Ledwein Is 5 Back in U.S. Women's Mid-Am, But She's Tied for 2nd

USGA

Taylor Ledwein turned 25 on Sept. 23rd last year. That was a couple of weeks to late for her to play in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, for which the minimum age is 25. But Ledwein, soon to be 26, is old enough this year, and she's making the most of her first appearance in the Women's Mid-Am.

She birdied four of her first 11 holes on Saturday at Stonewall's North Course in Elverson, Pa. Ledwein gave two shots back with bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes, but the 2-under-par 69 that the two-time MGA Women's Player of the Year ended up with has her in a tie for second place after the first of two rounds of stroke-play qualifying for the match-play portion of the tournament. 

Now for the bad news. Ledwein and the player she's tied with, Jessica Spicer, are five shots behind the leader, because Courtney Dow set scoring records for the course and the tournament on Saturday with a 64. The former Texas A&M star started on the 10th hole and was even par after making two pars, a birdie and a bogey over her first four holes. But she birdied three of the last five holes on the back nine for a 32. She made one other bogey, at the first hole, but that was just a hiccup, and she responded by birdying the next two holes, and she capped off her round with three consecutive birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, both par 5s, and the par-3 ninth, for another 32. 

Dow, who is also 25 and competing in her first Women's Mid-Am, is having an eventful summer. She got married in July, and after this week, she will be on the road -- two months straight! -- for her job, which involves dealing with sports partnerships for Endeavor. 

Ledwein, who won the Minnesota Women's Mid-Am in 2022 and was second this year, had the low score for the morning wave on Saturday. The former two-time state high school champ from New Prague birdied both of the par 5s on the front nine, the 461-yard third and the 471-yard seventh, as well as the par-3 sixth. She got to 4 under when she birdied the 11th, before giiving two strokes back over the last five holes. 

"My putter saved me quite a bit," she noted. "I made some decent-length putts for par and then snuck a few birdie putts in there, too. On 17, I hit a poor tee shot but ended up making a 12-footer to save par. Stuff like that saved me all day."

Spicer, who won the North Carolina State Amateur in 2017 and was the Virginia Tech Female Athlete of the Year in 2017, made only one birdie, which offset her one bogey, and she hit the shot of the day, a gap wedge from 94 yards that she holed for an eagle at the 371-yard, par-4 10th, on her way to 69. 

Judith Kyrinis, one of the oldest players in the field at age 59, is one of four players tied for fourth at 70. She was the low amateur at this year's U.S. Senior Women's Open.

The U.S. Men's Mid-Amateur got started on Saturday, too. Well, mostly.

But for the third year in a row, weather -- in the form of rain --  is plaguing the guys. Not everyoone finished on Saturday, but of those who did, six players were 3 under par. Jeronimo Esteve, Kevin Grady, Bryce Wilkinson and Scott Harvey all shot 67s at the par-70 Fenway GC in Scarsdale, N.Y., and two others, Brady Shivers and Sam Jones put together 68s 16.5 miles away at the par-71 Sleepy Hollow CC course in Scarborough, N.Y. Chris Devlin was 3 under, as well, but he still has six holes to go in his first round at Fenway.

There are another six players at 2 under. Three of them -- Torey Edwards, Nate McCoy and Joseph Deraney -- completed their rounds. All three of them were at Sleepy Hollow and shot 69s.

Minus 1 is where there is a mob -- 25 players. Among them are former University of Minnesota star Josh Persons, who finished off his 70 at Sleepy Hollow, and 2023 Minnesota Mid-Am champ Jesse Bull, who got through only six holes at Sleepy Hollow.  

There will be a second round of stroke play on Sunday, definiitely for the women, and maybe for the men, weather permitting. In any case, when 36 holes have been finished, the top 64 of both genders will go into match play, which is scheduled to begin Monday morning. 


U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship

At Stonewall's North Course

Par 71, 5,953 yards

Elverson, Pa. 

Stroke play

First-round results

1. Courtney Dow                    64

T2. Taylor Ledwein               69

T2. Jessica Spicer                  69

T4. Judith Kyrinis                    70

T4. Katie Miller                       70

T4. Julia Potter-Bobb.            70

T4. Melanie Furuata               70

T96. Olivia Herrick                80

T96. Emma Groom               80


U.S. Mid-Amateur (Men's)

At Sleepy Hollow Country Club

Par 71, 6,850 yards

Scarborough, N.Y. 

& at Fenway Golf Club

Par 70, 6,578 yards

Scarsdale, N.Y. 

First-round results 

T1. Jeronimo Esteve              67F (-3)

T1. Kevin Grady                     67F (-3)

T1. Brice Wilkinson                 67F (-3)

T1. Scott Harvey                     67F (-3)

T1. Brady Shivers                  68SH (-3)

T1. Sam Jones                       68SH (-3) 

T1. Chris Devlin                  -3 F through 12

T14. Josh Persons                70SH (-1)

T14. Jesse Bull                -1 SH through 6 holes

T39. George Ordway        E SH through 3 holes

T69. Jesse Larson                 72SH (+1)

T92. Sammy Schmitz             72F (+2)

T93. Ben Greve                       73SH (+2)

T120. Bryce Hanstad              73F (+3)