in this championship are eclipsed only by the five second-place finishes of Marlene Stewart Streit.) Creekmore was then startled to find that she too will be inducted into the Texas archive. And a few days later, on Oct. 28, Creekmore will also be inducted into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame. She’s a native of that state.

Fashion Statements

An informal survey of contestants during the practice rounds and on the putting green today finds there is more color in their attire than last year. Not as many browns and blacks. But then, we’re in Florida, where color and white shoes are always in fashion. Shorts and Capri-length pants prevailed, with a lot of citrus-colored shirts, in oranges or yellow. A few wore pink. Baseball-style golf caps and visors were the head gear of choice. And everyone, at least among the players I saw, wore white golf shoes.