Storylines At The 2002 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship

Mary Budke, 48, of Eugene, Ore., and Marcia Fisher, 49, of Camby, Ore., have won 15 women’s State Amateur titles between them. Budke won eight titles in the 1970s while Fisher won the first of her seven titles in 1980. Her most recent title came in 2000. She also won the 2002 Oregon Women’s Mid-Amateur title. Budke, who won the 1972 U.S. Women’s Amateur, was captain of the victorious USA Curtis Cup team in August.

SIX-TIME USGA WINNER
Carol Semple Thompson of Sewickley, Pa., has won a USGA championship in each of the past three years, and six in her brilliant amateur career. Now 53, Semple Thompson recently played on her 12th USA Curtis Cup team, where she sank the decisive putt in an 11-7 victory over the Great Britain and Ireland team. She is playing in her 15th Women’s Mid-Amateur and 89th USGA championship overall. She won the 1973 Women’s Amateur, the 1990 and 1997 Women’s Mid-Amateur and the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Senior Women’s Amateur. Perhaps equally impressive is that she has qualified for 32 Women’s Opens, including the 2002 championship. Only JoAnne Carner (8) and Anne Sander (7) have won more USGA women’s championships.

SWEET 16 FOR THESE THREE
Martha Lang, 49, of Mandeville, La.; Anne Sander, 65, of Seattle, Wash., and Toni Wiesner, 55, of Ft. Worth, Texas, have qualified for each of the Women’s Mid-Amateur championships since its inception 16 years ago. For nearly two decades these three women have been competing against each other. Lang won the 1988 Women’s Mid-Amateur.

OLDEST COMPETITOR HAS LONG HISTORY OF SUCCESS
At 65, Anne Sander of Seattle, Wash., is the oldest competitor at this year’s Women’s Mid-Amateur. She boasts an impressive resume – a three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion (1958, 1961 and 1963) and four-time USGA Senior Women’s Amateur winner (1987, 1989, 1990 and 1993). She also has been named to eight USA Curtis Cup teams




JOY-CONNELLY HAS RYDER CUP CONNECTION
Tara Joy-Connelly, 29, of Ambler, Pa., is playing in her first Women’s Mid-Amateur but also keeping an eye out for the Ryder Cup results. Connelly has a personal interest in the American team competing overseas since her father-in-law, Jack Connelly, is the current President of the PGA of America.

LILLEY A BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR
Barbara Lilley, 38, of West Palm Beach, Fla., had a mastectomy to battle her diagnosed breast cancer in December. Nine months later she’s back playing in her second Women’s Mid-Amateur. Born in Canada, she was runner-up in the 1995 Canadian Amateur.

MORALES RECOVERS FROM PARTIAL LEG PARALYZATION
Anna Morales’ right leg was partially paralyzed during childbirth 14 months ago. The 33-year-old from Austin, Texas, was dependent on a walker for three months and then a cane for three more months before walking on her own again. Still not fully recovered, Morales managed to qualify in Houston with a 78.

GOLF AWARDS BEHIND THE CAMERA
Laurie White, 39, of Carmel, N.Y., is a TV producer who has won four Emmy Awards. She produced “100 Years of the U.S. Open,” a USGA championship, that aired on NBC. She also has worked the last three Olympic Games. She had her own dramatic story in qualifying for the Women’s Mid-Amateur, surviving a five-way playoff at her qualifying site for the final spot.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS COMPETE IN U.S. WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR
Japanese citizen Akemi Nakata Khaiat and Swiss citizen Marianne Gerber Johnson give the Women’s Mid-Amateur an international flavor. Khaiat, 38, of Costa Mesa, Calif., was a co-captain for Japan at the 1998 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. Johnson, 32, of San Antonio, Texas, played on the 1986 Swiss team. The Women’s World Amateur Team Championship will be contested again in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October.

LOCAL COACH REPRESENTS OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Rise Lakowske, 46, of Corvallis, Ore., is competing in her sixth Women’s Mid-Amateur. Lakowske is coach of the Oregon State women’s golf team and won the NCAA Far West Coach of the Year in 1998. She was one of four alternates who made the field of 132 players. She is one of six players in the field from Oregon.

Sept. 21-26, 2002
Eugene Country Club
Eugene, Ore.

Contact: Craig Smith, USGA Media Relations