Sarah Gallagher hangs on for one-up victory over Brenda Corrie Kuehn in US Senior Women’s Amateur final

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 09:48:21 +0000

Sarah Gallagher took an early four-up lead, then withstood a late rally by Brenda Corrie Kuehn to win the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, one-up, on Thursday at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Gallagher, a financial planner from Canton, Georgia, won the second to fifth holes with birdies. Her lead was cut to two through 14 holes, though she was three-up with three holes to play. Kuehn won the 16th with a par and the 17th with a birdie, before each bogeyed the par-4 18th to give Gallagher the victory.

Has it set in yet, that she won a USGA championship, she was asked? “No,” she said. “I don’t know, probably when I get home, see my husband and kids, I think.

“I hit the ball really, really well. And I putted quite well. I think having a lot of confidence in the number that I had into the green because Erin [Packer, her caddie] is so good at just providing all the information, allowed me to make good club choices. So I was in the right spots. My misses were in the right spots, too, which was important.”

Kuehn, from Asheville, North Carolina, is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame, who despite a sparkling resume came into this championship and its final with no expectations, she said.

“None. Truly none,” she said following her semi-final match. “I wanted to just come and compete.” She accomplished that, but ultimately was in too deep a hole to overcome.

“You know you have a choice,” Kuehn said. “You have to just go out there and hit the best shot you can. She played great. I mean, she did not give a whole lot of opportunities. When I hit a couple times in there for birdie, she knocked it to three feet. So it was hard.

“I want to tell you, when you’re dormie, there’s pressure there on you, almost more so on me because I’m done, but on her she has to keep it in play. So I felt that if I just kept hitting it in play, I had to force her to keep playing as she did the first, whatever, 15 holes.”

Both players receive exemptions into the 2024 US Women’s Amateur and US Women’s Open. Kuehn likely will be joined in the Women’s Amateur by daughter Rachel, a fifth-year senior and All-American at Wake Forest, who is 10th in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Main image: Jason E Miczek

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The most impressive winning streak you didn’t know about comes to an end in Alaska

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 08:22:33 +0000

Lara Tennant reacts after missing her putt on the 10th green during her Round of 16 match against Lynn Thompson at the 2022 US Senior Women’s Amateur. Steven Gibbons

By Ryan Herrington
Twenty. That’s how many consecutive matches Lara Tennant had won in the US Senior Women’s Amateur, dating back to 2018. As the USGA celebrated playing a championship in Alaska for the first time this week (knocking off its 50th state), the 55-year-old from Portland, Oregon, was trying to make her own history. Just one woman had ever won a USGA championship four straight times — Carol Semple Thompson doing it in the US Senior Women’s Amateur from 1999-2002. After taking her first two matches this week at Anchorage Golf Course, Tennant was hoping to join her.

Lynn Thompson, however, had other ideas. The 64-year-old from Cincinnati took advantage of Tennant’s slow start in their third-round match on Tuesday, jumping to a 4-up lead through 10 holes. She then watched Tennant make four birdies over her next five holes to claw back to 1down. But a birdie on the 17th allowed Thompson to close out the match, 2&1.

It’s fair to characterise Thompson’s win as an big upset. She had only qualified for the US Senior Women’s Amateur three times in 14 years of eligibility and won just one match before this year.

Meanwhile, ignorance appeared to be bliss.

“Well, it’s good I didn’t know that [that Lara was 20-0],” Thompson said. “I really just didn’t have any expectations going into the match but to do my best. And it turned out [OK].”

“It’s been a dream [the last four years],” said Tennant, who like in previous championship runs had her father, George Mack, on her bag. “A dream that I never expected. And I just feel so honoured to be a champion and blessed that I’ve had that opportunity.”

Unfortunately for Thompson, the dream win was followed by disappointment in Wednesday’s quarter-finals. Facing former US Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Kathy Hartwiger, Thompson got off to another hot start, winning two of her first three holes, but lost four straight on the back nine to ultimately lose, 3&2.

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US Senior Women's Amateur Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Sarah Gallagher hangs on for one-up victory over Brenda Corrie Kuehn in US Senior Women’s Amateur final

The most impressive winning streak you didn’t know about comes to an end in Alaska