INSIDE THE FIELD: 61st U.S. Senior Women's Amateur

September 29, 2023 | by United States Golf Association

Sue Wooster has finished runner-up three times (USGA Photo)

A breakdown of the 132 golfers competing in the 61st U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

U.S. States Represented (34): California (14), Florida (10), Arizona (7), North Carolina (5), Pennsylvania (5), Texas (5), Alabama (4), New York (4), Wisconsin (4), Colorado (3), Massachusetts (3), Minnesota (3), Missouri (3), Ohio (3), Oregon (3), South Carolina (3), Arkansas (2), Georgia (2), Hawaii (2), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (2), Maryland (2), Michigan (2), Nevada (2), New Jersey (2), Oklahoma (2), Tennessee (2), Idaho (1), Iowa (1), Kansas (1), Nebraska (1), Utah (1), Virginia (1) and Washington (1)

International (12): Australia (2), Belgium (1), Canada (10), England (1), Italy (1), Jamaica (1), Japan (3), Mexico (2), Northern Ireland (1), Republic of Ireland (1), Switzerland (1), United States of America (108)Players from Arizona (7): Marci DuBois, Kim Eaton, Robin Krapfl, Kerry Postillion, Molly Steffes, Robin Walton, Margaret Watson

Kim Eaton, 64, of Mesa, Ariz., is competing in her 32nd USGA championship and 13th Senior Women’s Amateur. The 2006 Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee is tied with Carol Flenniken for the most state championship wins in Colorado with 25. Eaton, who made the cut in the 1983 U.S. Women’s Open at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., also holds several Arizona senior titles, including two Arizona State Four-Ball championships, three Arizona Senior Stroke Play and three Arizona Senior Match Play championships.Robin Krapfl, 63, of Peoria, Ariz., is competing in her fourth USGA championship and second Senior Women’s Amateur. The former head coach of the University of Nebraska women’s golf team spent 32 years with the Huskers, where she led Nebraska to 11 NCAA Regional tournaments and the first three NCAA Tournaments in program history, while producing two NCAA All-Americans and winning two conference titles.

Kerry Postillion, 60, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is competing in her 30th USGA championship and third Senior Women’s Amateur. Postillion, a three-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur runner-up, is a three-time Illinois Women’s Open champion, five-time Illinois State Amateur champion and two-time Arizona State Stroke Play champion. In her free time, Postillion works alongside her dog, Pearl, to provide pet therapy to children through a local volunteer organization, Gabriel’s Angels.

U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Champions (8): Terri Frohnmayer (2011), Karen Garcia (2015), Joan Higgins (2014), Judith Kyrinis (2017), Diane Lang (2005, 2006, 2008), Ellen Port (2012, 2013, 2016), Shelly Stouffer (2022), Lara Tennant (2018, 2019, 2021)

U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Runners-up (7): Susan Cohn (2013), Alexandra Frazier (2010), Pamela Kuong (2015), Judith Kyrinis (2014), Ellen Port (2021), Terrill Samuel (2017), Sue Wooster (2018, 2019, 2022)

U.S. Women’s Amateur Champions (1): Mary Budke (1972)

U.S. Women’s Amateur Runners-up (1): Sarah LeBrun Ingram (1993)

U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Champions (9): Kathy Hartwiger (2002), Mary Ann Hayward (2005), Joan Higgins (2008), Sarah LeBrun Ingram (1991, 1993, 1994), Martha Leach (2009), Cindy McConnell (1987), Ellen Port (1995, 1996, 2000, 2011), Alissa (Herron) Super (1999), Corey Weworski (2004)

USA Curtis Cup Team Members (6): Mary Budke (1974), Sarah LeBrun Ingram (1992, 1994, 1996), Brenda Corrie Kuehn (1996, 1998), Cindy McConnell (1988), Noreen Mohler (1978), Ellen Port (1994 & 1996)

USA Curtis Cup Captains (4): Mary Budke (2002), Sarah LeBrun Ingram (2021, 2022), Noreen Mohler (2010), Ellen Port (2014)

Shelly Haywood, 56, of Huntington Beach, Calif., is playing in her eighth USGA championship and fifth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur after reaching consecutive Rounds of 32 in 2021 and 2022. Haywood was the second female graduate of the Professional Golf Management Program (PGM) at New Mexico State University, where she competed on the women's golf team. From 2004-2010, Haywood coached at the University of Arizona, including three seasons as head coach (2008-10). She now owns The Modern Vault, which specializes in authentic mid-century modern furniture and accessories and competes regularly in senior women’s events in Southern California.

Sarah LeBrun Ingram, 57, of Nashville, Tenn., is a three-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion and the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up. Ingram, who overcame a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis that took her off the golf course for more than 20 years, has since captained the USA Curtis Cup Team to victories in 2021 in Wales and 2022 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame inductee also represented the USA in three Curtis Cups in the 1990s. She returned to competition in 2019 and won the 2020 Tennessee Women’s Senior Amateur and the inaugural LNGA Senior Amateur title in 2021 at Anthem (Ariz.) Golf & Country Club. Most recently, she qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in more than 20 years, advancing to the Round of 32 at the 2023 championship earlier this month.

Brenda Corrie Kuehn, 58, of Asheville, N.C., has competed in more than 45 USGA championships, including nine U.S. Women’s Opens. Kuehn, a two-time Curtis Cup competitor, was the runner-up in the 1995 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She secured the winning point for the USA in the 1998 Curtis Cup Match at The Minikahda Club in Minnesota and watched her daughter, Rachel, achieve the same distinction both in 2021 in Wales and 2022 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. Brenda and Rachel’s golf bond dates to the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open, when Brenda competed in the championship while eight months pregnant with Rachel. Kuehn qualified for the U.S. Senior Women's Open last year but withdrew to watch Rachel compete for the United States in the World Amateur Team Championship in Paris. Brenda qualified again this year and will make her championship debut. She also qualified for and competed in the 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, making the cut and advancing to match play.

