Mrs. Mark A. Porter

Mrs. Mark A. Porter, 59, of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, won her fourth Senior Women's Amateur Championship and her fifth USGA title with a 54-hole score of 234, at the Gulph Mills Golf Club, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It was Mrs. Porter's third consecutive victory in the Senior Women's Amateur. She had missed the 1982 Championship because of an injury.

Her previous victories were in 1977, 1980, and 1981. Winner of the 1949 U.S. Women's Amateur, Mrs. Porter had therefore won championships 34 years apart. This is a USGA record. She also moved within one Senior Women's Amateur Championship of Mrs. Carolyn Cudone's record of five, won consecutively between 1968 and 1972.

The first-round leader was Ms. Jean Thomas of Phoenix, Arizona, who shot 77, two strokes ahead of Mrs. Lois Hodge, of San Jose, California. Mrs. Edean Ihlanfeldt, the defending Champion, from Seattle, Washington, was tied for third, at 81, with Ms. Natalie Gamble, of Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, Ms. Eugenia Slaymaker (Gulph Mills Women's Champion 14 times), of Villonova, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Ceil Maclaurin, of Savannah, Georgia. Mrs. Porter opened with 83, marred by a triple-bogey 8 at the third hole.

After shooting 77 in the second round, Mrs. Porter shared the lead with Mrs. Hodge, at 160, two strokes ahead of Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Albert Bower, the 1975 Champion, from Charleston, South Carolina. Mrs. Slaymaker, Mrs. Gamble, and Ms. Barbara Young, of Westport, Connecticut, were tied at 165.

Mrs. Porter shot 74 in the final round and opened an eight-stroke margin over Mrs. Hodge, who finished with 82. Mrs. Bower closed with 84 and finished third, 12 strokes back. Mrs. Porter had nine one-putt greens, for total of 27 putts. The key hole was the third, where Mrs. Porter reached the green in two with a 4-wood second and holed an 18-inch putt for an eagle 3.

Mrs. Hodge was the Champion of Group I (ages 50-54), Mrs. Porter won Group 11 (ages 55-59), Mrs. Bower won Group III (ages 6064), and Mrs. Ann Gregory, of Gary, Indiana, won Group IV (ages 65 and above) for the fourth time. Mrs. Maureen Garrett, President of the Ladies' Golf Union of Great Britain and recipient of the 1983 USGA Bob Jones Award, attended the Championship. The USGA accepted 143 entries.