34th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Home

WHO’S HERE – Among the 132 golfers in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur field, there are:

Oldest Competitors: Annette Gaiotti (68, born 4/10/1953), Mary Jane Hiestand (62, born 4/16/1959), Maggie Leef (61, born 8/8/1960), Denise Callahan (60, born 1/4/1961)

Youngest Competitors: Jennifer Peng (25, born 7/10/1996), Jacqueline Bendrick (25, born 6/10/1996), Jamie Freedman (25, 4/19/1996), Lexie Toth (25, born 4/11/1996)

Average Age of Field: 37.8

Field breakdown by age: 

Age 25-29: 36 competitors
Age 30-39: 53 competitors
Age 40-49: 16 competitors
Age 50-59: 20 competitors
Age 60-70: 7 competitors

U.S. States Represented – There are 33 states, and the District of Columbia, represented in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur: California (11), Florida (9), Texas (8), Georgia (7), New York (7), Illinois (6), North Carolina (6), Pennsylvania (6), Massachusetts (5), Michigan (5), Ohio (5), Virginia (5), Minnesota (3), Missouri (3), New Jersey (3), Oregon (3), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (3), Utah (3), Washington (3), Alabama (2), Kansas (2), Arizona (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), District of Columbia (1), Indiana (1), Iowa (1), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maryland (1), Mississippi (1), New Hampshire (1), Wisconsin (1)

International – There are eight countries represented in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur: United States (120), Canada (4), Mexico (3), Australia (1), Japan (1), Peru (1), Singapore (1), Venezuela (1)

USGA Champions (13): Kelsey Chugg (2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Lauren Greenlief (2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Kathy Hartwiger (2002 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Shannon Johnson (2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Ina Kim-Schaad (2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Judith Kyrinis (2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Martha Leach (2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Ellen Port (1995, 1996, 2000, 2011 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and 2012, 2013, 2016 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Julia Potter-Bobb (2013, 2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Margaret Starosto (2014 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Meghan Stasi (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Lara Tennant (2018, 2019, 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Corey Weworski (2004 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur)

USGA Runners-up (13): Talia Campbell (2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Kelsey Chugg (2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Laura Coble (2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Mary Jane Hiestand (2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Shannon Johnson (2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Pamela Kuong (2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Judith Kyrinis (2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Martha Leach (2011 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Ina Kim-Schaad (2000 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Ellen Port (2002 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Julia Potter-Bobb (2014 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Margaret Starosto (2013, 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Sue Wooster (2018, 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur)

Curtis Cup Team Members (2): Ellen Port (USA, 1994 and 1996; USA captain in 2014), Meghan Stasi (USA, 2008)

Most U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Appearances (2021 Included): Martha Leach (32), Ellen Port (27), Mary Jane Hiestand (25), Corey Weworski (25), Dawn Woodard (19), Laura Coble (16), Tara Joy-Connelly (16), Meghan Stasi (15)

Players from South Carolina (3): Ann Marie Costello (Longs), Emily Rapp (Greenville), Dawn Woodard (Greenville)

Played in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball (10): Kimberly Dinh (MC), Kyle Fraser (MC), Lauren Greenlief (R32), Erin Houtsma (MC), Noelle Maertz (MC), Ellen Port (MC), Kelli Pry (MC), Meghan Stasi (R32), Lara Tennant (MC), Dawn Woodard (R32)

Played in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open (10): Denise Callahan (MC), Laura Coble (46), Susan Curtin (MC), Amy Kennedy (MC), Judith Kyrinis (MC), Martha Leach (T20), Ellen Port (T20), Lara Tennant (T29), Corey Weworski (T36), Sue Wooster (T47)

Played in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur (4): Clare Connolly (R64), Kyle Fraser (MC), Ina Kim-Schaad (MC), Lara Tennant (MC)

Played in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur (23): Laura Coble (R64), Susan Curtin (R16), Hui Chong Dofflemyer (MC), Lea Green (MC), Stephenie Harris (MC), Kathy Hartwiger (QF), Mary Jane Hiestand (R32), Amy Kennedy (MC), Kim Keyer-Scott (R64), Pamela Kuong (R32), Judith Kyrinis (R32), Martha Leach (R32), Maggie Leef (R32), Julie Massa (R64), Andrea Miller (R64), Anna Morales (R64), Itsuko Moridaira (R64), Heather Penn (R64), Ellen Port (runner-up), Lara Tennant (champion), MK Thanos (WD), Corey Weworski (R32), Sue Wooster (R64)

