Women's Amateur Blog

Elysse Smidinger, 17, of Crofton, Md., survived the 5-for-1 playoff by making a 4 at the par-4 16th hole, the second playoff hole. Emily Collins of Colleyville, Texas, and Kendall Prince of Lake Oswego, Ore., each made 5s. Smidinger, who will be a senior at Arundel High this fall, will face co-medalist Jihee Kim, 17, of Korea in the first match on Wednesday at 9 a.m. EDT.

This is Smidinger's second USGA event. She missed the match-play cut at the 2010 U.S. Girls' Junior.

In 2009, she won the Maryland State Golf Association Girls' Junior and was runner-up at the 2009 MSGA Women's Amateur.

She is a former gymnast who once won the Level 6 Maryland State Championship.  

We are down to three players for the last match-play spot. Elyse Smidinger of Crofton, Md., Emily Collins of Colleyville, Texas, and Kendall Prince of Lake Oswego, Ore., all made pars on the 380-yard, par-4 15th hole. Haley Stephens of Greer, S.C., did not record a score and Brittany Henderson of Canada, who bogeyed her final hole of regulation to get into the playoff, made a 5.

The players have moved on to the 395-yard, par-4 16th hole. This likely will be the last hole of the day if a survivor isn't decided here. Daylight is rapidly fading here at Rhode Island Country Club.

A bogey by Brittany Henderson at her 36th hole, the par-4 ninth, gave new life to four other golfers hoping to play in the first round of match play on Wednesday. Henderson, along with Kendall Prince, Elyse Smidinger, Haley Stephens and Emily Collins all finished at 7-over 149. They will begin at hole No. 15 and play 16, 17 and 18 until there is one survivor. That golfer will either face Jihee Kim or Lydia Ko, depending on how the computer splits up the co-medalists in the draw.

Six USGA champions failed to qualify, including the last two U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links champions, Brianna Do (2011) and Emily Tubert (2010). Also failing to advance were three-time U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion Meghan Stasi, 2009 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion Martha Leach, 2010 USGA Senior Women's Amateur champion Mina Hardin and 2009 Senior Women's Amateur champion Sherry Herman.

Other notables who didn't advance were Marissa Dodd (2011 WAPL runner-up), 2011 U.S. Girls' Junior runner-up Dottie Ardina, 2010 Women's Mid-Am runner-up Carol Robertson, 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur tri-medalist Rachel Rohanna, 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior runner-up Karen Chung and 2010 Senior Women's Amateur runner-up Alexandra Frazier.

None of the 11 mid-amateurs (25 and over) survived the cut. Last year, only Stasi made the cut among the mid-amateurs in the field.

All five players from the most recent Curtis Cup Match did advance. They include Stephanie Kono and Tiffany Lua from the USA, and Sally Watson, Pamela Pretswell and Holly Clyburn from the Great Britain and Ireland side.

USGA champions Ariya Jutanugarn (2011 Girls' Junior), Kristen Park (2007 Girls' Junior), Doris Chen (2010 Girls' Junior), Amy Anderson (2009 Girls' Junior) and defending Women's Amateur champion Danielle Kang all advanced as well.

We'll update the playoff as we get results.

Korea's Jihee Kim carded a 1-under 70 on Tuesday and stands at 6-under 136, which ties her with 14-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand for medalist honors at the 2011 U.S. Women's Amateur at Rhode Island C.C. Kim, who shot a 66 in Monday's first round, said she struggled with her putter on Tuesday, registering 31 putts compared to 26 on Monday. This is Kim's first match-play competition, while Ko claimed the New Zealand Amateur title in April after winning the 72-hole medal. Ko is the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, according to World Amateur Golf Ranking that is supported by The R&A and USGA. Kim, who is the No. 98-ranked female in the world, did shoot a 63 in last fall's Women's World Amateur Team Championship in leading Korea to a remarkable 17-stroke win over the USA in Argentina. She is coming off a T-21 effort at last month's Callaway Junior World event at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

 

It's cut day at the 111th U.S. Women's  Amateur, which always means a few anxious moments for those players on the match-play bubble. At least the competitors are being greeted with sunshine and the forecast for today is much better than on Monday when the afternoon wave of 78 golfers endured a pair of delays totaling 75 minutes. Our on-site meteorologist, Jake Swick, said clouds and wind should increase this afternoon with most of the showers predicted for the region to stay to our west through the early afternoon. There is a chance we could see a shower or possible thunderstorm after 5 p.m., but the best chance for showers will come between 8 p.m. tonight and 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Let's hope that is the case.

As for the play, Jihee Kim of Korea made a strong opening statement to be medalist with a 5-under 66. But she goes off in the afternoon on Tuesday and won't have the same favorable weather conditions she enjoyed on Monday morning when there was virtually no wind.

We'll know more about the cutline as players begin posting scores later today.

One player, Asia Adell of Fresno, Calif., withdrew last night.

Play has once again resumed after a 37-minute weather delay. Earlier on Monday afternoon, play was suspended for 38 minutes for dangerous weather.

