Tennant Impressive Again in 1st Match at Sr. Women's Am; Klasse Loses 3&1

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Having claimed medalist honors for the third time in the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship with a pair of 1-over-par 73s over the weekend, three-time champion Lara Tennant was a little better than that on Monday in her first match. The 56-year-old mother of five from Portland was 1 under for the 16 holes that she needed to beat the No. 64 seed, Tama Caldabaugh, 3&2.

Caldabaugh played pretty well. She was 2 over against the top-seeded Tennant, and just the fact that she made it into the match-play portion of the tournament was remarkable. In her first round at Troon Country Club on Saturday, Caldabaugh started on the back nine -- and went double-bogey-triple on her first three holes. The triple was a 7 at the par-4 12th, and she capped off her first nine with two more 7s at the 17th and 18th holes -- for a nine-hole total of 47.  She made two more doubles on the way to a front-nine 43. But she came back from that disastrous first-round 90 with a 76 on Sunday, for a 36-hole total of 166, and on Monday morning she claimed one of the two available spots for match play in a seven-person playoff, thanks to a birdie on the second hole of the playoff, the 464-yard 11th. It was the only time out of the four times she played No. 11 duriing the tournament that the didn't make a 6 there. 

In match play, of course, it's not just how you play, it's also who you play, as was demonstrated in the match between the stroke-play runner-up, Ellen Port (77-72--149), and No. 63 seed Kay Daniel. Port, like Tennant, is a three-time Senior Women's Am champion -- and a seven-time USGA champ -- and she won 4&3 Monday. But she was 4 over for the 15 holes she played. Daniel was the other player to survive the 7-for-2 playoff in the morning, and she, too, made a birdie on the 11th hole to earn her spot in match play. But against Port, she was 9 over par.

Shelly Stouffer, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, was cruising along as she arrived at the 10th tee, 1 under and 4 up in her Round of 64 match against the No. 62 seed, Susan Cohn. But then she doubled the 10th, and after parring the 11th and 12th, she went double-bogey-bogey at the 13th, 14th and 15th, and suddenly, the match was tied. It was still tied after 17, and Stouffer bogeyed the par-4 18th, but so did Cohn, and Stouffer won the match on the first extra hole (No. 1, a 361-yard par 4) with a par.

Ten of the top 12 seeds advanced Monday, and the one who had the easiest tiime was No. 5 Kathy Hartwiger. She and No. 60 seed Wendy Ohlmeyer halved the first hole with bogeys, but Hartwiger won the second and third holes with pars. The fourth was halved with pars, and then Hartwiger went birdie-birdie-birdie and made it 5 under for four holes with an eagle at the 449-yard, par-5 eighth. She won the 10th and 11th with pars, and that was it in an 8&7 victory. 

Leigh Klasse, the only one of four Minnesotans in the original field to make it to match play, got there by following a first-round 82 with a 5-over 77 in the second round. That was good for a tie for 30th, and she got the No. 30 seed. Her 77 tied for the 11th-best score of the day on Sunday, and she was 5 over again on Monday. So in theory, she should have had a significantly better than 50-50 chance of winning, but she didn't. 

The 11-time MGA Senior Women's Am champ got an early 1-up lead against No. 35 seed Sylvia Van Molle with a birdie at the 478-yard, par-5 third. Van Molle reversed her 1-down status and went 1 up by winning the par-3 fifth with a birdie and the sixth with a par. She went 2 up when she won the 10th with a par, but Klasse leveled the match by taking the 12th and 14th holes with pars. Momentum can be fickle, however, and Van Molle won the match with a sprint to the finish line. She won the 116-yard, par-3 15th with a par, the 327-yard, par-4 16th with a birdie and closed Klasse out, 3&1, by winning the 510-yard, par-5 17th with a par.

As a result, Van Molle will face Stouffer Tuesday morning (9:03 a.m.) in the Round of 32.    


U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship

At Troon Country Club

Par 72, 5,761 yards

Scottsdale, Ariz. 

Stoke-play qualifying (the top 64 earn spots in match play)

1. Lara Tennant                        73-73--146 (+2)

2. Ellen Port                              77-72--149

T3. Tara Joy Connelly               72-78--150

T3. Shelly Stouffer                    75-75--150

T5. Kim Eaton                           74-78--152

T5. Kathy Hartwiger                   74-78--152

T7. Gigi Higgins                          72-81--153

T7. Sarah Gallager                     75-78--153

T30. Leigh Klasse                     82-77--159

Missed cut -- 166 (7-for-2 playoff will take place Monday morning) 

Lynn Anderson                         86-88--174

Claudia Pilot                              91-86--177

Alissa Super                              94-86--180


Match play

Round of 64

(1) Tennant def. (64) Tama Caldabaugh 3&2

(2) Ellen Port def. (63) Kay Daniel 4&3

(3) Shelly Stouffer def. (62) Susan Cohn 19 holes

(4) Connelly def. (61) Kathia Gonzalez 4&3

(5) Kathy Hartwiger def. Wendy Ohlmeyer 8&7

(59) Martha Linscott def. (6) Kim Eaton 2&1

(7)  Gallagher def. ((58) Giuliana Colavito 3&1

(57) Martha Leach def. (8) Higgins 4&3

(35) Sylvie Van Molle def. (30) Leigh Klasse 3&1