PLAYER NOTES:

Jacqueline Bendrick, 25, of Mercer Island, Wash., is a neuroscience research associate at a bioscience research institute in Seattle. After overcoming multiple health challenges during her time on the Furman University women’s golf team, Bendrick was named the 2018 Kim Moore Spirit Award recipient by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. Bendrick, a two-time All-Southern Conference honoree at Furman, won the 2021 Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur and was runner-up in the 2021 Pacific Northwest Women’s Mid-Amateur.

Clare Connolly, 28, of Chevy Chase, Md., is competing in her sixth USGA championship and third U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Connolly, a golf and tennis sales representative for a sunglasses manufacturer, caddies on the weekends at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., the site of three U.S. Opens. She advanced to match play in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. Her brother, Chris, has played in four USGA championships.

Ann Marie Costello, 42, of Longs, S.C., is competing in her first USGA championship since the 2002 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Costello, an IT software consultant, has settled in South Carolina recently following a year of traveling the country in an RV. Originally from San Diego, she began there and journeyed to Maine and back, weaving through the Midwest. After a successful first trip, she did a second RV trip up the California coast, then through the southern U.S., ending up in Longs, South Carolina. Some golf courses she played during her RV travels include Chambers Bay, Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits, Streamsong and multiple Robert Trent Jones Trail courses in Alabama. Her interests outside of golf include woodworking, renovating houses and playing the piano.

Kaylin Crownover, 29, of Tampa, Fla., won a gold medal in the 2017 Deaflympics held in Turkey. Crownover lost most of her hearing at age 2 after being born with dislocated hips. Doctors informed her family that she would never be able to walk or ride a bike, but following two major surgeries and being in a full body cast for 17 months, she was able to live a healthy lifestyle. Crownover played briefly on the Symetra Tour from 2014-17 before regaining her amateur status in 2017. She just recently fell back in love with the game after taking a job at Steamsong Resort in January. This is her first USGA championship.

Susan Curtin, 51, of Westwood, Mass., served as a third-class petty officer in the United States Coast Guard Reserve for five years in the 1990s. Curtin played her collegiate golf at Brigham Young University before graduating from the College of the Holy Cross. She was named the 2017 Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Player of the Year and has won the Massachusetts State Mother-Son Championship with her son, James, each of the last nine years. Curtin competed in this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open in Fairfield, Conn.

Charlotte Daughan, 37, of Riverside, Conn., was a four-time NCAA Division II player of the year and two-time D-II individual national champion at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. Daughan, the director of product and benefits of GolfPass for NBC Sports Next, competed in the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open at Newport (R.I.) Country Club and is playing in her fourth U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She owns and runs a women’s golf accessory line.

Kimberly Dinh, 29, of Midland, Mich., won the 105th Michigan Women’s Amateur in June. She played college golf at the University of Wisconsin before putting golf on pause for five years of graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dinh, a senior research specialist for a multinational chemical corporation, also won the 2020 Michigan Women’s Mid-Amateur and was runner-up in 2021. She serves as the chair of the Mid-Michigan chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Victoria Fallgren, 29, of Spokane, Wash., is the assistant women’s golf coach at Gonzaga University, where she played from 2009 to 2013. Fallgren, a three-time Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, has competed in seven USGA championships. In 2017, she hiked about 170 miles across Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Lauren Greenlief, 31, of Ashburn, Va., won the 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La., defeating Margaret Starosto in the championship match, 2 and 1. Greenlief, a management consultant, is a five-time Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA) Women’s Golfer of the Year and a two-time VSGA Women’s Amateur champion. She is competing in her sixth U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and was a semifinalist in 2019. In 2018, she became the first mid-amateur in 12 years to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Shannon Johnson, 38, of North Easton, Mass., won the 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis after finishing as the runner-up in 2016. Johnson, a field representative for a major golf manufacturer, is playing in her 18th USGA championship and seventh U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She was runner-up in the 2021 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur this August.

