Bowman Takes Lead Through Second Round Of Stroke Play At Senior Women's Amateur

Austin, Texas – Sherry Bowman, 50, of Manassas, Va., recorded the first sub-par round of the championship and holds a four-stroke lead at the midway point of the second round of stroke play Sunday at the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the 5,762 -yard, par-72 Foothills course at Barton Creek Resort & Club.

 

Bowman, playing in her first Senior Women’s Amateur, recorded a 2-under-par 70, highlighted by five birdies. After an opening-round 75 Saturday, she is the stroke-play leader at 145 midway through the second round.

 

“I’m placing the ball real well,” Bowman said. “I had a bogey on the 16 th hole because I used the wrong club and caught a tree, but all things considered, I’m ecstatic. I’m floating on cloud nine.”

 

This summer, Bowman won the Virginia Stroke Play Championship and was runner-up in the Virginia Senior Amateur, but she came into her first USGA Senior Women’s Amateur with moderate expectations.

 

“The goal was to make it to match play, so now I’ve got to get a new goal,” she said. “I prefer stroke play, so I’ll have to work hard on the adjustment over to match play.”

 

First-round leader Taffy Brower, 58, of Boynton Beach, Fla., had a triple bogey on the par-5, 448-yard 8th hole en route to a 5-over-par 77. She pulled her tee shot into the rocks to the left of the fairway, on the other side of the hazard.

 

“I made a poor decision on the tee,” Brower said. “I wasn’t positive about what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t committed to hitting my 3-wood. I should have hit my 4-wood.”

 

Despite the triple bogey, Brower is looking forward to Monday.

 

“I love match play,” Brower said. “I can have an 8 on a hole and forget about the whole thing, and go birdie the next one.”

 

Four-time defending champion Carol Semple Thompson, 54, of Sewickley, Pa., shot 3-over-par 75 for the second consecutive day.

 

“I was consistently okay,” Semple Thompson said. “I didn’t hit the ball as well today as I did yesterday. I’m still having trouble reading the greens. But I’m happy.”

 

In addition to the last four Senior Women’s Amateurs, Semple Thompson has also won the 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 1990 and 1997 U.S. Mid-Amateurs, all at match play.

 

“In match play, you have to get a little lucky,” she said. “You have to get through six rounds. Obviously, I’ve been pretty lucky. I’ve been able to ignore my opponents and concentrate on playing the golf course. When I do that really well, I tend to get pars and birdies, and that’s usually good enough to win."

 

Playing in Sunday afternoon’s action are Marlene Streit, 69, of Canada, who won the 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1985 and 1994 Senior Women’s Amateurs, and 1997 Senior Women’s Amateur champion Nancy Fitzgerald, 59, of Carmel, Ind.

 

After completion of the second round of stroke play Sunday, the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur field will be reduced to 64 players for match play. The first round of match play is scheduled for Monday, the second and third rounds will be played Tuesday, the quarterfinal matches are on Wednesday, and the semifinal match and 18-hole championship final are scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 11.

The USGA Senior Women’s Amateur is one of 13 championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association each year, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.