Woodard, Four USGA Champions Lead Quarterfinalists At Women's Mid-Amateur

Carefree, Ariz. – Stroke-play medalist Dawn Woodard of Franklin, Tenn., and four USGA champions advanced to the quarterfinals Tuesday at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, being played at the 6,208-yard, par-73 Desert Forest Golf Club.

Desert Forest member Kerry Postillion rallied for a 1-up win over 2000 runner-up Mina Hardin. (John Mummert/USGA)

The 33-year-old Woodard won the first hole against Patty Moore, 57, of Charlotte, N.C., and never trailed en route to a 1-up victory. Woodard built the lead to 2 up several times and at one point had a 3-up advantage but was unable to capitalize on the lead.

“This was a much tougher match,” said Woodard, who earlier in the day ousted two-time USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion Diane Lang, 5 and 3. “I got up but I just couldn’t get away. I was 3 up through five and she fought back and played well. I never was down, but every time I’d get up she came right back.”

It is the first time Woodard has advanced past the second round in six appearances in the championship.

“Every year when you lose, I think you definitely learn something from it,” said Woodard, the 2007 Tennessee Women’s State Amateur champion. “Losing is never fun, but I definitely feel like this year I’ve been able to take something from matches I’ve lost in the past. I’ve learned that balls can go in from anywhere and just when you think you’ve got it, it can turn on you. But it can also do the same thing if you’re behind.”

Woodard, who is trying to become the first stroke-play medalist to win the title since Ellen Port did so in 2000, will next face defending champion Meghan Bolger of Haddonfield, N.J. The 29-year-old Bolger is trying to become the first repeat winner since Port won the 1995 and 1996 championships.

Bolger was also extended to the 18th hole for the first time in the championship. In her third-round match against 2004 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur winner Carolyn Creekmore, 55, of Dallas, Texas, Bolger held a 2-up lead after 15 holes but saw her lead shrink in half when she bogeyed the 16th. After the two traded pars at the 17th and 18th hole, Bolger had a 1-up victory.

“That was definitely survival,” said Bolger. “She’s a great player and we just kept battling back and forth. If you go 1 up you want to stay 1 up or push it to 2 up if you can and stay there as long as possible until you run out of holes.”

Ellen Port is looking to become the first four-time champion of the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur. (John Mummert/USGA)

The 46-year-old Port of St. Louis, Mo., advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. After ousting 1978 USA Curtis Cupper Noreen Mohler, 53, of Bethlehem, Pa., in the morning’s second round, Port earned a 3-and-2 victory over Toni Wiesner, 60, of Fort Worth, Texas, who was playing in her 21st Women’s Mid-Amateur.

“My iron play has been the key,” said Port, who has yet to play the 18th hole in three matches. “My iron play has been very, very good. So when I’m driving the ball well I’m hitting it far enough that I’m hitting a lot of lofted clubs into the greens, and out here that really helps, because you can put it close.”

Port will face a familiar face in Wednesday’s quarterfinals – Virginia Derby Grimes, 43, of Meridian, Miss. Grimes, the 1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, kept her hopes of another title alive with a 5-and-4 victory over Tracy Welch of Boston, Mass.

Grimes and Port have both represented the USA at the Curtis Cup Match, although they have not played on a team together.

“We haven’t played a lot, but we’re good friends and I know her game and she knows my game,” said Grimes. “I just hope we both play well. She’s a great player and a great person.”

Anna Schultz, 52, of Rockwall, Texas, kept her hopes of becoming the first to win the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in the same year alive with a victory over 26-year-old Canadian Veronique Drouin in 19 holes. Schultz got up-and-down from over the green on the 18th and extended the match when Drouin missed a 5-footer for birdie, and earned the victory on the 19th when Drouin mis-hit her approach shot and eventually conceded the hole.

Schultz would become the second golfer this year to win two USGA championships in a season. A fellow Texan, Colt Knost, won the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links earlier this year to become the sixth single-season double champion in USGA history.

“That’s my goal right now,” said Schultz. “If Colt can do it, I can do it. It’s kind of a little dream. You sit there and you dream it and it’s fun to think about. There’s no pressure. It’s a fun little dream to have.”

Kerry Postillion, 44, of Burr Ridge, Ill., a member at Desert Forest, advanced with a 1-up victory over 2001 Women’s Mid-Am runner-up Mina Hardin, 47, of Fort Worth, Texas. Earlier in the day, Hardin had advanced with a 5-and-4 second-round victory over another Desert Forest member, 2006 Women’s Mid-Amateur runner-up Thuhashini Selvaratnam, 31, of Sri Lanka.

