WHO’S HERE – Among the 132 golfers in the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur field, there are:
Oldest Competitor: Bonnie George (70, born 11-28-43)
Youngest Competitors: Janet Moore (50, born 7-28-64), Susan West (50, born 7-12-64), Karen Siegel (50, born 6-11-64), Laura Coble (50, born 5-22-64), JoAnn Ferrieri (50, born 5-12-64), Judith Kyrinis (50, born 4-21-64), Joanne Manley (50, born 4-12-64)
Average Age of Field: 55.39
U.S. States Represented – There are 34 states represented at the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur: California (17), Florida (10), Texas (9), Arizona (7), Pennsylvania (7), Massachusetts (6), Illinois (5), Colorado (4), Michigan (4), New Jersey (4), New York (4), North Carolina (4), Virginia (4), Connecticut (3), Georgia (3), Alabama (2), Hawaii (2), Maryland (2), Minnesota (2), Missouri (2), Nebraska (2), Oregon (2), South Carolina (2), Alaska (1), Arkansas (1), Kentucky (1), Idaho (1), Louisiana (1), New Hampshire (1), Oklahoma (1), Rhode Island (1), Tennessee (1), Utah (1) and Washington (1).
International – There are 11 countries represented at the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur: United States (119), Canada (4), Australia (1), England (1), Germany (1), Jamaica (1), Mexico (1), Scotland (1), Singapore (1), South Africa (1) and Wales (1).
U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champions (7): Terri Frohnmayer (2011), Mina Hardin (2010), Sherry Herman (2009), Diane Lang (2005, 2006, 2008), Ellen Port (2012, 2013), Anna Schultz (2007), Carol Semple Thompson (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
Total Senior Women’s Amateurs Won By 2014 Championship Field (13): Terri Frohnmayer (1), Mina Hardin (1), Sherry Herman (1), Diane Lang (3), Ellen Port (2), Anna Schultz (1), Carol Semple Thompson (4)
USGA champions (11): Robin Weiss Donnelley (1989 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Terri Frohnmayer (2011 Senior Women’s Amateur), Mina Hardin (2010 Senior Women’s Amateur), Sherry Herman (2009 Senior Women’s Amateur), Joan Higgins (2008 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Diane Lang (2005, 2006, 2008 Senior Women’s Amateur), Martha Leach (2009 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Ellen Port (1995, 1996, 2000, 2011 Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2012, 2013 Senior Women’s Amateur), Anna Schultz (2007 Senior Women’s Amateur), Carol Semple Thompson (1973 Women’s Amateur, 1990, 1997 Women’s Mid-Amateur, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Senior Women’s Amateur), Corey Weworski (2004 Women’s Mid-Amateur)
USGA Runners-Up (10): Laura Coble (2009 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Susan Cohn (2013 Senior Women’s Amateur), Robin Weiss Donnelley (1998 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Mina Hardin (2001 Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2011 Senior Women’s Amateur), Martha Leach (2011 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Sue Billek Nyhus (1999 Women’s Amateur Public Links), Ellen Port (2002 Women’s Mid-Amateur), Anna Schultz (2000 Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2006 Senior Women’s Amateur), Carol Semple Thompson (1974 Women’s Amateur, 1992 Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2005 Senior Women’s Amateur)
Played in 2014 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur: 28 (Christie Austin, Laura Carson, Teresa Cleland, Laura Coble, Amy Dickison, Joan Garety, Mina Hardin, Jen Holland, Jamie Hoffmann, Leigh Klasse, Andrea Kraus, Pamela Kuong, Kathy Kurata, Martha Leach, Kareen Markle, Lisa McGill, Noreen Mohler, Janet Moore, Patty Moore, Sue O’Connor, Linda Pearson, Brenda Pictor, Claudia Pilot, Lisa Schlesinger, Anna Schultz, Marlene Summers, Susan West, Corey Weworski)
Played in 2014 U.S. Women’s Open: none
Played in 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur: 2 (Martha Leach, Ellen Port)
