Interesting Player Notes From USGA Senior Women's Amateur

Southern Pines, N.C. -- The following are interesting player notes for those in the field. For starters, nine countries are being represented in the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur, with eight contestants from Canada, the most of any country outside of the United States; players from 32 states in the United States are competing.

The youngest player is Kellie Magee, 50, of California. There are seven 50 year olds in the field. The oldest player is Marian Curtis of Vista, Calif. She is 69.

There are four players with Curtis Cup experience in the field (see bottom of this page) and six who have won a USGA Senior Women’s Amateur championship. Overall, there are seven USGA champions in the field (see bottom of page).

On to the player notes:

Deborah Sue Anderson, 51, of Redland, Calif., says she loves life and enjoys each new experience it brings. She’s also “fondly attached” to her head covers Orca, Seve, Wee Willy and Wee Wanda.

Mary Ann Beattie, 55, of St. Louis, Mo., is more than a one-sport athlete. That’s because she was a professional tennis player, ranked in the Top 10 from 1964-72. As a tennis player, she won the USTA Juniors in 1964.

Dot Bolling, 56, of Salem, Va., is what you might call a late bloomer. She started playing golf at age 34 and is the only Virginia player to win all of the state’s tournaments after 50.

Gale Brudner, 51, of Greenwich, Conn., almost didn’t qualify for this year’s USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. One week before her qualifier at Bedford Golf and Tennis Club, she fell down some steps and tore ligaments in ankle. Wearing an air cast, she ended up qualifying.

Elizabeth Englander, 59, of Eugene, Ore., is another late bloomer who didn’t take up golf until her mid-40s.

Marianne Fischer, 58, of Bristol, Tenn., can thank her lucky stars that she’s here. During her qualifying attempt, she played the last seven holes 12 over par but still earned a spot in the Senior Women’s Am by one stroke.

Anne Gajda, 52, of Ypsilanti, Mich., is a professor of music (piano) at Eastern Michigan University.

Joan Giese, 55, of Dubuque, Iowa, has a collection of 48 putters. She says she has practiced 27,700 putts so far using the Dave Pelz Truth Board.

Alice Harcourt, 59, of Fallbrook, Calif., is another player who took the game up in her mid-40s – 45 to be precise. Since then she has won 22 club championships in Southern California.

Ena Harvey, 59, of Greensboro, Ga., was born in S. Africa but immigrated to the U.S. with her husband and kids in 1978. She played tennis in a national over-35 circuit for 10 years, won five national tennis doubles titles, was ranked No. 1 and is a former tennis teaching pro.

Susan Labriola, 57, of Katonah, N.Y., quit golf at age 15 when she took a swing and the club went farther than her ball. At 30, while accompanying her husband to the golf range, she hit a few balls and took the sport up again.

Kellie Magee, 50, of California is the youngest player in the field. It is her first USGA championship and she says she is “just thrilled.” She also listed red pencils as a superstition for listing red numbers on her card. Prior to the championship, her husband bought her a pair of red shoes, which she’ll wear while playing.

Barbara McIntire, 67, of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the 1999 Bob Jones Award, which is the highest award issued by the USGA. A six-time player on Curtis Cup teams, she captained the 1976 team, which defeated Great Britain and Ireland, 11 ½ to 6 1/2. … She served on the USGA Women’s Committee from 1985-96 and was its chair in ’95 and ’96.

Judy Miller, 52, of Salinas, Calif., has a battle on her hands when she practices in her front yard at home. That’s because her Chihuahua “helps” collect the balls by hiding them under the rose hedges. “You can tell when you hit a good shot,” says Miller, “because she yelps as only a Chihuahua can do.”

Alison Murdoch, 52, of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, serves as the country’s Human Resources Director, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She was also exempt into the Senior Women’s Am by virtue of winning this year’s Canadian Senior Championship.

Anne Sander, 65, of Seattle, Wash., has won seven USGA championships, the last one being the Senior Women’s Amateur in 1993. She has won the Senior Women’s Am four times. Her seven titles are second among women (behind JoAnne Carner’s 8) and fourth in history among all USGA competitors. Sander was an eight-time Curtis Cup team member (1958, ’60, ’62, ’66, ’68, ’74, ’84 and ’90). In addition, she holds the largest winning margin at the U.S. Women’s Amateur (14 and 13 over Phyllis Preuss in 1961) and Senior Women’s Am (8 and 6 over Arleene Wiklolaski in 1998).

