4 Minnesotans -- Groom, Ledwein, Kelly & Herrick -- Make Match Play in U.S. Mid-Am

USGA

WEST NEWTON, Mass. -- It wasn't as if Brae Burn Country Club was all that easy on Saturday, during the first round of stroke-play qualifying for the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship.  But when the winds picked up on Sunday, the second round became a matter of survival. 

The average score for the field was 82.65 strokes per round. 

Out of the carnage, Sabrina Coffman and Jacqueline Setas emerged to claim co-medalist honors. Coffman, a 26-year-old from Toledo, was the only player to break 74 on the 6,170-yard, par-72 course. She shot 72 and completed the 36 holes of stroke play with a total of 147. Setas shot the same scores in reverse order: 72-75--147.

On a day when the 132  players in the field could manage only 129 birdies, Coffman had three birdies to offset three bogeys. Setas made four birdies, but she also made five bogeys and one double. 

For Setas, any challenges that she faces on the golf course these days probably don't seem all that daunting. Seven years ago this week, she was getting a second opinion after being diagnosed with cancer. It turned out that  she had Stage II Hodgkins Lymphoma, which meant six months of chemotherapy and 15 consecutive days of radiation. It was an ordeal, but when it was over, she was deemed to be cancer-free.

She says that now when she gets a bad break on the course, it really doesn't bother her all that much, adding "I'm just happy to be here."

Jackie Rogowicz shot one of only two 74s that were posted on Sunday.That followed a 74 on Saturday, and the resulting 148 earned her a  tie for third place, along with Alexandra Austin. Austin was the first-round leader with a 70, but in the hostile conditions Sunday, she could do no better than a 78. 

The minimum age for the Mid-Am is 25, and the window of opportunity for players in this tournament tends to close fairly quickly. But the Minnesota contingent had four players who were among the 64 to get through to the match-play portion of the tournament, and two of them are 30-plusers -- Olivia Herrick, 35, and Betsy Kelly, 32. 

Allso advancing were Taylor Ledwein, 26, and Emma Groom, 27. Ledwein, the former two-time state high school champion from New Prague (she is also a two-time MGA Women's Player of the Year), shot 80, but still managed to qualify pretty easily, tying for 24th with a 154. Emma Groom, 27, the former NDSU star from Eden Prairie (she went to St. Croix Lutheran High School), was another of the eight players who ended up at 154 although she had to hustle to get there.She opened with a 79 but came back with 75.

Kelly, a reinstated amateur who won the State Open twice, broke 80 both days, albeit barely. She went 76-79--155 and tied for 15th. Herrick, another former MGA Women's Player of the Year -- she's also got more than two dozen state titles on her resume -- got through medal play with two strokes to spare, shooting 81-80--161. 

It took 163 to make the top 64, but the four women who are tied at that number will play off for the one remaining spot in match play Monday morning. 

U.S. Women;'s Mid-Amateur Championship

At Brae Burn Country Club 

Par 72, 6,170 yards

West Newton, Mass. 

Stroke play (the top 64 players qualified for match play, which will begin Monday morning)

T1. Sabrina Coffman            75-72--147

T1. Jacqueline Setas            72-75--147

T3. Jackie Rogowicz              74-74--148

T3. Alexandra Austin              70-78--148

5. Judith Kyrinis                       75-74--148

T18. Emma Groom                 79-75--154

T18. Taylor Ledwein               74-80--154

T25. Betsy Kelly                      76-79--155

T55. Olivia Herrick                   81-80--161

What it took to qualify for match play -- 163 (a 4-for-1 playoff)

Paige McCullough                    85-88--173