Semple Thompson Ties Record With Win In Match Play

Southern Pines, N.C. – Three-time defending champion Carol Semple Thompson, 53, of Sewickley, Pa., tied a USGA record Monday during her first-round match play victory at the 41st USGA Senior Women's Amateur, being held at the par-72, 5,873-yard Mid-Pines Inn and Golf Club.

This year’s medalist with a qualifying score of 6-over 150, Thompson dispatched Marilyn Nolan-Johnson, 50, of Marietta, Ga., 7 and 6. In the process, Thompson tied Alexa Stirling and Glenna Collett Vare for most consecutive matches won in a single championship with 19. Thompson continues to build on the Senior Women’s Amateur record since it switched from stroke to match play in 1997.

“Let’s keep it going,” said Thompson. “It’s nice. My overriding impetus is to make pars and play the course.”

The match began bogey-par-par before Thompson won three straight holes by going birdie-birdie-par. At that point, Nolan-Johnson unraveled. By the turn, Thompson was 5 up. The match ended on the 347-yard, par-4 12th when Nolan-Johnson needed four shots to reach the green. Thompson won with a bogey.

“I hit my irons better than I have,” said Thompson. “Plus, Marilyn didn’t have her best game.”

Said Nolan-Johnson: “I’m thrilled to be here. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. I knew I had to play her at least 10 holes.”

Last year’s runner-up to Thompson, Anne Carr of Renton, Wash., eliminated 56-year-old Mary Lou Henderson of Canada, 7 and 6. Carr parlayed a 37 on the front nine into a 6-up lead at the turn.

Carr seemed to surprise herself. Last January she took a job, which drastically cut into her practice time.

“Last year I could treat golf as a job, and I did,” said Carr. “This year I’ve been practicing between appointments. So anything I get here is a gift."

Rebounding from a disappointing loss to Thompson in last year’s final has motivated Carr to some extent. Over the years she has learned what it takes to get to a higher level.

“The thing that separates players is the focus. You have to put everything out of your mind and focus. Don’t think about dinner that night, don’t think about what your opponent is doing,” said Carr.

In a marquee matchup, two former Senior Women’s Amateur champions battled it out. Fifty-eight-year-old Nancy Fitzgerald of Carmel, Ind., the 1997 champion, held off 1992 winner Rosemary Thompson of Albuquerque, N.M., 3 and 1.

Fitzgerald played despite suffering from pancreasitis, which landed her in the hospital the night before second round stroke play. A late afternoon tee time and medication allowed her to continue, although she said she thought about withdrawing.

When Fitzgerald and Thompson saw the pairing sheet, they knew it wouldn’t be a cakewalk. Thompson and Fitzgerald had never faced each other before.

“I think what it does is when you see the other person has won a big title, you know that person is a competitor and that she’ll never give up,” said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald went 2 up after winning the 188-yard, par-3 13th. She never wavered after that. On the final hole, the 344-yard par-4 17th, Thompson conceded the match moments after Fitzgerald stuck her approach 5 feet from the flagstick.

“People say, ‘Win, win, win,’” said Thompson. “I’m not a bit disappointed.”

Other former champions to advance were 1985 winner Marlene Streit, 68, of Canada, who knocked off Susan Cummings, 52, of Simpsonville, S.C., 2 and 1, and 1991 champion Tish Preuss, 63, of Colorado Springs, Colo., who beat Lida Tingley of Bloomfield, Conn., 2 up.

“I had a 37 on the front nine, which is great for me,” said Streit. “She sort of muddled up on the last few holes, so that kind of let me in.”

Four-time Senior Amateur champion Anne Sander, 65, of Seattle, Wash., lost her match, 3 and 2, to 59-year-old Ena Harvey of Greensboro, Ga.

Other players to advance were 57-year-old Taffy Brower of Boynton Beach, Fla.; Marsha Butler, 53, of San Diego; Chris Spivey, 53, of Pell City, Ala.; Marianne Towersey, 51, of Newport Beach, Calif; and Toni Wiesner, 55, of Fort Worth, Texas.

The Senior Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs. The event was first played in 1962.

Story written by Ken Klavon, USGA.

First Round Match Play Results
Southern Pines, N.C. – Scores following the first round of match play at the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur, played at the par-72, 5,873-yard Mid-Pines Inn and Golf Club:

