Competitors in the 56th U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship who prevailed in their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday morning at Waverley Country Club had little time to bask in the glory of their triumphs. The players had time to grab lunch and hit a few practice putts or shots before refocusing for their afternoon semifinal matches. But before they teed off, the USGA got a few comments from some of the winners:
Judith Kyrinis, 53, of Canada, defeated Lisa McGill, 2 and 1
On the best part of her game this week:
“Driving and putting. Probably today was not my best thinking game. I think I made some mental mistakes out there, which – I’m going to try and make sure I talk a little bit more, thinking out the shots a little bit better. You know, when your opponent may be in trouble, you’ve got to really make sure you put yourself in what we call the A position, and I didn’t do that a couple times. A little angry, but that’s OK.
On the success of Canadian players:
“We’re all just hoping that we all keep going and we have an all-Canadian final. I’m sorry that somebody is going to lose out of us, but we hope that somebody is going to win from Canada for sure.
Tara Fleming, 50, of Jersey City, N.J., defeated Mary Ann Hayward, 3 and 2
On her feelings heading into the semifinals:
“I don’t even know what to say. I’m really overwhelmed. I’m pleased that my game really was starting to come together at the end of this month, and I mean, since January 25th, I’ve been thinking about playing in this tournament, and I’m just so thankful that I’ve been able to kind of keep it together and play some good golf.”
On her strategy:
“I really stopped playing match play. I’m playing stroke play out here, and every time I make a bogey, I’m just trying to get myself back to even par, and I really don’t care what the board says. It’s been very helpful because it’s not uncommon for me to play a stroke-play round of golf and be 2 over par in four holes and then come back and play even par. I’ve been able to take that off of me, and to be 2 down in matches early on, some people would be like, oh my God, I’ve got to dig back, and I’m like, no, I know I’ve got birdies in there.”
Terrill Samuel, 56, of Canada, defeated Patricia Cornett, 5 and 3
On surprising herself by making the semifinals:
“I was playing well before I came in, and when I got here in the qualifiers, the best part of my game is my irons, and they weren’t going well at all, and the putting was a little bit off. That’s not a strength of mine. But it’s usually OK. And then I started playing better for the matches and kept it out of trouble and started hitting some good iron shots. So yeah, that helped.”
On winning three of the first four holes:
“Yeah, I wasn’t playing well and neither was she on the first three holes, but I putted well, and I haven’t been making those putts. I made probably three 10-footers to save par, and that always helps, right, so that was the difference that allowed me to get out in front and hold on.”
Patricia Schremmer, 51, of Honolulu, Hawaii, defeated Jackie Little, 2 and 1
On staying focused after falling 2 down early:
“I tried not to let that bother me. I know there’s a lot of holes out here that are birdie opportunities with all the par 5s coming up, so even if it comes down to 17 and 18, you have a good shot at birdie. So did she. She has an awesome short game. She played really well. She got unlucky on a few things, as I did. I was trying to get it in the hole instead of just getting it close on some of those I could have halved with her instead of losing today. I’m excited about the semifinals.”
On getting right back on the course for the semifinals:
“I’m happy to go out and play again. Yeah, I think it helps. The more times you can get out there, you get to learn the greens, and there’s so many tricky little landing areas and slopes.”
