Past Champion Tied For First-Round Lead After Morning Round

 

Austin, Texas – Nancy Fitzgerald, 59, of Carmel, Ind., Cindy Carroll, 57, of Celeste, Texas, and Anne Carr, 59, of Seattle, Wash., each shot a 3-over-par 75 to share the lead at the midway point of the first day of stroke play at the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the 5,762 -yard, par-72 Foothills course at Barton Creek Resort & Club.

 

Fitzgerald, the 1997 Senior Women’s Amateur champion, birdied the 7 th and 12th holes, both with 8’ birdie putts. She was happy to get off to a good start.

 

“My son just got married last weekend, so I hadn’t played 10 days before coming in here,” Fitzgerald said. “I started out a little rough but then got my timing back and felt that I played pretty well. I had just won the North/South Senior (the week before the wedding), and I played well there, so my expectations are high here. It helps to come in off a win.”

 

The strategy for Fitzgerald paid off in the first round.

 

“Today I went out thinking I wasn’t going to play safe, I was just going to play the golf course and that really helped me,” she said. “I think sometimes if you worry about making the cut, you get too defensive and can’t play the course as it was designed to play. Tomorrow I can really work on ball position and relax a little bit more.”

 

Carr, the runner-up at the 2001 Senior Women’s Amateur, had seven bogeys and three birdies on the tough Foothills course.

 

“I scrambled a lot,” said Carr. “It wasn’t pretty, but I got the job done.”

 

Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, Carr chose to delay medical treatment until after the championship.

 

“It was a no brainer,” said Carr. “I’ve worked too hard not to be here.”

 

Two-time Senior Women’s Amateur champion Marlene Streit, 69, of Canada, was one shot off the pace. Streit, also the 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, captured the Senior Amateur crown in 1985 and 1994.

 

Defending champion Carol Semple Thompson, 54, of Sewickley, Pa., teed off at 12:45 p.m. Semple Thompson is going for her fifth consecutive title.

 

The remaining 66 players will finish play Saturday afternoon. After a second day 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 on 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.