Hardin Moves Closer To Another Chance In The Final Match; Port Chasing Fourth Title

Eugene, Ore. – Mina Hardin, 42, of Ft. Worth, Texas, moved to within two wins of returning to the championship final match Tuesday at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Eugene Country Club. Hardin was the runner-up a year ago.

Hardin didn’t lose a hole and was 4-up after nine holes on her way to beating last year’s semifinalist Sherry Herman of Marlboro, N.J., in her third round match, 3 and 2. Among the other seven winners in the third round were three-time champion Ellen Port, 41, of St. Louis, Mo., Kathy Hartwiger, 36, of Birmingham, Ala., and Lisa Desimone, 29, of Carmel, Calif.

Port beat Robin Burke of Houston, Texas, 4 and 3. Burke is the wife of 1956 Masters and PGA champion Jackie Burke Jr. Hartwiger, a three-time state champion, won five of the first eight holes en route to her win over Lesley Stracks of Washington, D.C., 5 and 3. Desimone, who is headed back to Arizona State University in the spring, won four of the first five and defeated Adrienne MacLean of Verona, N.J., 5 and 4.

“When you get to this level in a national championship, you get a little nervous,” said Hardin. “This is not the ‘Flying Pink Lady Tournament.’ Last year I was so happy to get to the final that it really didn’t hit me until I got home that I had a chance to win. Now I know I can get there and maybe I should aim to win.”

Port is the only past Women’s Mid-Amateur champion remaining in the field, and she isn’t ready to go home.

“I feel like I’m a better player now than when I won my other three,” said Port, a high school teacher and field hockey coach and recent winner of her state Amateur, which she has now won five times. “I’ve worked hard to improve my putting and sand game.”

Play continues Wednesday with the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The 18-hole final match set for Thursday.

The Women’s Mid-Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.




Eugene, Ore. – Results of Tuesday’s second and third rounds of match play at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, played at the 6,159-yard, par 72 Eugene Country Club:
Second Round
Upper Bracket
Lesley Stracks, Washington, D.C. (159) def. Taffy Brower, Boynton Beach, Fla. (150), 2 and 1.
Kathy Hartwiger, Birmingham, Ala. (160) def. Carolyn Creekmore, Dallas, Texas (160), 2 and 1.
Susan Romano, Chesterland, Ohio (157) def. Mary Jane Anderson Hiestand, Clarkston, Mi. (154), 2 up.
Pat Milton, Akron, Ohio (161) def. Elizabeth Haines, Gladwyne, Pa. (160), 3 and 2.
Mina Hardin, Ft. Worth, Texas (151) def. Tracy Welch, Winchester, Mass. (158), 3 and 2.
Sherry Herman, Marlboro, N.J. (155) def. Shelly Anderson, Clarksville, Tenn. (156), 3 and 2.
Claudia Pilot, Austin, Minn. (159) def. Laura Shanahan-Rowe, Bedford, N.H. (152), 2 up.
Lyn Nelson, Half Moon Bay, Calif. (160) def. Shannon Silvernail, Macon, Ga. (161), 4 and 3.

Lower Bracket
Adrienne MacLean, Verona, N.J. (159) def. Lara Tennant, Portland, Ore. (150), 3 and 2.
Lisa Desimone Carmel, Calif. (160) def. Martha Lang, Mandeville, La. (156), 5and 4.
Heather Kraus, Lexington, Ky. (161) def. Marilyn Hardy, Houston, Texas (159), 2 up.
Sally Krueger, San Francisco, Calif. (154) def. Gail Flanagan, Rye, N.Y. (157), 2 up.
Ellen Port, St. Louis, Mo. (150) def. Susan Marchese, Omaha, Neb. (159), 5 and 4.
Robin Burke, Houston, Texas (156) def. Martha Leach, Hebron, Ky. (155), 5 and 4.
Toni Wiesner, Ft. Worth, Texas (159) def. Anna Schultz, Richardson, Texas (153), 2 up.
Marianne Towersey, Newport Beach, Calif. (156) def. Alicia Kapheim, Pennington, N.J. (156), 3 and 2.

Third Round
Upper Bracket
Hartwiger def. Stracks, 5 and 3.
Romano def. Milton, 21 holes
Hardin def. Herman, 3 and 2.
Nelson def. Pilot, 19 holes

Lower Bracket
Desimone def. MacLean, 4 and 3.
Krueger def. Kraus, 2 and 1.
Port def. Burke, 4 and 3.
Wiesner def. Towersey, 1 up


Eugene, Ore. – Pairings for Wednesday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at the 6,159-yard, par 72 Eugene Country Club (All times PDT):
8:15 a.m. – Kathy Hartwiger, Birmingham, Ala. (160) vs. Susan Romano, Chesterland, Ohio (157)
8:30 a.m. – Mina Hardin, Ft. Worth, Texas (151) vs. Lyn Nelson, Half Moon Bay, Calif. (160)
8:45 a.m. – Lisa Desimone, Carmel, Calif. (160) vs. Sally Krueger, Coronado, Calif. (154)
9:00 a.m. – Ellen Port, St. Louis, Mo. (150) vs. Toni Wiesner, Ft. Worth, Texas (159)


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