Played in 2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur: 59 (Lecia Alexander, Laura Algiero, Lea Anne Brown, Michelle Burgess, Laura Carson, Helene Chartrand, Jean Cheszek, Teresa Cleland, Susan Cohn, Amy Dickison, Kim Eaton, Gail Flanagan, Terri Frohnmayer, Joan Garety, Mina Hardin, Marilyn Hardy, Julie Harrison, Dana Harrity, Sherry Herman, Mary Jane Hiestand, Gigi Higgins, Joan Higgins, Mimi Hoffman, Lisa Judge, Patty Kimball, Leigh Klasse, Nancy Kromar, Pamela Kuong, Kathy Kurata, Diane Lang, Martha Leach, Susie Macleod, Jewell Malick, Kathy Malpass, Kareen Markle, Lisa McGill, Linda McMillan, Judy Miller, Patty Moore, Rachel Moreaux, Heidy Munn, Courtney Myhrum, Leilani Norman, Sue Billek Nyhus, Sue O’Connor, Linda Pearson, Mary Petrovich, Brenda Pictor, Ellen Port, Tanna Richard, Carol Sarkissian, Lisa Schlesinger, Anna Schultz, Renee Theiler-Reichle, Carol Semple Thompson, Corey Weworski, Caryn Wilson, Sandy Woodruff, Sue Wooster)
PLAYER NOTES:
Lecia Alexander, 56, of Stafford, Texas, is competing in her sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and was a semifinalist in 2012, losing to eventual champion Ellen Port, 6 and 4. Alexander, a certified public accountant, is a self-taught player and has won two Houston Senior Women’s Amateurs.
Christie Austin, 57, of Denver, Colo., spent six years as a member of the USGA Executive Committee and was the first woman to chair the Rules of Golf Committee and serve as a referee for a Walker Cup Match. Austin, who is a retired chief financial officer for a management company, is playing in her 14th USGA championship and third Senior Women’s Amateur.
Tina Barker, 55, of Fairfield, Calif., is an air traffic controller for Oakland Center, which handles aircraft for 140,000 square miles of the Western United States. Barker, who is competing in her 10th USGA championship, has caddied for World Golf Hall of Famer Louise Suggs and International Tennis Hall of Famer Althea Gibson.
Kim Briele, 53, of New Bern, N.C., is the president of LCA Advertising and Productions. She hosted and produced This Week on The Hooters Tour from 1985-89. Briele, who is competing in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, played golf and softball at the University of North Carolina. Her children, Tanner and Tatum, were collegiate golfers at Western Carolina and Coastal Carolina, respectively.
Michelle Mickey Burgess, 51, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., has worked as a personal trainer and was once an assistant golf professional at Rolling Green Country Club in Arlington Heights, Ill. She has a master’s degree in exercise science from Montclair State University in New Jersey. Burgess advanced to the Round of 32 at last year’s Senior Women’s Amateur. Her son, Ryan, is a collegiate golfer at Southern Methodist University.
Helene Chartrand, 58, of Canada, won this year’s Canadian Women’s Senior Championship by making a birdie on the second playoff hole. Chartrand, who is competing in her third U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and advanced to the Round of 32 last year, is the director of industrial sales and exportation for Bonduelle North America, a company which processes frozen and canned vegetables.
Teresa Cleland, 55, of Syracuse, N.Y., recently retired after 32 years as a teacher in the Syracuse School District. Cleland, who putts side-saddle, is playing in her 15th USGA championship. She qualified for her sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in Anchorage, Alaska. Cleland will be inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 20.
Laura Coble, 50, of Augusta, Ga., works in sales for promotional products and office supplies. She is competing in her 24th USGA championship and first Senior Women’s Amateur. Coble was the runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. In 2011, Coble participated in a mission trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., following the tornado that left an 80-mile path of destruction through three counties.
Susan Cohn, 51, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was the runner-up to Ellen Port at last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Cohn, who is competing in her fourth USGA championship, has won the Palm Beach Country Women’s Amateur 11 times and was the 2012 Palm Beach County Sports Commission Amateur Athlete of the Year. She played at the University of North Carolina from 1982-85 and earned four letters.
