Interesting Player Notes From 18th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur

Knoxville, Tenn. -- Below you'll find interesting player notes for this year's U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, which is being held at Holston Hills Country Club. For starters, there are seven players in the field who have won this championship. They are: Amber Marsh Elliott (2003); Kathy Hartwiger (2002); Ellen Port (1995, '96 and 2000); Virginia Grimes (1998); Carol Semple Thompson (1990 and '97); Martha Lang (1988); and Robin Weiss Donnelly (1989).

There are eight players in all who have won a USGA championship. Besides the aforementioned players above, Nancy Fitzgerald won the 1997 USGA Senior Women's Amateur.

There are five players who have Curtis Cup experience.   They are Patricia Cornett, Grimes, Lang, Semple Thompson and Port.

Storylines

Tina Barker, 45, of Castro Valley, Calif, has an interesting job as an air traffic controller for the FAA Oakland Center.

Kim Briele, 43, born in Germany and currently of New Bern, N.C., holds the distinction of participating in the 1980 U.S. Olympic Basketball trials.

Marsha Butler, 54, of San Diego, Calif., an accomplished junior player in golf, quit the sport at age 20 and became a skilled tennis player, competing in husband/wife doubles events on a professional circuit. She only started playing golf again 15 years ago.

Kathy Crumley, 35, of Dallas, Texas, uses husband Jon to caddie. More interesting is that she met Jon on a blind golf date.

Julie Garner, 41, of Winter Park, Fla., qualified for her first Women's Mid-Amateur but the more compelling story is that she serves as the women's golf coach at Rollins College. This past May she was suspended from coaching the team in the post-season by the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Committee. She lists her most memorable moment as winning the 1984 Tennessee Women's Amateur at Holston Hills.

Liz Haines, 56, of Pa., has qualified for the Women's Mid-Amateur the last 17 years. She also played on the winning Pennsylvania squad in the inaugural Women's State Team Championship in 1995.

Kathy Hartwiger, 38, of Birmingham, Ala., knows all about USGA championships. In 1997 she got her first taste of success when she was part of the winning Alabama squad in the Women's State Team Championship. Five years later, in 2002, she experienced individual success in winning the Women's Mid-Amateur. Her father-in-law, John Hartwiger, will be serving as her caddie this week.   As an aside, her husband is an agronomist in the USGA Green Section.

Mary Jane Hiestand, 45, of Naples, Fla., was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame earlier this year. She also was named the Golf Association of Michigan's Player of the Decade for the 1990s. Her husband, Jeff, will caddie for her. While playing in the Women's Mid-Amateur in 2001 in St. Louis, Jeff had tracked her down there and soon after proposed.  

Louella Kanew, 42, born in Johannesburg, South Africa but living now in California, has a father (Russell Seymour) who was a professional tennis player. For a while, she followed in his footsteps, being ranked No. 1 in Australia for girls under 16. She also played tennis for the University of Austin.

Alicia A. Kapheim, 42, of Pennington, N.J., has good company on the course. That's because her husband, Bob Flynn, serves as her caddie. He's lugged her bag in all USGA championships. An architect when not playing golf, she's won several prominent architectural lighting design awards.

Martha Lang, 51, of Mandeville, La., has a storied amateur career built on USGA championships. She won the Women's Mid-Amateur in 1988 and was a runner-up in '91. In 1996, she served as the captain on the Curtis Cup team. She's currently on the USGA Women's Committee.

Sandra Mac Pherson, 58, of Lakeside, Calif., also has a husband (Ron) who caddies for her.

Shelley B. Mayer, 55, of San Marcos, Calif., and Corey Weworski, 42, of Carlsbad, Calif., have something in common. Both are from the same country club, that being Shadowridge Country Club in Vista, Calif.

Shawn McCullough, 47, of Alexandria, Va., could be described as a daredevil. She loves adventure, from balloon riding to parachute jumping to learning to fly to white water rafting to snow and water skiing.

Natalie McNichols, 37, of Tulsa, Okla., had a choice to make 12 years ago while working for a public accounting firm. Told then that if she didn't play golf, she could use the pool, she took up the game.

Sydney Moore, 42, of Menominee, Mich., was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 for her golfing accomplishments. A former standout at Michigan State University, Moore was the school's MSU Athlete of the Decade for women's golf from 1982-92.

Donna Mummert, 28, of Lebanon, N.J., knows all about USGA championships. That's because her current job title is Manager, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status for the USGA. Her first time qualifying, Mummert worked the 2001, '02 and '03 Women's Mid-Ams as a Rules official. Her story doesn't end there. Her husband, John, is the USGA staff photographer and caddie, Ross Galarneault, holds the position of Manager, GHIN Regional Association Services for the USGA.

Mary F. Riddell, 46, of Springfield, Va., just completed a 20-year Air Force career in space operations. She didn't pick up the game until age 28. She lists her most memorable golf experience as qualifying for the U.S. Air Force Team and competing against other services from around the world. She was the Armed Forces Golf champion in 1999.

Thuhashini Selvaratnam, 28, born in Sri Lanka and currently of Tempe, Ariz., won the 1989 Sri Lankan Open Amateur Championship. More impressive, she's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest national champion in the world at age 12 after winning the Sri Lankan Open Amateur Championship.

Maria Sera, 44, born in Havana, Cuba, and currently living in St. Paul, Minn., emigrated from her native land without her parents and knew no English. She lists that as one of her most unique experiences away from golf.

Lisa Schlesinger, 46, of Laytonsville, Md., is one gifted athlete. How many other players in the field can say they've competed in national championships in five different sports -- those being basketball, golf, softball, team handball and weightlifting. She won titles in team handball and in the bench press in weightlifting. Two of her three cats' names are Divot and Caddie.

Anna Schultz, 49, of Richardson, Texas, may be part of one of the most talented amateur golf families anywhere. Schultz holds a +0.9 handicap, her husband has a +2.0, and sons Kevin (+3.8) and David (+4.0) are solid players as well. David competed in the U.S. Amateur this year and Kevin in the U.S. Junior Amateur. Schultz finished runner-up in the 2000 Women's Mid-Amateur with Kevin on her bag.

Carol Semple Thompson, 55, of Sewickley, Pa., is one of the most storied amateur players in golf history. She's won the Women's Mid-Amateur twice (1990 and '97) among seven USGA championships. She stands two titles behind the legendary Bob Jones for most USGA championships won. She holds the record for most Curtis Cup appearances, with 12, as well as the most victories in the event.

Maggie Weder, 46, of Greenville, N.C., has more than the course to battle. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she was encouraged to take up golf as a form of physical therapy. She lists playing 18 holes with professional John Daly as one of her memorable moments.

Toni Wiesner, 57, of Fort Worth, Texas, can boast that she's played in every Women's Mid-Amateur since its inception in 1987. She's made it as far as the quarterfinal round twice.

Dianne Yelovich, 55, of Pinehurst, N.C., spent her life as a snow skiing race coach with golf as a side hobby. She trained many Olympic-caliber skiers. She lists shoes as a superstition. Or, in other words, if she's playing well with a certain pair of shoes, she won't change. However, she does change her socks.

Just call Donna Young, 47, of Ewing, N.J., Ms. Ambidextrous. A natural left-hander, she plays right-handed but putts from the left side. A self-proclaimed 'Seinfeld' junkie, she challenges anyone to a trivia contest about the show, even Jerry himself.