Past Champions Fitzgerald, Streit Advance To Championship Final

 

Austin, Texas – Nancy Fitzgerald, 59, of Carmel, Ind., ousted four-time defending champion Carol Semple Thompson, 54, of Sewickley, Pa., while Marlene Streit, 69, of Canada, outlasted Marianne Towersey, 52, of Newport Beach, Calif., in 24 holes to advance to the championship final of the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur, being held at the 5,762-yard, par-72 Foothills course at Barton Creek Resort & Club.

 

After Fitzgerald squared the match with a birdie at the par-3, 154-yard 14th hole, Semple Thompson took the lead back at the par-4, 290-yard 16th hole when she hit her approach shot to within three feet of the hole and Fitzgerald hit into the hazard and conceded the hole.

 

Fitzgerald, the 1997 Senior Women’s Amateur champion, then buried her tee shot on the par-3, 174-yard 17th hole in the rough to the left of the green, and had to stand in the bunker to hit her ball. She squared the match when she made an 8-foot par putt and Semple Thompson three-putted from 30 feet.

 

“That was a miracle shot and a miracle putt,” said Fitzgerald. “I thought several times that it was over.”

 

On the par-5, 460-yard 18th hole, Semple Thompson hit her approach shot just above the green and chipped down to six feet. She missed her par putt, and Fitzgerald two-putted from 25 feet to earn a 1-up victory.

 

“Carol played great today, but I just prayed for a great match,” Fitzgerald said. “Now I’ve got to go back and realize it’s not over, and I have to play again this afternoon.”

 

The loss ended Semple Thompson’s win streak of 28 consecutive Senior Women’s Amateur matches, and ended her hopes of tying Carolyn Cudone’s record of five consecutive titles, set from 1968-72.

 

“Nancy played beautifully today,” said Semple Thompson, who was the equivalent of two under par. “I played well, but not well enough.”

 

Streit, the 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1985 and 1994 Senior Women’s Amateur champion, won the first two holes against Towersey, who then won the par-4, 367-yard 4th and par-5, 506-yard 5th holes to square the match. The two stood even until the 16th hole, where Towersey’s bogey gave Streit a one-hole lead. Towersey squared the match on the 17th when Streit hit her tee shot into the bunker and two-putted.

 

After the two matched pars at the 18th hole, they went to extra holes, where Streit finally earned a 1-up victory on the 24 th hole, the par-4, 310-yard 6th hole, when Towersey conceded after she hit her approach into a greenside bunker and needed three shots to exit the bunker.

 

“I just played pars today,” said Streit, who can break Lewis Oehmig ’s record as oldest champion in USGA history. “I missed a bunch of short putts, but I figured as long as I played pars I was fine.”

 

The championship final will be played Thursday afternoon.

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.

Results

Austin, Texas – Results from the semifinal round of match play Thursday at the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the 5,762-yard, par-72 Foothills course at Barton Creek Resort & Club:

 

Round of 4

Upper Bracket

Marlene Streit, Canada (153) def. Marianne Towersey, Newport Beach, Calif. (164), 24 holes

 

Lower Bracket

Nancy Fitzgerald, Carmel, Ind. (148) def. Carol Semple Thompson, Sewickley, Pa. (150), 1 up