“I’ve kind of been there, done that, right?” Kyrinis said. “It’s not our first rodeo. I manage some walking and some riding just to keep the legs going. It was so hot today, so you really needed to have a seat and drink a lot.”
It’s the third straight year and the fourth time in five years that Kyrinis has advanced to the quarterfinals. In addition to winning in 2017, she was runner-up in 2014, and was a quarterfinalist in 2016, also medaling that year. She lost in the Round of 16 in 2015.
Samuel, 57, never trailed on Tuesday, either. After defeating countrywoman Helene Chartrand, 62, in the Round of 32, she jumped out to a quick lead on Lisa McGill, 59, of Philadelphia, Pa., before ultimately prevailing, 4 and 3. Her quarterfinal match against Kyrinis will mark the fourth time in five Senior Women’s Amateur matches that Samuel will face a fellow Canadian, dating to last year’s final. She defeated countrywoman Rhonda Orr in the Round of 64, 7 and 5.
Past was pretense in another instance on Tuesday, with Patricia Ehrhart advancing to her second straight quarterfinals in the same fashion, by defeating three-time Senior Women’s Amateur champion Ellen Port. Ehrhart, 53, of Honolulu, Hawaii, blasted out from the bunker behind the 18th green and calmly rolled in a 10-footer for par to clinch a 1-up victory over Port, 57, of St. Louis, Mo.
Ehrhart was bogey free in her match on Tuesday afternoon, and needed to be against Port, who was 2 under on the back nine, with the usual match-play concessions. Port took her only lead of the match on the par-4 sixth, where she hit her approach shot from 130 yards to 7 feet before rolling in the putt. The duo halved the par-3 12th hole with birdies, with Ehrhart rolling in a 6-foot putt after Port hit her tee shot to 2 feet. Ehrhart moved to 2 up on No. 14 when she made a 12-foot putt for birdie before holding on for the victory.
Kathy Kurata, 58, of Pasadena, Calif., was another player who never had to come from behind on Tuesday against a pair of tough opponents. She paired a 4-and-3 victory over medalist Pamela Kuong, of Wellesley Hills, Mass., in the Round of 32 with a 1-up victory over Mary Jane Hiestand, 59, of Naples, Fla. Their Round-of-16 match came to the 18th hole all square before Hiestand, the 2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur runner-up, found trouble, having to lay up with her third shot out of a fairway bunker. She missed a 12-foot par putt and then conceded the match to Kurata.
“It’s tough playing against friends,” Kurata lamented at the end of the day. “I know both of them, great golfers and great ladies. Pam [Kuong] is such a great, steady, consistent golfer. This afternoon, I lost my feel for putting and struggled a bit. I thought, just stay patient. Just keep trying to get a feel back.”
