Sept. 26 – Oct. 1, 2015
Hillwood Country Club, Nashville, Tenn.
www.usga.org
www.seniorwam.org
Twitter: @USGA, #USSrWomensAm; www.facebook.com/USGA; Instagram: @USGA
MEDIA CREDENTIALS
Apply for credentials at mediacredentials.usga.org.
FREE ADMISSION
Admission is free. Tickets are not required and spectators are encouraged to attend.
PAR AND YARDAGE
Hillwood Country Club will be set up at 5,873 yards and will play to a par of 36-36–72. (NOTE: yardages subject to change)
HILLWOOD COUNTRY CLUB HOLE BY HOLE
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Par 4 3 5 4 3 5 4 4 4 36
Yards 330 142 536 346 151 504 360 337 321 3,027
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Par 4 3 5 4 3 5 3 5 4 36
Yards 270 137 505 338 123 485 170 460 358 2,846
COURSE RATING
Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating™ is 74.3. Its Slope Rating® is 129.
ABOUT HILLWOOD COUNTRY CLUB
Dick Wilson designed the facility that opened in 1957. Bruce Hepner oversaw renovations in 2003 and 2011. This will be the first USGA championship conducted at Hillwood Country Club.
WHO CAN ENTER
The championship is open to female amateurs who have reached their 50th birthday by Sept. 26 and who have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4.
ENTRIES
The USGA received 544 entries for the 2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. The record is 554, set in 2014.
SECTIONAL QUALIFYING
Sectional qualifying, played over 18 holes, was conducted at 24 sites between Aug. 18 and Sept. 3.
2014 CHAMPION
Joan Higgins, of Glendora, Calif., defeated Judith Kyrinis, of Canada, 1 up, in the final match to win the 2014
U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, held at the 6,109-yard, par-73 Hollywood Golf Club. Higgins, 58, became the third player to win both the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, a championship she captured in 2008. She joins World Golf Hall of Famer Carol Semple Thompson, who won four Senior Women’s Amateurs and two Women’s Mid-Amateurs, and Ellen Port, who captured the 2012 and 2013 Senior Women’s Amateur and four Women’s Mid-Amateurs. Click here for a full recap of the 2014 championship match.
FIELD AND EXEMPT PLAYERS
A field of 132 golfers will compete in the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship. The following 21 players are exempt from qualifying:
- Mary Budke (1972 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion)
- Helene Chartrand (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist)
- Susan Cohn (2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up)
- Maria De Orueta (2015 International European Senior Ladies champion)
- Robin Donnelley (1989 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion)
- Kim Eaton (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist)
- Jane Fitzgerald (2012 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up)
- Terri Frohnmayer (2011 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion; 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur semifinalist)
- Mina Hardin (2010 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion; 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist)
- Sherry Herman (2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion)
- Mary Jane Hiestand (2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur semifinalist)
- Joan Higgins (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion)
- Judith Kyrinis (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up)
- Diane Lang (2005, 2006 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion)
- Kareen Markle (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur semifinalist)
- Ellen Port (2012, 2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion)
- Terrill Samuel (2015 Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Senior champion)
- Anna Schultz (2007 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion)
- Susan West (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist)
- Corey Weworski (2004 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion)
- Caryn Wilson (2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur semifinalist)
SCHEDULE
- Saturday, Sept. 26 – First round, stroke play
- Sunday, Sept. 27 – Second round, stroke play (field reduced to 64 players for match play)
- Monday, Sept. 28 – First round, match play
- Tuesday, Sept. 29 – Second and third rounds, match play
- Wednesday, Sept. 30 – Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play
- Thursday, Oct. 1 – 18-hole championship final, match play
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES
- A gold medal and custody of the Senior Women’s Amateur Trophy for one year
- Exemption from qualifying for the next two U.S. Women's Amateurs
- Exemption from qualifying for the next two U.S. Women's Mid-Amateurs
- Exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Senior Women's Amateurs
THE USGA AND THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
The 2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur will be the 14th USGA championship conducted in the state of Tennessee. The first USGA championship held here was the 1937 U.S. Women’s Amateur, conducted at Memphis Country Club and won by Estelle Lawson Page. Most recently, the state hosted the 2011 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, won by Terri Frohnmayer.
Additionally, the USGA will be visiting the Volunteer State twice in the coming years. The Honors Course will host the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, while the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur will be conducted at The Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship was inaugurated in 1962 for women golfers age 50 and older.
By the late 1950s, a number of senior women’s golf organizations had been formed, principally to conduct tournaments, but there was no existing tournament to determine the national champion. The USGA was requested to step in, and in January 1962, the Executive Committee approved such a competition.
In its own quiet way, senior women’s golf has flourished over the years. Several major competitions have sprung up throughout the country, and with the expansion of women’s golf, the number of quality senior players has increased dramatically. Many women, age 50 and over, for the first time find they have the requisite time for top-level competitive golf. Additionally, some of the nation’s finest amateurs have advanced into this age group and still seek to test their talent and experience on a championship level. Many women who enter these competitions also have been instrumental in the development of women’s golf in this country, encouraging younger players and conducting tournaments at all levels.
FUTURE U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEURS
Sept. 17-22, 2016 – Wellesley (Mass.) Country Club
Sept. 9-14, 2017 – Waverley Country Club, Portland, Ore.
Sept. 29 – Oct. 4, 2018 – Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club, Vero Beach, Fla.
PHOTO MEDIA SERVICE
The USGA will offer daily complimentary high-resolution photographs during the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship for editorial use only. For more information and to register, email photorequests@usga.org.
MEDIA OPERATIONS/SERVICE
Please contact Christina Lance for more information regarding U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur coverage at clance@usga.org.