Judith Kyrinis, 59, of Canada, won the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, 4 and 3, over fellow Canadian Terrill Samuel in the final match, becoming the seventh USGA champion from Canada and the third to win the Senior Women’s Amateur. Kyrinis, a retired nurse, has twice earned low-amateur honors in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open – once in 2019 and again this year at Waverley Country Club, where she carded the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in the history of the championship and finished T6 – the same venue where she claimed her Senior Women’s Amateur title. Kyrinis is a three-time Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, with her most recent victory coming in this year’s championship at the Mad River Golf Club. Earlier this month, she became the oldest quarterfinalist in U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur history, falling in the final eight.

Courtney Myhrum, 60, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is in her fourth year on the USGA Executive Committee. She got into this year's field as a last-minute alternate and will compete in her 16th USGA championship and ninth U.S. Senior Women's Amateur. In 2017 at Waverley Country Club, Myhrum knocked off medalist and Waverley member Lara Tennant in the Round of 64. Tennant has since gone on to win three Senior Women's Amateur titles. Myhrum is the owner and president of Organized By Court, a consulting firm that offers custom solutions for individuals, families and small businesses to achieve greater productivity and efficiency.

Ellen Port, 61, of St. Louis, Mo., is making her 75th appearance in a USGA championship and 11th appearance in the Senior Women’s Amateur. Port nearly won her eighth USGA championship two years ago when she fell short in the final match of the Senior Women’s Amateur at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Ala., to Lara Tennant, 2 and 1. Port has won four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles with her most recent coming in 2011 and owns a 31-7 match play record in the Senior Women’s Amateur. She is tied with Anne Quast Sander and Carol Semple Thompson for second among female USGA champions with seven titles, trailing only JoAnne Carner (eight). Port made history in 2021, becoming the first woman to win the Met Senior Amateur, the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association's premier senior men's championship, prevailing in a four-hole playoff. She also shared low-amateur honors in tying for 20th in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn C.C. in Fairfield, Conn. Port’s success on the golf course extends from what she achieved with club in hand – Port captained the winning USA Team in the 2014 Curtis Cup Match at St. Louis Country Club and spent three years as head coach of the University of Washington women’s golf team. During her time with the Bears, Port led the team to a top-five individual finish at the 2017 National Championship, a tied-10th finish in the 2018 National Championship, and multiple All-America honors along the way.

Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, 52, of Haslett, Mich., is the head coach of the Michigan State University women’s golf team, recently starting her 26th season in the role. Slobodnik-Stoll has led the Spartans to 21 NCAA Regional appearances, 12 trips to the NCAA Championships and eight Big Ten titles. Additionally, Michigan State has won 43 tournaments during her tenure. Slobodnik-Stoll is a five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 1999. Slobodnik-Stoll graduated from Michigan State in 1994 and earned her master's degree in sports administration from the school in 1999.

Nicole Stricker, 54, of Madison, Wisc., earned her spot in this year’s Senior Women’s Amateur by way of qualifying at Glenview (Ill.) Park Golf Club, shooting a 7-over 77 to earn one of four available spots. A familiar name in senior golf, Stricker’s husband, Steve, with Nicole on the bag, played alongside eventual champion Bernhard Langer in the final pairing of this year’s U.S. Senior Open at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.. She was also on Steve’s bag when he won the U.S. Senior Open in 2019 at Notre Dame’s Warren Course in South Bend, Ind. A three-time Madison City women’s champion, Stricker will be competing in her second USGA championship and first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. Her appearance in the championship comes 31 years after she qualified for the 1992 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove, Ill., where she advanced to match play.

Suzi Spotleson, 56, of Canton, Ohio, is a banking compliance leader and former College World Series softball player making her 21st appearance in a USGA championship and sixth appearance in the Senior Women’s Amateur. Spotleson didn’t pick up a golf club until after completing her four years on the Northwestern University softball team, but has since had several top finishes in Ohio amateur events, including winning four Ohio State Senior and three Ohio State Mid-Amateur championships – most recently in 2021 when she claimed both titles in the same year.

Lara Tennant, 56, of Portland, Ore., became the first player since Carol Semple Thompson (four from 1999-2002) to win three consecutive U.S. Senior Women's Amateur titles when she defeated seven-time USGA champion Ellen Port, of St. Louis, Mo., 2 and 1, in the championship match at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Ala., in 2021. Tennant, who played at the University of Arizona, is a four-time Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur champion and winner of the 2020 California Senior Women’s Amateur and 2019 R&A Women’s Senior Amateur Championship. She made the first hole-in-one in U.S. Senior Women’s Open history in the inaugural championship at Chicago Golf Club in 2018 on the 163-yard seventh hole. Tennant won 20 consecutive matches in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur over a four-year stretch before falling in the Round of 16 last year in Alaska.

Sue Wooster, 61, of Australia, was runner-up in the Senior Women’s Amateur a year ago at Anchorage (Alaska) Golf Course, ultimately falling to Canadian Shelly Stouffer, 4 and 3. It was the third runner-up finish in this championship for Wooster. However, Wooster is no stranger to success. The native of Australia was the 2018 Australian Golf Digest Player of the Year, has won the Canadian, European, Australian and New Zealand Senior Women’s Amateur titles as well as the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur in a two-year stretch from 2018 through the end of 2019. In 2022 alone, Wooster won the Western Australia Senior Women’s Amateur, the Scottish Senior Women’s Open and the European Senior Women’s title.

About the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur

INSIDE THE FIELD: 61st 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 annual...

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