The Round of 64 in the 32nd U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur begins at 8:30 a.m. CDT on Monday at Norwood Hills Country Club’s West Course, and stroke-play medalist Shannon Johnson is looking forward to the challenge the Wayne Stiles-designed course known for its challenging putting surfaces will provide.
Johnson, 36, of Norton, Mass., is a member at another Stiles course, Thorny Lea Golf Club, in Brockton, Mass. “It should be an unbelievable match-play course,” said Johnson. “Every hole poses problems, and if you don’t find the fairway, it will make it even tougher. You need to carry your approach to a certain number on every green – you’ve got to be very precise.”
Here are five matches to watch in Monday’s Round of 64:
No. 32 Ellen Port vs. No. 33 Truc Ly, 8:30 a.m.
Port, 57, of St. Louis, hit the first tee shot of this championship on Saturday morning, and she is in the first match off on Monday morning. The seven-time USGA champion shot rounds of 79-76 in qualifying and is on to match play in this championship for the 19th time in 23 tries. Her four titles are tied with Meghan Stasi, the No. 3 seed for match play. Truc “Kelly” Ly, 27, a native of Vietnam who graduated from Chapman University in Orange, Calif., in 2014, is playing in her second USGA championship, having reached the Round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.
No. 8 Clare Connolly vs. No. 57 Patricia Ehrhart, 8:57 a.m.
Connolly, 25, of Chevy Chase, Md., won the 2017 Maryland Women’s Amateur and qualified for the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she missed the 36-hole cut. She is a professional caddie, splitting her time between three-time U.S. Open host Congressional Country Club and the Streamsong Resort in Florida. Ehrhart, 53, of Honolulu, Hawaii, reached the semifinals of both the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 2016. She also tied for 23rd in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club in July.
No. 21 Michelle Butler vs. No. 44 Olivia Herrick, 10:45 a.m.
University of Missouri graduate Butler, 25, of Columbia, Mo., is competing in her first USGA championship. The first time she played at Norwood Hills was two years ago in a fund-raising event for Missouri athletics, and she was grouped with 1982 U.S. Open champion Tom Watson. “He was very complimentary of my golf game, which was cool,” said Butler, who set the Missouri women’s single-season record for stroke average in 2016. Herrick, 30, of Roseville, Minn., is competing in her 18th USGA championship and reached the semifinals of the Women’s Mid-Am two years ago. A graduate of Drake University, where she won a Missouri Valley Conference title, she is on the board of the Minnesota Golf Association.
No. 15 Judith Kyrinis vs. No. 50 Carmen Titus, 11:12 a.m.
Her victory in the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur earned Kyrinis, 54, of Thornhill, Ontario, the Canadian Female Golfer of the Year award. The registered nurse at Toronto General Hospital has competed in 14 USGA championships, including seven U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs. Titus, 31, of Kansas City, Mo., is a dental hygienist who captured the Kansas City Match-Play title earlier this year and the Missouri Women’s Mid-Amateur in 2014. This is her fifth U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, with her best finish coming in 2016, when she got to the Round of 32.
No. 14 Corey Weworski vs. No. 51 Julie Carmichael, 12:24 p.m.
This is a matchup of USGA veterans. Weworski, 56, of Carlsbad, Calif., earned the No. 14 seed with matching rounds of 75 in this, her 22nd time competing in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She won this championship in 2004 and has played in 39 USGA championships overall. She captured the California Senior Women’s title in both 2016 and 2017. Carmichael, 54, of Indianapolis, Ind., is competing in her 35th USGA championship and 15th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She was a quarterfinalist in the 2015 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur and advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.
Ron Driscoll is the senior manager of editorial services for the USGA. Email him at rdriscoll@usga.org.
