The largest margin of victory came unsurprisingly from stroke-play medalist and 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Shelly Stouffer, who defeated Shelly Haywood, 6 and 5. Playing in her ninth USGA championship and sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, Haywood had previously reached the Rounds of 32 the past three years. 

On the flipside, the closest match featured the 32nd and 33rd seeds, Jackie Foster and Corey Weworski. The lone match to need extra holes, Weworski won on the 21st hole (par-3 No. 3) with a par.

One of the matches featured a reunion 28 years in the making. Ellen Port defeated Kerry Postillion in the 1996 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur final, and the pair met for a second time on Monday. Playing in her 76th USGA championship and 12th Senior Women’s Amateur, Port got the better of Postillion once again, this time with a 5-and-3 victory.

“I had to stay patient because she was playing tough. I hit my irons very well today, which is what was missing during stroke play, my yardages were a bit off,” said Port, who was 3-up at the turn. “I lost holes 10 and 11 and back to just 1-up and it really just happens quick. So I just assessed what I was doing and rectified as quickly as I could and then won the next three holes.”

“I didn’t try to hit great shots, I just tried to get the ball on the green in decent spots. I didn’t leave myself any long putts either, although I sank a really long bomb on No. 6 from about 60 feet,” she added. “I hit a decent iron into the green, but it came down the frontside of the green and made about a 60-footer back up the hill. I jokingly said I hadn’t made a long putt in years. She laughed, but I was serious!”

Sarah Gallagher’s title defense will continue at least one more match after she dispatched Lin Culver, 4 and 2. 

“I really tried to focus. Didn’t hit the ball very well today, so it was tough out there. I felt like I grinded it out though, so I’m pleased,” said Gallagher, who also noted she would hit a few balls to try to gain some confidence after her opening match. “When you don’t have your best stuff, you have to focus on shot by shot or hole by hole, and finally, I started to hit it better after about the 8th hole.”

Gallagher won the par-4 9th hole with a birdie and never looked back. She claimed the par-3 11th to go 3 up and sealed the deal with a winning par on No. 16.

What's Next

The Round of 32 will begin at 7:45 a.m. (PST) on Tuesday morning, followed immediately by the Round of 16 approximately at 1:45 p.m. Admission is free.

Notable

- Bellevue’s Kim Shek, the only Washington native to advance to match play, moved on to the Round of 32 with a 3-and-2 victory against Kristyl Sunderman.
- The Round of 32 will feature a pair of matches pitting former USGA champions against one another: Corey Weworski vs. Shelly Stouffer and Judith Kyrinis vs. Ellen Port.
Medalists are 24-4 in the first round since the format switched from 54 holes of stroke play to match play in 1997. But only two medalists have gone on to win the championship: Carol Semple Thompson in 2002 at Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C., and Lara Tennant, who was co-medalist in 2021, at The Lakewood Club (Dogwood Course)
- The Round of 64 saw 24 of the higher seeds advance in the 32 opening matches.
- Only one match went to extra holes on Monday, as Corey Weworski outlasted Jackie Foster on the 21st hole. The longest match in Senior Women’s Amateur history took place in 2021 when Patricia Ehrhart defeated Jayne Pardus in 26 holes during the Round of 32 at The Lakewood Club (Dogwood Course) in Point Clear, Ala.