U.S. Mid-Amateur to start Saturday

Saturday marks the start of the 2007 USGA Mid-Amateur Men’s and Women’s Championships, which feature the top amateurs in the country aged 25-and-over. The men’s contest will take place at the 6,966-yard links-style Bandon Dunes course, as well as one qualifying round at the Bandon Trails course, located in Bandon, Oregon. The tourney will start with 264 golfers who will be cut to 64 after two rounds of stroke play, after which will shift to match play format. Dave Womack, 28, of McDonough, Ga., is the defending champion, having defeated fellow Georgian Ryan Hibl. Among the field will be Walker Cup captain Buddy Marucci and three-time Cupper Trip Kuehne, who was a member of the victorious team this summer at Royal County Down, N. Ireland. The women’s championship will be contested at the Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Ariz., a desert-style 6,209 par-73 course. Defending champion Meghan Bolger, the former golf coach at the University of Mississippi will be joined with such notables as current senior champ Anna Schultz and women’s amateur legend Carol Semple Thompson. amateurgolf.com will provide daily updates throughout the tournament.