Slightly more than half the field of 132 competitors in the 55th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship has been trimmed to 64 for match play.
The Round of 64 begins at 8:30 a.m. EDT at Wellesley Country Club and continues through the early afternoon. Twenty strokes separated medalist Judith Kyrinis from the four survivors of the 6-for-4 playoff that took place at dusk on Sunday to determine the final spots in the draw.
Here are five Round-of-64 matches to watch on Monday:
Judith Kyrinis, Canada vs. Jen Holland, Branford, Conn. (8:30 a.m.)
No golfer was more consistent in stroke play than Kyriniss, the 2014 Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up, who posted a pair of even-par 74s to take medalist honors by five strokes. While Kyrinis, 52, has won several significant championships this summer, including the Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and the North & South Women’s Senior, all of them came at stroke play.
The 53-year-old Holland, who was born in Boston, is making her Senior Women’s Amateur debut after competing twice in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship in 1999 and 2013. The 2008 Connecticut Women’s Amateur champion is an elementary school physical-education and health teacher who also officiates college lacrosse and field hockey.
Robin Burke, Houston, Texas, vs. Mina Hardin, Mexico (8:40 a.m.)
These two know each other quite well from Texas amateur competitions. The 56-year-old Hardin, who was born in Mexico, lived for a long time in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and won the Texas Women’s Amateur five times and twice captured the Texas Senior Women’s Amateur. In 2011 she helped Texas finish second in the 2011 USGA Women’s State Team Championship. The 2010 Senior Women’s Amateur champion and 2011 runner-up has since moved to the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad, Calif.
Burke, 54, captained the 2016 USA Curtis Cup Team in June at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Ireland. Burke, who is married to 1956 Masters and PGA champion Jackie Burke Jr., also was the runner-up in the 1997 U.S. Amateur and a member of the victorious 1998 USA Curtis Cup Team. She also is a two-time Texas Women’s State Amateur champion.
Janet Moore, Centennial, Colo., vs. Karen Garcia, Cool, Calif. (10 a.m.)
Few have talked about the defending champion since stroke play began, but the 53-year-old from Cool, Calif., is ready for a fresh start in match play after posting 15-over 163 in stroke play. The high school guidance counselor had never advanced beyond the Round of 64 in six USGA starts before winning six matches last fall at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn.
Moore, 52, is competing in her 23rd USGA championship and third Senior Women’s Amateur. The 1987 University of Arizona graduate owns 20 Colorado state titles.
Pamela Kuong, Wellesley Hills, Mass., vs. Cindy Fentross, West Boylston, Mass. (11:10 a.m.)
For those looking for a Boston tee party, this is your match. The two locals should attract a few extra spectators, with Kuong coming off a runner-up showing in last year’s Senior Women’s Amateur, losing 1 down to Garcia. Kuong birdied four of her final five holes in stroke play on Sunday to get some extra momentum for match play. Kuong, 55, has won numerous events in Massachusetts and New England and was the Massachusetts Women’s Golf Association’s Player of the Year in 2012.
Fentross, 52, is making her USGA and Senior Women’s Amateur debut this week. A residential supervisor, Fentross didn’t begin playing golf until she turned 32.
Lisa Schlesinger, Laytonsville, Md., vs. Noreen Mohler, Bethlehem, Pa. (1:10 p.m.)
Schlesinger, 58, was the stroke-play medalist in 2011 and 2012, losing in the semifinals both years, the former to eventual winner Terri Frohnmayer. In 2012 at Hershey (Pa.) Country Club, she fell to runner-up and fellow Maryland resident Jane Fitzgerald. Now retired, Schlesinger owns three Maryland Women’s Mid-Amateur titles and represented her state four times in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship. In 1996 she was inducted into the Greater Washington, D.C. Softball Hall of Fame and five years later she was inducted into the Greater Washington, D.C. Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Mohler, who grew up in Woburn, Mass., served as the victorious USA Curtis Cup captain in 2010 when the Match was contested at the Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. She advanced to the semifinals of the 1975 U.S. Women’s Amateur and played on the 1978 USA Curtis Cup Team. The 62-year-old played professionally for a couple of years before settling down in eastern Pennsylvania, where she and her husband, Jeff, owned a seafood restaurant. She is a three-time Pennsylvania Senior Women’s champion and won the North & South Senior Women’s in 2012.
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.