Tinker Sanger, 64, of Hydes, Md., and her husband, Michael, have made playing USGA championships a family affair. Both have played in their respective USGA Senior Amateur events in 1999 and 2001. They’ll do it again this year, too. As a caveat, both made it to match play in 2001.

Constance H. Shorb, 55, of York, Pa., can boast that her father has been in attendance while she competed in her first Girls’ Junior, first Women’s Amateur, first Women’s Open, first Women’s Mid-Amateur and first USGA Senior Amateur, beginning in 1962 and going through 1997.

Chris Spivey, 53, of Pell City, Ala., likes to make men happy, as she put it. Spivey, a physician’s assistant for 28 years, specializes in impotency. … Last year she was disappointed after falling and breaking her arm on the first tee of a tournament, which caused her to miss the Senior Women’s Amateur.

Carol Semple Thompson, 53, of Sewickley, Pa., is coming off three consecutive Senior Women’s Am victories. One of the most storied amateur players in history, she holds the record of 12 Curtis Cup appearances. She holds the Curtis Cup record for most victories (18, 9-7-3 in foursomes; 9-8-1 in singles). … Both parents were scratch golfers … She has also played on five World Team Amateur championships. … If she can win two matches in this year’s Senior Women’s Am, she will set a women’s USGA record for most consecutive matches won (two hold record with 19 straight). … She was only the second woman to serve on the USGA Executive Committee, from 1999-2000. … Her father, Harton ‘Bud’ Semple served as the USGA president in 1974-75. … Her mother, Phyllis Thompson, also served on various USGA committees since 1957. … Lists highlights as her father presenting her with the Cox Cup in 1973 when she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur and winning the British Ladies Open Amateur while holding Women’s Amateur title.

Marlene Streit, 68, of Stouffville, Ontario, Canada, holds the record for longest span between USGA championships. She went 38 years between victories. Won the 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur, and didn’t win again until 1994 at the Senior Women’s Amateur. … She won the Canadian Amateur 11 times and was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame in 1962. … She was the Canadian Woman of the Year in 1953 … Order of Canada in 1967 … Inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1971.

Diane Williams, 52, of Palm Desert, Calif., has a unique way of looking at life. She said that over time she has learned that she is not special. And if she were, she’d be off acting in a circus somewhere. On a more serious note, Williams has won an NAACP Humanitarian Award and is listed in Who’s Who of America.

Sandy Woodruff, 53, of Scotts Valley, Calif., owns Valley Gardens Golf Course. Even more unique is that her ex-husband and current husband work for her.

Peggy Yountz, 55, of Cornelius, N.C., could be considered a mathematician of sorts on the golf course. That’s because her maiden name was Einstein. She is a distant relative of Albert. Ironically, she majored in mathematics at Wake Forest University and has a license plate that reads: EISMC2.

USGA Champions In The Field

Nancy Fitzgerald: 1997 Senior Women’s Amateur

Barbara McIntire: 1959, ’64 Women’s Amateur

Phyllis ‘Tish’ Preuss: 1991 Senior Women’s Amateur

Anne Sander: 1958, ’61, ’63 Women’s Amateur
1987, ’89, ’90, ’93 Senior Women’s Amateur

Marlene Streit: 1956 Women’s Amateur
1985, ’94 Senior Women’s Amateur

Carol Semple Thompson: 1973 Women’s Amateur
1990, ’97 Women’s Mid-Amateur
1999, 2000, ’01 Senior Women’s Amateur

Rosemary Thompson: 1992 Senior Women’s Amateur

Curtis Cup Members In The Field

Barbara McIntire: 6 times (1958, ’60, ’62, ’64, ’66 and ’72). Served as captain in ’76.

Carol Semple Thompson: 12 times (1974, ’76, ’80, ’82, ’88, ’90, ’92, ’94, ’96, ’98, 2000 and ’02).

Anne Sander: 8 times (1958, ’60, ’62, ’66, ’68, ’74, ’84 and ’90)

Phyllis Preuss: 5 times (1962, ’64, ’66, ’68, ’70)

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