Round of 64 Results
9:00 am Carol Semple Thompson, Sewickley, Pa. (150) def. Marilyn Nolan-Johnson, Marietta, Ga. (170), 7 and 6
9:08 am Patty Lang, Saegertown, Pa. (164) def. Rebecca Uritus, Columbus, Ohio (164), 2 and 1
9:16 am Marlene Streit, Canada (167) def. Susan Cummings, Greenville, S.C. (160), 2 and 1
9:24 am Elizabeth Haines, Gladwyne, Pa. (161) def. Joann Manning, East Alton, Ill. (167), 6 and 5
9:32 am Lori Elliott, Sparks, Nev. (169) def. Carolyn Creekmore, Dallas, Texas (156), 5 and 4
9:40 am Nancy Fitzgerald, Carmel, Ind. (163) def. Rosemary Thompson, Albuquerque, N.M. (165), 3 and 1
9:48 am Alice Harcourt, Fallbrook, Calif. (169) def. Nancy Smith, North Port, Fla. (156), 2 and 1
9:56 am Sheila Dagucon, Gaithersburg, Md. (162) def. Nancy Harris, Minnetonka, Minn. (166), 3 and 2
10:04 am Marianne Towersey, Newport Beach, Calif. (154) def. Valeta Pittman, Roanoke, Va. (169), 8 and 6
10:12 am Dot Bolling, Roanoke, Va. (165) def. Salley Wessels, Mt Morris, Ill. (164), 3 and 2
10:20 am Pam Spikes, Maumelle, Ark. (157) def. Jill Christiansen, La Grange, Ill. (168), 19 Holes
10:28 am Anne Carr, Seattle, Wash. (161) def. Mary Lou Henderson, Canada (167), 7 and 6
10:36 am Chris Epperly, Lady Lake, Fla. (154) def. Kate Johnson, Sleepy Hollow, Ill. (169), 3 and 2
10:44 am Patty Moore, Charlotte, N.C. (164) def. Niki Bryan, Windermere, Fla. (165), 5 and 4
10:52 am Mary Gale, Worc, Mass. (168) def. Susan Wickware, Canada (157), 20 Holes
11:00 am Connie Shorb, York, Pa. (161) def. Dottie Farmer, Middletown, Del. (166), 4 and 3
11:08 am Toni Wiesner, Fort Worth, Texas (152) def. Eleanor Walker, Greensboro, N.C. (170), 5 and 4
11:16 am Barbara Berkmeyer, St Louis, Mo. (165) def. Jackie Rosart, Canada (164), 2 and 1
11:24 am Tish Preuss, Colorado Springs, Colo. (167) def. Lida Tingley, Bloomfield, Conn. (158), 2 up
11:32 am Deborah Anderson, Redlands, Calif. (161) def. Judy Miller, Salinas, Calif. (167), 20 Holes
11:40 am Karen Ferree, Hilton Head, S.C. (156) def. Maryann Beattie, St Louis, Mo. (169), 4 and 2

11:48 am Karen Mabli, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (163) def. Lynne Jones, Devon, Pa.
(165), 8 and 6
11:56 am Alison Murdoch, Canada (156) def. Nancy Chaffee, Barrington, R.I. (169), 5 and 3
12:04 pm Bonnie George, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. (162) def. Mary Hill, Winston-Salem, N.C. (166), 5 and 4
12:12 pm Marsha Butler, San Diego, Calif. (153) def. Dianne Yelovich, San Pedro, Calif. (170), 3 and 2
12:20 pm Cathy Schaefer, Ft Myers, Fla. (164) def. Mary Ann Bierman, Chagrin Falls, Ohio (165), 5 and 4
12:28 pm Sharon Keil, Lady Lake, Fla. (168) def. Regine Parker, Hobe Sound, Fla. (158), 5 and 4
12:36 pm Ena Harvey, Greensboro, Ga. (167) def. Anne Sander, Seattle, Wash. (161), 3 and 2
12:44 pm Taffy Brower, Boynton Beach, Fla. (155) def. Bonnie Tyler, Boca Grande, Fla. (169), 1 up
12:52 pm Sandy Woodruff, Santa Cruz, Calif. (163) def. Cecilia Mourgue D'Algue, France (165), 4 and 3
1:00 pm Chris Spivey, Pell City, Ala. (157) def. Jan Ugale, Greenwood Village, Colo. (168), 3 and 1
1:08 pm Beverly Kim, Wahiawa, Hawaii (161) def. Sally Casey, Baltimore, Md. (166), 2 up

Round of 32 pairings
8:00 am Carol Semple Thompson, Sewickley, Pa. (150) vs. Patty Lang, Saegertown, Pa. (164)
8:09 am Marlene Streit, Canada (167) vs. Elizabeth Haines, Gladwyne, Pa. (161)
8:18 am Lori Elliott, Sparks, Nev. (169) vs. Nancy Fitzgerald, Carmel, Ind. (163)
8:27 am Alice Harcourt, Fallbrook, Calif. (169) vs. Sheila Dagucon, Gaithersburg, Md. (162)
8:36 am Marianne Towersey, Newport Beach, Calif. (154) vs. Dot Bolling, Roanoke, Va. (165)
8:45 am Pam Spikes, Maumelle, Ark. (157) vs. Anne Carr, Seattle, Wash. (161)
8:54 am Chris Epperly, Lady Lake, Fla. (154) vs. Patty Moore, Charlotte, N.C. (164)
9:03 am Mary Gale, Worc, Mass. (168) vs. Connie Shorb, York, Pa. (161)
9:12 am Toni Wiesner, Fort Worth, Texas (152) vs. Barbara Berkmeyer, St Louis, Mo. (165)
9:21 am Tish Preuss, Colorado Springs, Colo. (167) vs. Deborah Anderson, Redlands, Calif. (161)
9:30 am Karen Ferree, Hilton Head, S.C. (156) vs. Karen Mabli, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (163)
9:39 am Alison Murdoch, Canada (156) vs. Bonnie George, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. (162)
9:48 am Marsha Butler, San Diego, Calif. (153) vs. Cathy Schaefer, Ft Myers, Fla. (164)
9:57 am Sharon Keil, Lady Lake, Fla. (168) vs. Ena Harvey, Greensboro, Ga. (167)
10:06 am Taffy Brower, Boynton Beach, Fla. (155) vs. Sandy Woodruff, Santa Cruz, Calif. (163)
10:15 am Chris Spivey, Pell City, Ala. (157) vs. Beverly Kim, Wahiawa, Hawaii (161)

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