Susan DeKalb, 58, of Middletown, N.J., is in her second year as the head women’s golf coach at nearby Monmouth University. She was the school’s head women’s basketball coach from 1989-2000. DeKalb was also head coach at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, and an assistant at both Oklahoma and Penn State. DeKalb is playing in her third Senior Women’s Amateur and reached the Round of 16 in 2008.
Robin Weiss Donnelley, 60, of Palm Beach, Fla., is competing in her 52nd USGA championship and seventh U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Donnelley, who works in real estate, won the 1989 U.S. Mid-Amateur and was the runner-up in 1998. She owns 41 USGA match-play victories and has been a member of three USA Curtis Cup Teams (1990, 1992, 2000).
Kim Eaton, 55, of Tempe, Ariz., reached the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinals in 2009 and 2011. A retired City of Evans police officer, Eaton is competing in her 22nd USGA championship. She has won two consecutive Arizona Women’s Senior Amateur Match Championships and was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.
Terri Frohnmayer, 58, of Salem, Ore., won the 2011 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, her first time in the event, with a 2-and-1 victory over Mina Hardin in the final. Frohnmayer, who owns a commercial real estate company, was named the 2011 Oregon Golf Association Golfer of the Year and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Senior Women’s Player of the Year.
Bonnie George, 70, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., is an artist who specializes in watercolor portraits. George, the oldest player in this year’s field, is competing in her 10th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. At age 13, George took golf lessons at The Greenbrier from Sam Snead, who won seven majors and was a four-time U.S. Open runner-up.
Mina Hardin, 54, of Mexico, won the 2010 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and was the runner-up in 2011. Hardin, who resides in Fort Worth, Texas, was the first Mexican woman to win a USGA championship and became the first to play on the LPGA Tour in 1983. She is competing in her 47th USGA championship. Hardin, who competed in five U.S. Women’s Opens, has a 49-23 USGA amateur match-play record.
Marilyn Hardy, 52, of Houston, Texas, is competing in her 33rd USGA championship. Hardy advanced to the quarterfinals at last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. She is married to Jim Hardy, a golf instructor and the 2007 PGA of America National Teacher of the Year. Hardy played for UC-San Diego’s 1981 NCAA Division III national champion volleyball team.
Julie Harrison, 54, of Baton Rouge, La., is playing in her fourth consecutive U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. A retired high school teacher, she was a quarterfinalist in 2012. Her husband, Britt, is the former men’s golf coach at Louisiana State University and an all-America player at Oklahoma State University.
Sherry Herman, 56, of Jackson, N.J., won the 2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship and was a quarterfinalist the following year. A national sales manager for YP Advertising Solutions, Herman is competing in her 27th USGA championship and sixth Senior Women’s Amateur.
Mary Jane Hiestand, 55, of Naples, Fla., has advanced to match play in all five U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur appearances and reached the semifinals last year. She is originally from Pontiac, Mich., and was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2004. Hiestand is a four-time Florida State Golf Association Senior Women’s Player of the Year (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).
Joan Higgins, 58, of Glendora, Calif., won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and is a three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist. She has served on the board of directors for the Glendora American Little League for more than a decade. Higgins played tennis at the University of Wisconsin.
Jen Holland, 51, of Branford, Conn., is an NCAA official for women’s field hockey and lacrosse and an elementary physical education and health teacher. Holland is playing in her fourth USGA championship and competed in the 1999 and 2013 USGA Women’s State Team Championships.
Alicia Kapheim, 52, of Pennington, N.J., is an architect who has won several awards for architectural lighting design. Kapheim, who is playing in her 14th USGA championship and second U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, is also a canine coach who trains puppies for a rescue shelter. Kapheim, who owns a dog photography business, does CrossFit training and has competed in two New York City Marathons.
Denise Kieffer, 54, of University Place, Wash., is a police sergeant for the City of Tacoma. She is playing in her eighth USGA championship and third U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Kieffer was the runner-up at this year’s Washington State Women’s Golf Association (WSWGA) State Amateur.
Leigh Klasse, 54, of Saint Anthony, Minn., is competing in her 48th USGA championship and has advanced to match play in her four previous Senior Women’s Amateur appearances. Klasse, a life insurance manager, helped lead Minnesota to the 2001 USGA Women’s State Team Championship.