Tara Joy-Connelly, 48, of Vero Beach, Fla., is a two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur semifinalist (2011, 2014) and is making her 16th championship start. Joy-Connelly, an independent sales representative, won the 2003 and 2013 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur and is a record nine-time Massachusetts Player of the Year. She will be inducted into the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame next month.

Ina Kim-Schaad, 37, of New York, N.Y., won the 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Forest Highlands in Flagstaff, Ariz., defeating fellow New York City resident Talia Campbell in the championship match. She was the runner-up in the 2000 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon. Following a decorated junior career, Kim took an 11-year hiatus from the game to devote time to her career in the financial world. When she met her husband, Ian Schaad, Kim decided to leave the financial world and spend more time playing amateur golf. Her older sister, Hana, is a former professional golfer who qualified for two U.S. Women’s Opens.

Mary Langdon Hardman, 29, of Galveston, Texas, is a two-time Mississippi Women’s Amateur champion (2010, 2014) who is competing in her first U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She played college golf at Mississippi State University and helped the program earn its first NCAA postseason berth in 2013. Her father, Jim Gallagher Jr., is a five-time PGA Tour winner, member of the 1993 Ryder Cup team and current Golf Channel analyst. Her mother, Cissye Gallagher, is a 12-time Mississippi Women’s Amateur champion and a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

Martha Leach, 59, of Hebron, Ky., is competing in her 32nd U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, the most among players in the field. She has reached match play in all but two starts and won the title in 2009 at Golden Hills Golf and Turf Club in Ocala, Fla. Leach was co-low amateur in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open last month at Brooklawn C.C., where she tied for 20th, and also earned low-amateur honors in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2019. Leach was inducted into the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 2018. Her sister is World Golf Hall of Famer and six-time USGA champion Hollis Stacy. Leach and Stacy are one of two sister tandems to win USGA championships, joining Harriot and Margaret Curtis.

Maggie Leef, 61, of Pewaukee, Wis., is a member at Berkeley Hall Club and the reigning senior club champion. Leef, a vice president of the Wisconsin State Golf Association (WSGA), is competing in her 13th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She won her fourth WSGA Women’s Senior Amateur title this June and reached the Round of 32 in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. 

Erin Packer, 43, of Peachtree City, Ga., is the daughter of Allen Doyle, the 2005 and 2006 U.S. Senior Open champion. She caddied for her father full-time on the PGA Tour Champions from 2000-03, and for the 2006 and 2007 U.S. Opens. Packer, a real estate agent, has competed in nine USGA championships, including four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs. Her husband, Brandt, is a producer for Golf Channel/NBC and her father-in-law, Billy, was a longtime college basketball announcer for both NBC and CBS.

Michelle Parrish, 28, of Columbia, Mo., and her husband, Hunter, will be concurrently playing in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur from Sept. 25-30. The couple was married in December 2020. Michelle was a semifinalist in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, losing to eventual champion, Shannon Johnson, and reached the quarterfinals in 2019. She is the head men’s & women’s golf coach at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. Hunter, who is a manager for a concrete company, was added to the U.S. Mid-Amateur field as the first alternate from the St. Joseph, Mo., qualifier. He was the runner-up in the 2016 Missouri Amateur.

Ellen Port, 60, of St. Louis, Mo., nearly won her eighth USGA championship earlier this month when she fell short in the final match of the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur to Lara Tennant, 2 and 1. Port, a seven-time USGA champion, has won four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles with her most recent coming in 2011. She is tied with Anne Quast Sander and Carol Semple Thompson for second among female USGA champions with seven titles, trailing only JoAnne Carner (eight). Port made history last month, becoming the first woman to win the Met Senior Amateur, the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association's premier senior men's championship, prevailing in a four-hole playoff. She was co-low amateur and finished in a tie for 20th in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn C.C. in Fairfield, Conn.

Samantha Postillion, 29, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the daughter of three-time U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur runner-up Kerry Postillion. She played on the Symetra Tour from 2015-20 before recently regaining her amateur status. Samantha played collegiately at both the Universithy of Texas and University of Illinois.  She currently is an associate with KPMG in Chicago.

