Tennant earns No. 1 seed, aims for history at U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur
Two-time defending champion Lara Tennant, of Portland, Ore., and Gigi Higgins, of Cape Coral, Fla., whose 3-under-par 69 matched the low round of stroke play, shared medalist honors at 1-under 143 on Saturday in the 59th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at The Lakewood Club.
Tennant, earning the No. 1 seed by virtue of finishing about 30 minutes earlier than Higgins, earned medalist honors for the second time after doing so in 2017 at her home course, Waverley Country Club. She lost in the Round of 64 that year, but hasn’t lost since in this championship, winning 12 matches and two titles, defeating Sue Wooster of Australia by an identical 3-and-2 margin in both 2018 and 2019. The championship was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tennant has been named PNGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year three times – 2017, 2018 and 2019.
“I didn’t have medalist on my mind at any moment,” said Tennant, 54, whose sister, Cappy Mack, 50, also competed in the championship this week, missing the 36-hole cut. “I’m just happy to get to know the course a little bit better. It’s a matter of figuring out the greens and even the wind a little bit, which seemed to change from yesterday.”
Other Northwest players making it to the match-play bracket in the championship include:
– Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay, B.C. – won the 2012 PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur; exempted into this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur by winning the Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur last week.
– Sandra Turbide of Maple Ridge, B.C. – 2-time winner of PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur (2010, 2011); won the 2019 Washington Women’s Senior Amateur.
– Rosie Cook of Bend, Ore. – reigning PNGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion.
The Round of 64 begins on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. CDT. There will be two rounds each on Monday and Tuesday, ending with the 18-hole championship match on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. CDT.