Andrea Kraus, 53, of Baltimore, Md., played on the Yale University men’s golf team until a women’s program started her junior year. She later earned a law degree from Columbia University and has volunteered at a domestic violence legal clinic. Kraus is competing in her 33rd USGA championship.
Pamela Kuong, 52, of Wellesley Hills, Mass., is playing in her third U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and advanced to the Round of 16 last year. She has won three New England Women’s Senior Amateurs and two Massachusetts Amateurs (2008, 2010). Kuong also coaches swimming and has trained athletes in the Olympic Trials, as well as the 1993 U.S. Junior National team championships.
Kathy Kurata, 53, of Pasadena, Calif., is a professional Japanese classical dancer. She started dancing at age 4 and picked up golf two years later. Kurata is playing in her 15th USGA championship and fourth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. She advanced to the Round of 16 in two of the last three years.
Judith Kyrinis, 50, of Canada, works as a registered nurse for the Toronto General Hospital and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in the Risk Assessment Clinic for Anesthesia. She has played in five U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs and advanced to the semifinals in 2000.
Diane Lang, 59, of Jamaica, is a three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion (2005, 2006, 2008). Lang, who resides in Weston, Fla., and is competing in her 10th Senior Women’s Amateur, came from Jamaica to play on the first golf team at Florida Atlantic University. She qualified for the LPGA Tour in 1983, lost her status in 1985, eventually was reinstated as an amateur and later did not play competitively for 16 years to start a family. Her father, Eddie Aris, was a Davis Cup tennis player.
Martha Leach, 52, of Hebron, Ky., won the 2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and was the runner-up in 2011. She is competing in her 56th USGA championship and advanced to the Round of 16 at last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Leach introduced her sister, six-time USGA champion Hollis Stacy, for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Jewell Malick, 65, of Rockwall, Texas, is playing in her fifth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and advanced to match play for the first time last year. Malick caddied for Anna Schultz when she won the 2007 title. Malick, who is an obstetrician, served as a doctor in the Navy for five years, including three months in the Desert Storm campaign. She played field hockey and lacrosse at Ursinus College.
Joanne Manley, 50, of England, was born in Australia and became an English citizen. She has lived in Michigan for the last 10 years. Manley, who was a nationally-ranked junior in the sport of squash, recently enrolled in Wayne State University’s business school. She is competing in her first USGA championship.
Lisa Mansur, 50, of Lincoln, Neb., is a pulmonologist who specializes in palliative medicine. Mansur, who graduated from the University of Kansas’ School of Medicine, was a semifinalist at the 1980 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and advanced to match play twice at the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Her mother played in the 1955 U.S. Women’s Open.
Kareen Markle, 52, of Meridian, Idaho, is a registered nurse at an area hospital and serves as a volunteer golf coach at Mountain View High School. She is competing in her 22nd USGA championship and reached match play in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur last year at CordeValle.
Lisa McGill, 55, of Philadelphia, Pa., is playing in her 31st USGA championship, including five U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs. She advanced to the Round of 16 last year. McGill was a three-sport athlete at the University of Denver and competed in four sports at the high school level.
Judy Miller, 64, of Tucson, Ariz., is a retired deaf and hearing impaired special educator for Monterey (Calif.) County. Miller, who taught for 28 years, is playing in her 12th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. She was chosen Arizona Women’s Golf Association Senior Player of the Year in 2007 and 2009.
Noreen Mohler, 58, of Bethlehem, Pa., is playing in her eighth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and has reached the quarterfinals twice. She captained the 2010 USA Curtis Cup Team to victory and was a member of the winning 1978 USA Curtis Cup squad. Mohler returned to competitive golf in 2006 after a 20-year absence to raise a family and operate three restaurants.
Janet Moore, 50, of Cherry Hills Village, Colo., is in her fourth year as the head women’s golf coach at Wheaton (Ill.) College. Her husband, Kent, is the school’s men’s golf coach. Their children are both Wheaton graduates and prompted the 990-mile commute from their home. She has won five Colorado Women’s Stroke-Play Championships and was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.
