Interesting Player Notes From 2003 USGA Senior Women's Amateur

 

There are 34 states and three countries represented at this year’s championship. Texas and California are tied for the most for one state – both have sent 17 players. The three countries are Canada, Barbados, and France.

 

The youngest player in the field is Lynn Johnson of Barbados, who turned 50 on August 6th. Johnson played field hockey for Guyana and squash for Barbados.

 

The elder stateswoman in the field is 70-year-old Barbara Young of Wilmington, N.C. Barbara is playing with artificial knees after undergoing total replacements. She also played in the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League in 1950 and 1951, which was later the focus of the movie, “A League of Their Own.”

 

There are sisters playing in this year’s championship – Barbara Israel, 57, of New York, N.Y., and Susan van Roijen, 58, of Orlando, Fla. They played in the same group in sectional qualifying.

 

Other interesting notes:

 

Mary Ann Beattie, 56, of St. Louis, Mo., was the number one ranked junior tennis player in 1964. She played in Wimbledon nine times, from 1964-1971.

 

Cheryl Brayman, 52, of East Hills, N.Y., owns a company that makes nosewarmers for skiers. She invented the product and has the patent for it.

 

Another business owner, Niki Bryan, 52, of Windermere, Fla., decided to open her own salon 22 years ago after receiving a bad haircut from a rude stylist. She now owns a salon, health club and resort spa business that employs more than 200 people.

 

Marsha Butler, 53, of San Diego, Calif., reached the semifinals of the 2002 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. It was her first USGA championship in 32 years.

 

Ellen Connors, 52, of Newnan, Ga., is playing in her first USGA championship. She spent 22 years as an R.N. in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 1993 as a Lieutenant Colonel.

 

Patty Crigler, 51, of Bayfield, Colo., spent 16 years as a deputy sheriff for San Diego County, and was a seasonal firefighter with the California Division of Forestry from 1978-80.

 

Cynthia Curry, 62, of Charlotte, N.C., has spent the last 2 years traveling to places like Bermuda and California on archeological digs.

 

Payton Davies, 59, of Horseshoe Bay, Texas, might have a slight edge over some of her competitors this week – she’s a two-time club champion at her home course, Barton Creek. When she’s not golfing, she’s a flight attendant for United Airlines.

 

Linda DiVall, 50, of Alexandria, Va., is playing in her first USGA championship. She is a pollster and Republican strategist, and serves as president and CEO of American Viewpoint.

 

Karen Ferree, 52, of Hilton Head, S.C., is a two-time Carolinas Senior Player of the Year (2001 and 2002) and was a semifinalist at the 2001 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. She is the wife of Champions Tour player Jim Ferree.

 

Nancy Fitzgerald, 59, of Carmel, Ind., captured the 1997 Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. She has been inducted into the Indiana and Kalamazoo, Mich., Halls of Fame.

 

Anne Gajda, 53, of Ypsilanti, Mich., is a professor of music at Eastern Michigan University.

 

Joan Giese, 56, of Dubuque, Iowa, has more than 50 putters in her collection, every style from mallets to blades. She has started to write a book about putting.

 

Helene Gosse, 56, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a French Canadian who has lived in four different countries, travels with an Australian passport, has brothers and sisters in Canada, in-laws in Australia, one child in Sydney, Australia, and one child in the United States.

 

Jan Greaves, 55, of Waterford, Mich., is a former professional bowler. She won the Michigan Amateur Bowling title in 1993.

 

Julie Greene, 67, of Burrington, R.I., was inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame with some lofty company – Brad Faxon, Billy Andrade, and Dana Quigley.

 

Emily Harnden, 53, of Port, Ore., carried the Olympic Torch in 1996 and 2002.

 

Ena Harvey, 60, of Greensboro, Ga., originally hails from South Africa. She played tennis on the National Senior Women’s Circuit until age 45, and taught tennis until she was 57.

 

Barbara Israel, 57, of New York, N.Y., owns an antique business, specializing in garden ornaments, and wrote a book in 1999, “Antique Garden Ornament.”

 

Martha Lang, 50, of Mandeville, La., is playing in her first Senior Women’s Amateur but is already a USGA champion, having captured the 1993 U.S Women’s Mid-Amateur. She was also a member of the Curtis Cup team in 1992, and captained the Curtis Cup squad in 1996.

 

Lynn Larson, 60, of Aurora, Colo., attended the University of Utah on a skiing scholarship and was on the Olympic training team for the 1964 Olympics.

 

Claudeen Lindberg, 64, of Atlanta, did not start to play golf until she was 50. She is playing in her 12 th USGA Senior Women’s Amateur.

 

Becky Marshall, 51, of Buda, Texas, played basketball for the University of Texas. She now serves as coordinator of women’s basketball officials for the Big XII, Southland and Sunbelt Conferences.

 

Pat Milton, 50, of Munroe Falls, Ohio is playing in her first Senior Women’s Amateur this year – and she’s happy to be playing golf at all. In June, she was injured in an accident with the lawn mower. She was lucky not to lose any fingers and needed only stitches.

 

Jean Mowry, 56, of Webster City, Iowa, was a two-sport athlete at Iowa State University – gymnastics and field hockey. She and her husband, Clark, are foster parents who at one time had five teenagers in their home.

 

Alison Murdoch, 53, of Vancouver, BC, Canada, is a two-time Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur champion. She serves as regional HR director for Canada ’s fisheries and oceans.

 

Ann Probert, 64, of New Vernon, N.J., is a member of the USGA Women’s Committee and served as the chairman of the USGA Senior Women’s Championship Committee for three years, from 2000-02. In 2002, she was honored with the WMGA’s Judy Bell Award, for contributions to golf for women and junior girls in the Metropolitan area.

 

Anne Sander, 66, of Seattle, Wash., is a seven-time USGA champion, tied for second-most in USGA history. She has won the 1958, 1961, and 1963 Women’s Amateurs, and the 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1993 Senior Women’s Amateurs. She is also a eight-time USA Curtis Cup team member (1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1984, and 1990) and three-time USA Women’s World Amateur member (1966, 1968, and 1988).

 

Marlene Streit, 69, of Ontario, Canada, is a three-time USGA champion, having won the 1956 Women’s Amateur and the 1985 and 1994 Senior Women’s Amateurs. The 38-year span between her first and last USGA championships is the second-longest in history.

 

Carol Semple Thompson, 54, of Sewickley, Pa., is the four-time defending champion, having won the 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Senior Women’s Amateurs. She has also captured the 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur, and 1990 and 1997 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs, giving her seven USGA titles overall, second best in women’s history. Semple Thompson has also played in a record 12 Curtis Cups (1974, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002) and is a five-time Women’s World Amateur Team member (1974, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1994).

 

Marianne Towersey, 52, of Newport Beach, Calif., is the golf coach at Newport Harbor High School, and when she’s not golfing, she can be found in the ocean, surfing. Her son, Patrick, is a professional surfer and her other son, Chad, filmed and directed a surf video.

 

Kathie Westlund, 58, of Fort Myers, Fla., is a rural mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.

 

Grace Wilson of Kaneoke, Hawaii, is playing in her first Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at age 69. Her son, Dean, is on the PGA Tour and played with Annika Sorenstam at the Colonial earlier this year.

 

Sandy Woodruff, 54, of Scotts Valley, Calif., is the owner of Valley Gardens Golf Course. The Senior Women’s Amateur will be held at her home course, Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., in 2004.