Another storm has hit Rhode Island C.C., bringing heavy rain and another suspension of play, this time at 6:33 p.m. EDT. While there is no visible evidence of lightning, the rain is coming down hard. The last groups of the afternoon wave have four holes to play. At least 45 of the 78 players who teed off in the afternoon wave have completed the first round.

Play has resumed at the U.S. Women's Amateur after a 38-minute delay for dangerous weather in the area. Now it will be a race against the sun for everyone in the afternoon wave to finish the first round of stroke-play qualifying.

A thunderstorm in the area has forced USGA officials to suspend play at the U.S. Women's Amateur. The horns sounded at 5:12 p.m. EDT. They are currently keeping players in the evacuation vehicles.

Just received a stat from the USGA's Allison Jarrett, who is involved with the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program. A total of 18 LPGA-USGA Girls Golf alums are competing at this week's U.S. Women's Amateur, including 2006 Women's Amateur semifinalist Lindy Duncan. The Duke Univesity standout also made the cut at last month's U.S. Women's Open at The Broadmoor. Alison Lee is another alum. The Californian appeared in one of the USGA's new public-service announcements that were produced this year at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, Calif. Lee made the cut at the 2009 U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley C.C.

Here is the full list of alums and their Girls Golf site:

Name	Site Location	Years
Sarah Bae	Greensboro, N.C.	2008-11
Betty Chen	Pleasanton, Calif.	2008-11
Hannah Collier	Birmingham, Ala.	2003-05
Lindy Duncan	West Palm Beach, Fla.	2002-05
Allison Emrey	Winston-Salem, N.C.	2007-09
Courtney Gunter	Winston-Salem, N.C.	2004-07
Mikayla Harmon	Phoenix, Ariz.	2004-08
Courtney Hooton	San Diego, Calif.	2004-06
Stephanie Kim	Phoenix, Ariz.	2004-08
Alison Lee	Los Angeles, Calif.	2002-05
Steffi Nelsen	Greater Minneapolis, Minn.	2003-11
Taylor Newlin	Dallas, Texas	2002-03
Calle Nielson	Old Franklin, Tenn.	1997
Rachel Rohanna	Columbiana, Ohio	2000
Taelor Rubin	Greensboro, N.C.	2008-10
Madeleine Sheils	Boise, Idaho	1998
Elyse Smidinger	Winston-Salem, N.C.	2010-11
Samantha Stancato	Colorado Springs, Colo.	2001

 

 

It's always interesting to go inside the numbers at an event like the Women's Amateur and see what the stats dictate. One of the things I always do when I cover the Women's Amateur is look at the age breakdown, and it's fascinating to see where the amateur game is going. In this case, it's going younger and younger.

If you went back 25 years, you might find a handful of juniors (ages 17 and under) playing in the Women's Amateur. Today, the field is almost 33 percent made up of players who have yet to turn 18. In fact, 49 golfers in this year's championship are 17 and under.

There are almost as many 16-year-olds (12) playing as 21-year-olds (13).

Those 19 and 20 years of age make up just more than 33 percent of the field, led by 29 golfers who are 19 years old. We have 26 players who are 20. The next largest group is the 17-year-olds, where 24 are represented.

Only 11 mid-amateurs (25 years and older) are in the field, and six got here via exemptions through reaching last year's U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur or USGA Senior Women's Amateur title or, in the case of Martha Leach and Sherry Herman, winning the 2009 Women's Mid-Amateur and Senior Women's Amateur titles, respectively.

So what does that say? It means more and more of the elite female players are turning professional at an earlier age. It's common now to see top female players turn pro either prior to or after graduating high school.

Think of the young golfers who could still be in college/high school today that would be in this year's field: Alexis Thompson, Jessica Korda, Vicky Hurst, Jenny Shin, Ginger Howard and Michelle Wie.

Juli Inkster, a three-time Women's Amateur champion, made a comment at her pre-Women's Open media conference that what she accomplished in the early 1980s (winning three consecutive Women's Ams) likely won't happen again. Players are more likely to turn pro after winning one.

Somebody commented this week that it was nice to have a defending champion in the field. Yes, Danielle Kang is playing this week, but this is her final amateur event. She plans to turn pro not long after the competition concludes. You have to go back to 2007 when the Women's Amateur had the defending champion in the field (Kimberly Kim). When Mariajo Uribe won in 2007, she opted to play the Women's British Open rather than defend her title.

Such is the nature of golf, especially women's golf, in the year 2011. -- David Shefter

The 111th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship commenced Monday morning under sunny skies, a far cry from what the competitors saw Sunday with winds and driving rain that soaked the Rhode Island Country Club course. Fortunately, the morning fog that hit a few regions of New England this morning avoided Barrington and play started on time at 7 a.m.

Unfortunately, the lack of fog will allow the atmosphere to heat up, giving us a 60 percent chance of storm today, according to our on-site meteorologist, Jake Swick. Swick said storms could develop as early as 11 a.m., with the highest threat coming between 2 and 5. Let's hope the forecast is wrong and the T-storms stay away from RICC today. -- David Shefter