Sue Billek Nyhus, 51, of Orem, Utah, is in her fifth year as the head women’s golf coach at Utah Valley University, where her daughter, Kimberly, is a sophomore on the team. Nyhus has competed in seven different USGA championships, including U.S. Women’s Open, Girls’ Junior, Women’s Amateur Public Links, Women’s Amateur, Women’s Mid-Amateur, Senior Women’s Amateur and USGA Women’s State Team. She was a runner-up at the 1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.
Mary Petrovich, 51, of West Bloomfield, Mich., advanced to match play in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur last year. Petrovich, who is the director of the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholars Foundation, was the first female caddie at Franklin Hills (Mich.) Country Club. She went on to captain the University of Michigan’s 1985 softball team and is president of the school’s Letterwinners M Club.
Jane Pohlman, 57, of Omaha, Neb., is playing in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. She previously competed in seven USGA Women’s State Team Championships. Pohlman served as president of the Nebraska Women’s Golf Association (2003-06) and was assistant girls’ coach at Millard South High School (1998-2010). She helped start the Lincoln High program in 1972 and went on to lead the University of Nebraska to a Big Eight Conference title.
Ellen Port, 52, of St. Louis, Mo., has won consecutive U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs (2012, 2013) and is the only four-time winner of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Port captained the 2014 USA Curtis Cup Team to a 13-7 victory over Great Britain and Ireland. A teacher and golf coach at John Burroughs School, Port is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. She is playing in her 51st USGA championship and owns a 79-24 career match-play record.
Jo Rasmussen, 54, of Singapore, is competing in her first USGA championship. A personal fitness trainer in Westport, Conn., Rasmussen started playing golf at age 40. She caddies for 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and two-time USA Walker Cup Team member Jerry Courville and has carried his bag at three U.S. Senior Opens.
Lisa Schlesinger, 56, of Laytonsville, Md., was stroke-play medalist and reached the semifinals at both the 2011 and 2012 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs. Schlesinger, who played basketball at the University of Maryland and in the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) with two teams, is a member of the Greater Washington, D.C. Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame. She is competing in her 23rd USGA championship.
Anna Schultz, 59, of Rockwall, Texas, won the 2007 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and has advanced to match play in all nine championship appearances. Schultz, a certified public accountant, was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame last October. Her three sons played collegiate golf: Mark and David at Texas A&M, and Kevin at Texas. Her parents survived World War II concentration camps.
Carol Semple Thompson, 65, of Sewickley, Pa., has won four U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), but she had to qualify for this year’s championship. She has advanced to match play in all 15 of her previous appearances. Thompson, who won the 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur, owns seven USGA women’s titles and is second to JoAnne Gunderson Carner on the all-time list. Thompson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008. She played on six USA Curtis Cup Teams and was captain of the USA Team twice. Thompson is competing in her 124th USGA championship.
Susan West, 50, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., is a retired president of the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission. She is playing in her seventh USGA championship and first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. West was previously assistant dean and director of the MBA program at the University at Alabama. She was a member of the Crimson Tide’s tennis program as undergraduate. A nationally-ranked tennis player, West won the 1993 USTA National Clay Court Doubles Championship.
Corey Weworski, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif., won the 2004 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. She has played in two Senior Women’s Amateurs, advancing to the quarterfinals last year and the Round of 32 in 2012. Weworski, who is competing in her 32nd USGA championship, has played for the California team in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship four times (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005).
Caryn Wilson, 53, of Rancho Mirage, Calif., advanced to the semifinals in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur last year at CordeValle. Wilson is the second woman to compete in both the U.S. Open golf and tennis championships, joining Althea Gibson. She played in the 1999 and 2009 U.S. Women’s Opens and reached the semifinals of the 1997 Women’s Mid-Amateur. Wilson was a three-time all-America tennis player at Stanford University (1981-83).
Sandy Woodruff, 65, of Santa Cruz, Calif., had advanced to match play in 14 of 15 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship appearances. She was a quarterfinalist in the 1999 and 2004. Woodruff owns and operates Valley Gardens Golf Course, a nine-hole executive layout in Scotts Valley, Calif.