Postillion, a two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur runner-up, needed a rally to oust Hardin, winning three of the last four holes to turn a 1-down deficit into a 1-up victory. She won the match when she made a 27-footer for birdie on the 18th hole.

“You tell yourself that in match play that anything can happen, so that’s what I told myself,” said Postillion. “I told myself to hang in there and be patient. I knew my swing felt pretty good and I was putting well so I just told myself to hang in there and see what happens.”

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was Lisa McGill, 48, of Philadelphia, Pa., who earned a 4-and-3 victory over Shirley Trier of Jacksonville Beach, Fla.; and Joan Higgins, 51, of Glendora, Calif., who advanced with a 4-and-2 victory over Leigh Klasse of St. Anthony, Minn. McGill and Higgins both advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time.

The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur continues with quarterfinal and semifinal matches Wednesday. The championship concludes with Thursday’s 18-hole final.

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

Story written by Beth Murrison of USGA Media Relations. For questions or comments, contact her at bmurrison@usga.org.

Carefree, Ariz. – Results following Tuesday’s second and third rounds of match play at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at the 6,208-yard, par-73 Desert Forest Golf Club:

Round of 32

Upper Bracket

Dawn Woodard, Franklin, Tenn. (144) def. Diane Lang, Jamaica (160), 5 and 3

Patty Moore, Charlotte, N.C. (156) def. Lecia Alexander, Stafford, Texas (164), 1 up

Meghan Bolger, Haddonfield, N.J. (152) def. Missy Farr-Kaye, Scottsdale, Ariz. (159), 2 and 1

Carolyn Creekmore, Dallas, Texas (158) def. Laura Ladden, Coatesville, Pa. (164) 24 holes

Lisa McGill, Philadelphia, Pa. (160) def. Eva Monisteri, San Mateo, Calif. (166), 2 up

Shirley Trier, Jacksonville Beach, Fla. (163) def. Adrienne Maclean, Verona, N.J. (155), 1 up

Veronique Drouin, Canada (159) def. Mary Jane Hiestand, Naples, Fla. (166), 7 and 5

Anna Schultz, Rockwall, Texas (155) def. Dana Harrity, N Hampton, N.H. (158), 2 and 1

Lower Bracket

Virginia Grimes, Meridian, Miss. (146) def. Ann Lahey, Kentfield, Calif. (160), 4 and 3

Tracy Welch, Boston, Mass. (163) def. Deanne Stolarik, Zion, Ill. (156), 6 and 4

Ellen Port, St Louis, Mo. (161) def. Noreen Mohler, Bethlehem, Pa. (165), 2 and 1

Toni Wiesner, Fort Worth, Texas (154) def. Jill Hardy, Canada (158), 19 holes

Joan Higgins, Glendora, Calif. (161) def. Heidi Stark, Lincoln, Neb. (166), 6 and 4

Leigh Klasse, St Anthony, Minn. (157) def. Ann Pohira, Winter Park, Fla. (156), 19 holes

Kerry Postillion, Burr Ridge, Ill. (159) def. Sharon Park, Irvine, Calif. (152), 4 and 2

Mina Hardin, Ft Worth, Texas (155) def. Thuhashini Selvaratnam, Sri Lanka (158), 5 and 4

Round of 16

Upper Bracket

Woodard def. Moore, 1 up

Bolger def. Creekmore, 1 up

McGill def. Trier, 4 and 3

Schultz def. Drouin, 19 holes

Lower Bracket

Grimes def. Welch, 5 and 4

Port def. Wiesner, 3 and 2

Higgins def. Klasse, 4 and 2

Postillion def. Hardin, 1 up

Carefree, Ariz. – Pairings for Wednesday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at the 6,208-yard, par-73 Desert Forest Golf Club (All times MST):

Round of 8

Upper Bracket

7:45 a.m.          Dawn Woodard, Franklin, Tenn. (144) vs. Meghan Bolger, Haddonfield, N.J. (152)

7:55 a.m.          Lisa McGill, Philadelphia, Pa. (160) vs. Anna Schultz, Rockwall, Texas (155)

Lower Bracket

8:05 a.m.          Virginia Grimes, Meridian, Miss. (146) vs. Ellen Port, St Louis, Mo. (161)

8:15 a.m.          Joan Higgins, Glendora, Calif. (161) vs. Kerry Postillion, Burr Ridge, Ill. (159)