Sue Wooster (USGA photo)
VERO BEACH, Fla (Oct. 10, 2018) – Sue Wooster hasn’t experienced a winter in five years. She and husband Keith, from Melbourne, Australia, have set down part-time roots in Scottsdale, Ariz. Even though they spend their days chasing summer – and golf – across the planet, it’s hard to prepare yourself for the Florida heat.
For Wooster, 56, sheer fatigue led to a few mistakes four days into the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Her game, however, is solid enough that they weren’t detrimental. Wooster advanced through two rounds on Wednesday and will meet Lara Tennant, 51, in Thursday’s 18-hole final at Orchid Island Golf & Country Club.
“I made some mistakes this afternoon,” Wooster explained. “You make some mistakes -- because you're tired -- that you wouldn't ordinarily make. You're just trying to hang in there and keep your focus as best you can after two [36-hole days] in heat and humidity. This morning I think I hit 16 greens. I was just a bit fresher. You get a bit scrappy when you're getting tired.”
Wooster will have a chance to win her first USGA championship on Thursday morning, and further grow her collection of national championships. She has won national titles in her home country, as well as in Canada and New Zealand.
Wooster defeated Florida resident Susan Cohn, 3 and 2 in the semifinals on Wednesday afternoon in a match in which she never trailed. It was all square heading to the par-5 ninth hole, where Cohn, the 2013 Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up, found trouble and had to lay up short of the green with her third shot. After Cohn’s par try ended up just short of the hole, Wooster converted hers from 3 feet to give her a lead she would never relinquish.
Wooster had defeated Patricia Ehrhart of Honolulu, Hawaii, 1 up, in the morning’s semifinals.
In Tennant, Wooster will meet a stalwart of Pacific Northwest Golf. Tennant, 51, of Portland, Ore., won the 2017 Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur. Tennant played college golf at Arizona.
Like Wooster, Tennant also defeated a Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up in the semifinals, edging Terrill Samuel, 57, of Canada, 1 up. The match went to the 18th hole all square after Samuel, who lost in the championship match in 2017, birdied No. 17 with a 7-foot putt. Both players had birdie putts on No. 18, with Samuel hitting her 50-footer 6 feet past the hole. Tennant, who was co-medalist in last year’s championship before bowing out in the Round of 64, rolled in her birdie try from 25 feet to seal victory and earn a spot in Thursday’s final.
“I couldn't be happier,” Tennant said. “When you get to the final you have to be playing well. I'm more excited about being here with my friends and my dad who's my caddie, and just enjoying my time.”
Information from the USGA used in this reportView results for U.S. Senior Women's Amateur
ABOUT THE U.S. Senior Women's Amateur
The USGA Senior Women's Amateur is open
to female golfers with a USGA Handicap
Index not exceeding 14.4, who will have
reached their 50th birthday on or before the
first day of the championship. It is one of 14
national championships conducted annually
by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for
amateurs.
View Complete Tournament Information