Anna Schultz
HERSHEY, Penn. (Sept. 11, 2012) -- Anna Schultz, 57, of Rockwall, Texas, made a hole-in-one to complete her second-round match against Corey Weworski, of Carlsbad, Calif., in dramatic fashion, winning, 3 and 1, Tuesday morning at the 2012 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the par-74, 6,220-yard Hershey Country Club.
Schultz, the 2007 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion, used a 6-hybrid club from 154 yards on the par-3 17th to record the 10th ace in the championship’s history. Her ball landed on the front of the green, rolled 25 feet, and broke left into the hole. Schultz’s dramatics capped a comeback from a 2-down deficit after the first nine. She caught Weworski with a birdie on the 13th and took the lead for good with a par at the 14th.
“You always dream of this; that you are going to make a hole-in-one or do something spectacular to win the match,” said Schultz, who posted her ninth career hole-in-one. “I was just trying to hit the green because I was 2 up with two to go, I was dormie. And I put it in the middle of the green and it fed right to the hole.”
Schultz will meet Lisa Schlesinger, 54, of Laytonsville, Md., in the third round. Schlesinger, who was the medalist in stroke play for the second consecutive year, defeated Mary Jane Hiestand, of Naples, Fla., 2 and 1. After Hiestand birdied the par-5 15th from short range, Schlesinger parred holes 16 and 17 to close out the victory.
“MJ (Hiestand) and I always have really tight matches,” Schlesinger said. “You need a lot of luck to keep advancing. I’ve got the speed of the greens down. I am hitting my driver good.”
Ellen Port, 50, of St. Louis, Mo., was dominant in her second-round match, a 6-and-5 victory over Therese Quinn, of Jacksonville, Fla. Port, a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion who placed second in stroke-play qualifying, won four of the opening eight holes.
Marianne Towersey, 62, of Pebble Beach, Calif., defeated Martha Leach, 50, of Hebron, Ky., 3 and 2. Leach, the 2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur winner, was the fourth seed. Meanwhile, Taffy Brower, 67, of Boynton Beach, Fla., grinded out a 4-and-2 win over Barbara Pagana, of Selinsgrove, Pa. Brower, the fifth seed, admitted that she did not play her best.
“I didn’t play well,” Brower said. “But I (recently) saw a Leta Lindley (LPGA Tour professional) interview, and I was so inspired by that. She said, ‘All I did was never give up, never give up.’ That’s what I am hanging on to.”
Carolyn Creekmore, 60, of Dallas, the 2004 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion, advanced to the third round with a 3-and-2 decision against 2010 finalist Alexandra Frazier, of West Conshohocken, Pa. Creekmore gained a three-hole advantage on the back nine. She birdied the par-5 15th when her approach hit the ridge in middle of the green and rolled back to within four feet.
“It depends on who is putting well on this course,” Creekmore said. “I feel comfortable, but that may go away in an instant.”
Another past champion lost in the second round. Mina Hardin, 52, of Fort Worth, Texas, the 2010 titlist, fell to Brenda Pictor, of Marietta, Ga., 6 and 5.
Matches for the round of 16 at the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship began at 1:15 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be played Wednesday. The championship concludes with an 18-hole final on Thursday, starting at 8:30 a.m.
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