How They're Doing: Minnesotans on Pro Tour Money Lists -- March 25
March 26, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Krissy Carman gave birth to her son Conrad in early 2020. It was a difficult delivery, and the then 25-year-old former second generation Oregon State golfer (her mother played for the Ducks, too) gave up golf for that spring, and summer, and pretty much for the entire year.
She hardly played at all until the middle of 2021, when she and her husband, Mitch, decided to go to Pine Ridge Golf Course in Springfield, Ore., and take Conrad with them in a jogging stroller.
"He (Conrad) just loved it," Krissy said Thursday afternoon. "We were like, OK, we'll play nine and see how it goes. We were able to play 18, and then we did it again, and then we realized this could be a thing."
Carman was explaining how she got back into golf after a little more than a year off. And she didn't just come back in a half-hearted, casually recreational sort of way. By the start of this year, she had her game tournament ready. She won the 2022 Oregon Women's Stroke Play championship, was medalist in the Oregon State Amateur and finished second in the Oregon State Mid-Amateur.
In addition to all that, she qualified for the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur -- and then she won it, defeating Aliea Clark 2&1 in the final on Thursday afternoon at Fiddlesticks Country Club, on the Long Means Course.
When it was over, the family -- Carman's mother, Suzanne Peterson, her husband Mitch (who served as her caddy during the tournament, while Peterson took care of the baby-sitting duties), Conrad and Krissy -- all posed in matching outfits for a celebratory picture.
"I'm in disbelief," Carman admitted. "It feels amazing. Obviously, I planned out our outfits for the week. I was just hoping that we would be able to wear all the matching ones, and it happened."
In the stroke-play portion of the tournament, Camen shot 73-70--143 (1 under). She went into match play as the No. 5 seed, and was 3 over in her first match, a 3&1 victory over former Women's Mid-Amateur champ Kathy Hartwiger (2002). But she was 5 under in her next four victories, including a 3&2 semifinal win over the No. 1 seed, Jennifer Peng, who was the medalist at Long Means for the second year in a row.
Carman made it through her first 61 holes of match play without trailing for a single hole. Peng snapped that streak, winning the second hole in the semis, but her advantage was short-lived. It lasted two holes before Carman drew even, and two holes after that, she went ahead for good.
Clark, who made it to the final in this tournament last year, despite being the No. 64 seed, shot 78 in the first round of stroke play this year, but she came back with a 1-under 71 and the resulting 149 gave her the No. 27 seed. The 26-year-old New York University graduate student was never more than 1 over in any of her rounds after the first one, until the final, when she was 4 over. (Carman was 2 over in the final.)
In the championship match, Clark, like Peng, got off to an ealy lead against Carman, thanks to a par on the first hole (464 yards, par 5).
Her lead lasted three holes before Carman birdied the 518-yard, par-5 fouth. Carman went 1 up with a birdie at the 325-yard, par-4 seventh. Clark, however, is nothing if not resilient, and she re-claimed the lead by winning the ninth and 10th holes with pars. But in th end, it was Carman's consistency that proved to be the difference. She leveled things when she won the par-5 11th (489) with a par, went 1 up when she won the par-4 15th (367) with a par, and she ended the match by winning the par-3 17th (142) with a par.
"I was exhausted, but I did my best," Clark said. "I just felt like all week I didn't even think twice about 5-footers. I had the line, and put a good roll on it. Today, I thought I had the line, I kept my head down, and I was really just shocked they weren't going in the hole. That's not a great feeling."
U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur
At Fiddlestickls Country Club
Long Means Course
Par 72, 6,164 yards
Fort Myers, Fla.
Stroke play (the top 64 advanced to match play)
Final results
1. Jennifer Peng 71-67--138
2. Kelsey Chugg 71-70--141
3. Katie Miller 73-70--143
T4. Krissy Carman 73-70--143
T4. Blakesly Brock 70-73--143
6. Lauren Greenlief 69-75--144
T7. Jacqueline Twitty 73-72--145
T7. Gretchen Johnson 75-70--145
T7. Judith Kyrinis 70-75--145
T10. Mallory Kane 71-75--146
T10. Heather Wall 75-71--146
T10. Tracy Martin 74-72--146
T10. Laura Bavaird 75-71--146
T10. Jacqueline Setas 75-71--146
T10. Dawn Woodard 74-72--146
T10. Clare Connolly 77-69--146
Failed to advance -- 155 (14 played off for 9 spots at 155)
Olivia Herrick 83-84--167
Match play
Round of 64
(1) Jennifer Peng def. (64) Connor Macon 2&1
(63) Kate Scarpetta def. (2) Kelsey Chugg 3&2
(3) Katie Miller def. (62) Ashley Freeman 2&1
(4) Blakesly Brock def. (61) Taya Battistella 5&4
(5) Krissy Carman def. (60) Kathy Hartwiger 3&1
(6) Lauren Greenlief def. (59) Susan Glasby 5&3
(7) Jacqueline Twitty def. (58) Sofia Castiello 7&6
(8) Gretchen Johnson def. (57) Sadie Strain 6&5
(9) Judith Kyrinis def. (56) Kiley Specht 3&2
(55) Laine Evans def. (10) Mallory Kane 19 holes
Round of 32
(1) Peng def. (32) Lila Thomas 2 up
(63) Kate Scarpetta def. (34) Talia Campbell 19 holes
(30) Jackie Rogowicz def. (3) Miller 5&4
(4) Brock def. (29) Julia Potter-Bobb 20 holes
(5) Carman def. (28) Alexandra Austin 6&5
(27) Aliea Clark def. (6) Greenlief 3&2
(26) Isabella DiLisio def. (7) Jacqueline Twitty 19 holes
(8) Johnson def. (25) Lexie Toth 3&1
(24) Meghan Stasi def. (9) Kyrinis 1 up
(42) Courtney McKim def. (55) Evans 2 up
Round of 16
(1) Peng def. (17) Lindsay Gahm 2&1
(63) Scarpetta def. (47) Amanda Jacobs 6&5
(14) Jacqueline Setas def. (30) Rogowicz 1 up
(20) Kimberly Dinh def. (4) Brock 4&3
(5) Carman def. (21) Ana Alicia Malagon Perez 4&3
(27) Clark def. (22) Ina Kim-Schaad 5&3
(26) DiLisio def. ((42) Courtney McKim 3&1
(24) Meghan Stasi def. (8) Johnson 2&1
Quarterfinals
(1) Peng def. (24) Stasi 2 up
(26) DiLisio def. (63) Scarpetta 3&2
(5) Carman def. (20) Dinh 4&3
(27) Clark def. (14) Setas 19 holes
Semifinals
(5) Carman def. (1) Peng 3&2
(27) Clark def. (26) DiLisio 1 up
Final
(5) Carman def.(27) Clark 2&1
March 6, 2024
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