Quotes from some of the competitors in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinal round of the 31st U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Champions Golf Club:
No. 56 seed Mary Jane Hiestand, who defeated Courtney McKim with a 6-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole, after both players bogeyed the 18th hole:
“This is the third one in a row I’ve had to fight for: 1 up, 1 up, and 1 up. I was 167 [yards to the] flag, and I hit a 4-rescue on the 19th hole. I was like, oh, we have to make this. We had the same line this morning. I knew it broke a lot, and if I could just get it out on the toe of the putter and just let it feed down into the hole I could make that putt. I mean, this is a putter’s course. That’s my favorite club in my bag.”
On McKim missing from 4 feet to win on No. 18: “I was ready to congratulate her, no question. When I saw it spin out, I was shocked.”
On her furthest advancement in this, her 20th Women’s Mid-Amateur: “I’m just out here having a great time. I had no expectations coming in. I was here [at Champions] in ’98 and the golf course was really long for me because it was so wet and we had all that rain. Now the golf course is firm and fast and it plays like my home course. The greens, I never thought I would be so happy to be back on bermudagrass in my life.”
No. 50 seed Kelsey Chugg, who defeated Hayley Hammond, 6 and 4:
“I like the golf course. A lot of holes [suit my eye]. The greens are big, so that can be good and can be bad. Off the tee it's pretty good, and I like the approach shots. Just a beautiful golf course.”
“My friends and family, everybody is just so excited. They're just like, keep going, keep going; do it. It’s pretty cool. After the round yesterday afternoon, I had like 46 text messages. I was like, what is going on?”
No. 4 seed Shannon Johnson, who defeated Olivia Herrick, 5 and 4:
“I’m loving that the course is playing a little bit longer than during the stroke-play portion. On the first hole, which is a hard hole, I was able to hit my driver, hit 5-iron to the middle of the green, and two-putt. It’s nice to go up early in the match.”
On feeding off her runner-up finish from 2016: “I’ve felt really calm the whole week in the matches. Just kind of putting my head down, walking my pace, and just kind of really zoning out in between shots. Once we get up to the shot just really try and execute and work on good tempo. “
“This morning I didn't have as many putts fall in, but there were some tricky pins out there. Just kind of misread a couple, but hit them where I wanted to. I can’t be mad at that.”
No. 3 seed Marissa Mar, who rallied to win the last three holes and defeat Amanda Jacobs in 19 holes:
“That’s the theme for this week. Oh, man, it was a stressful one. I’ve been oddly calm when I've been 3 down, and I guess it’s helped me get through the day. As it got down the stretch, it was just like, all right, take her to 18. I just stayed steady and had pretty much all pars and let her come to me. It was just an odd thing since I was the one chasing her.”
On starting her rally with a 20-foot birdie on the 15th hole: “That was a great putt. I had been watching balls roll over the edges all day, and so it was getting to a point where I was like, one of these has to fall. It just plopped dead center in the hole, so that was a great one to watch.”
No. 43 seed Amanda Jacobs, who bogeyed her final three holes to lose to Mar in 19 holes:
“Anytime you make it to the quarterfinals of a national championship it's a good experience. To make it to the quarterfinals with all these great players is pretty cool. The thing about match play is all you have to do is beat your opponent. You don't have to beat the golf course.”
“If you had asked my caddie, Graham [Johnstone], at the beginning how poorly I struck the ball in the practice rounds, he would have said we might not make the cut. The thing about this is you make small improvements every day and get a little bit better. Today I didn't quite do that and Marissa played great.”
“To be honest, it’s a lot of golf to walk. I think some of the errant shots are when your legs get tired. I would say today was my worst putting day, which everyone knows it helps to strike the ball, but it really helps to putt out here. You have to hit the ball straight, and then if you don't put it pretty close, especially with where they put these pins over the past couple days, you have to be pretty consistent with your speed.”