Julia Potter-Bobb, 33, of Indianapolis, Ind., is a two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion (2013, 2016). Potter, a University of Missouri graduate, is a five-time Indiana Women’s Amateur champion and winner of the 2016 Indiana Women’s Open. She serves as the director of member services for the Indiana Golf Office and was a 2008 P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern for the Missouri Golf Association. Potter was the medalist in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in Flagstaff, Ariz., and reached the Round of 16. This will be her ninth U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur appearance.

Emily Rapp, 33, of Charleston, S.C., is competing in her third U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Rapp, a residential realtor, got married last month to her wife Victoria. After moving to Charleston last year, Rapp won the 2021 Charleston Women’s City Amateur and the 2020 CGA Mixed Team Championship. She played on the College of Charleston women’s golf team from 2006 to 2010.

Alexandra Schilling, 29, of Zumbrota, Minn., is an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration. Schilling is competing in her seventh USGA championship and second U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She reached the Round of 16 in 2019. Her sister, Sami Stewart, has played in several USGA championships, including the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

Samantha Schuffenecker, 31, of Troy, N.Y., played four seasons on the Connecticut College women’s hockey team and was captain her senior year. After graduating from Connecticut College, Schuffenecker used a fifth year of eligibility to play Division 1 golf in 2014 while getting a master’s degree in public health. She is competing in her first USGA championship.

Ashley Sloup, 25, of Buies Creek, N.C., and her boyfriend, Christian Sease, will be competing concurrently in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, from Sept. 25-30. Ashley and Christian both played at Winthrop University and advanced to their respective championships on Aug. 11 and 12, in South Carolina qualifiers. In 2016, they both garnered Carolinas Amateur titles. Sloup, a three-time All-Big South Conference selection, posted a three-stroke victory on May 18 and Sease earned his spot on the fourth playoff hole two months later. Sloup was named assistant men’s golf coach at Campbell University, in Buies Creek, N.C., in March after working as assistant women’s coach at Furman since 2019.

Courtney Stiles, 39, of Pinehurst, N.C., is the executive director of The First Tee of the Sandhills. Stiles played collegiately at North Carolina State University and spent two years on the Futures Tour before regaining her amateur status in 2009. She is competing in her fourth U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

Lara Tennant, 54, of Portland, Ore., won her third consecutive U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship on Sept. 16, defeating Ellen Port in the final match, 2 and 1, at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Ala. The win made Tennant the 12th player in USGA history to win a championship at least three consecutive times. She is a four-time Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur champion and winner of the 2020 California Senior Women’s Amateur and 2019 R&A Women’s Senior Amateur Championship. She was one of seven amateurs to make the cut in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open and finished in a tie for 29th. Tennant is competing in her fourth U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and first since 2007. She was co-medalist in 2002 at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.

Tara Watt, 38, of Manchester, N.H., was just named the head women's golf coach at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. In 2007, Watt completed the New York City Marathon. She also represented New Hampshire in four USGA Women's State Team Championships before the biennial event was retired in 2017.

Lana Weant, 26, of Monroe, La., is married to the current assistant men's golf coach at Texas Tech (Nathan Weant). For her high school senior trip, Weant and a friend played Pebble Beach Golf Links with their parents and siblings in attendance. This is the Louisiana State graduate's first individual USGA championship; she represented Louisiana in the final USGA Women's State Team Championship in 2017 that was conducted in Santa Fe, N.M.

Alisa White, 30, of Hereford, Texas, joined the USGA in 2018 as an operations coordinator for the U.S. Open Championship. The 2015 Sam Houston State graduate was part of the team that worked the 121st U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June. This is her third USGA championship (first Women's Mid-Am) after qualifying for the 2011 U.S. Women's Amateur and 2011 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. 

Dawn Woodard, 47, of Greenville, S.C., is a consultant who assists individual golfers and teams with enhancing performance. A five-time South Carolina Women’s Amateur champion, Woodard has competed in over 30 USGA championships. She has played in 18 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs and is a three-time medalist (2006, 2007, 2012), reaching the quarterfinals in 2007 and 2009. She earned all-region and all-conference recognition at Furman University and helped the Paladins advance to four NCAA tournaments (1993-96).

Joey Geske is a coordinator of championships communications for the USGA. Email him at jgeske@usga.org.