Championship Blog For 2009 USGA Senior Women's Amateur

Rhonda Glenn of the USGA is on site this week at the 2009 USGA Senior Women's Amateur being conducted at The Homestead's Cascades Course. Feel free to comment on her championship blog at rglenn@usga.org.

A Famous Cascades Moment in 1928

Hard to believe that one of the most famous USGA championship moments on this wonderful Cascades Course happened 81 years ago. It was Sept. 29th and two famous women, Glenna Collett and Virginia Van Wie, teed off in the final of the 32nd U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

I thought of it this morning, when Sherry Herman and Carolyn Creekmore teed off in the final of the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. It was so long ago, of course, and different people were on hand for that memorable final. But these same mountain peaks looked down on this match, just as they did then. No doubt some of these same huge trees were little saplings, and today’s white-tail deer are perhaps 10 generations removed from that famous day. But the golf course was the same wonderful test that we have, so fortunately, today.

Collett had beaten Bea Gottlieb in the first round, 5 and 3. Oddly, I used to know Bea Gottlieb. When I was a new golfer, and about 12 years old, I played at Lake Worth (Fla.) G.C., and, believe it or not, Ms. Gottlieb was a winter regular there. I’d see her with a little hat pulled low over her weathered face. She was a tiny person, no taller than 5’2”, and she pulled her old cart along, enjoying that Florida course. I remember her because I thought that, even at that time, she had a good golf swing and she was a better player than I. I didn’t know that she was a famous amateur from the Collett era.

Collett would meet Virginia Van Wie in the 36-hole final here at The Cascades. Collett was not yet quite as famous as she would become. She had won two of these championships, in 1922 and ’25, but she was not the legend she would become after she captured a record six Women’s Amateur titles.

Van Wie was from Chicago, a young stylist who would later go on to win three straight championships. But this day belonged to Glenna. She trounced Van Wie, 13 and 12, ending their match on the picturesque sixth hole, the little dogleg that curls around the mountain. The hole calls for a pinpoint tee shot, then a well-struck iron must carry a brook to the green slightly above the golfer.

When we got to the sixth hole today, as I watched Carolyn Creekmore go 1 up on Sherry Herman in their wonderful match, I thought of Collett and Van Wie, shaking hands on this green, “Congratulations,” and “Condolences,” so many, many years ago.

Golf is one of the few games in which we treasure our historic sites. We don’t build suites for big-spenders and we don’t erect domes over them. We just take very good care of these courses and, if we’re very lucky, we don’t see them change at all. As Ben Crenshaw said of Donald Ross-designed courses, “You don’t change a Ross course, you copy it.”

The Cascades is one of these little jewels of a golf course. Designed by William S. Flynn in the 1920s, it’s a course that remains largely the same except for the modern irrigation system. It still challenges fine players. Even at 5,515 yards, as it was appropriately set up for the Women’s Senior Amateur Field, only one player broke par. The course is still a gem. Sherry Herman and Carolyn Creekmore know that, and gave it high praise at the presentation ceremony.

Those who play here no doubt know it is a great golf course. They enjoy their rounds, experiencing intrigue rather than torture. What they may not know is that Glenna Collett won a national championship here and Sam Snead walked these fairways and hit his screaming tee shots from these tees. The Cascades is Brigadoon.

The Final

Two very strong finalists have teed off this morning – Sherry Herman and Carolyn Creekmore. Should be a good, close match. Fog is swirling over the mountains and there’s a light drizzle. The dampness will no doubt make the course play a bit longer than it has played for the last two days – not as much bounce to the fairways, and the greens should hold. Sure hope the weather holds for these very fine players.

Final Atmosphere

At the Players’ Dinner the night before play began, the defending champion makes a short speech. Diane Lang, the 2008 champion, gave a nice talk. One of the subjects she hit upon drew laughter. In discussing the final last year, she spoke of how lonely it is when the championship gets down to just two players.

“Now there’s plenty of room on the practice tee, where you’ve had to wait for a spot to clear all week, so Toni (Wiesner – the late runner-up) and I each took one end of the tee,” Lang said. "Most of us in that crowd have played in at least one or two match-play tournament finals. I recall the final of the National Women’s Collegiate some years ago: Roberta Albers and I were the last players left standing. We each had one end of the vacant locker room and it was very, very quiet. As we each opened our lockers, and then put on our shoes, I remember thinking we were like two gun-fighters preparing for a duel." 

Speed of Play

Fine players can play fast. After two holes, the match is all-square and Creekmore and Herman are 4 ½ minutes ahead of schedule.

A Tourist In Virginia

Beatriz Arenas is a Senior Women’s Amateur contestant who lives in Guatemala. She loves coming to the United States to compete but is getting a bit weary of the view on her early morning shuttle commutes from airport to hotel and from hotel to golf course and back again.

“Every time I come to your country I’m always in a van and in the dark,” Arenas told other contestants. “I see nothing but trees and the golf course.”

Maggie Weder, a fellow contestant, and their friend Angela Stewart, a pediatrician, told Arenas they’d solve that problem. They convinced her to stay another day rather than taking a 3 a.m. shuttle to the Roanoke Airport. They’ll make a leisurely drive to the airport on Thursday, stop frequently and take photographs.

“We going to sight-see,” Weder said. “Beatriz needs to see this beautiful country. There are mountains out there to see!”

Chapin Reminisces About ’67 Women’s Open

Steve Chapin, the golf cart attendant at The Cascades, stood under the caddie shelter this gloomy morning in the Allegheny Mountains. His hands are stuffed in the pockets of his navy windbreaker. It’s a chilly morning, but the golf goes on.

While the quarterfinalists in the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur battle it out on the wonderful old William S. Flynn-designed course, Chapin reminisces about a long-ago championship – the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open.

Chapin caddied for amateur Kay Smith that week. She missed the cut. Anne Quast Sander, who played in this Senior Women’s Amateur, also played in 1967 and tied for 26th, a respectable finish for an amateur in the Women’s Open. Another amateur, however, won all the glory. The young French player, Catherine Lacoste, became the only amateur to win the Women’s Open when she defeated the field that week.

Chapin was there. He has, in fact, been at The Cascades for nearly every important golf moment in the last 45 years. Chapin was born in a house adjacent to the sixth green. He began working on the club’s golf carts when he was in the 8th grade. Over the years he has caddied for the finest golfers who chanced to visit The Cascades; Sam Snead and his nephew J.C. Snead, Vinny Giles, Lanny and Bobby Wadkins, Curtis Strange. Robbye King, a native Virginian, and Donna Andrews are among the fine women players he’s caddied for.

Chapin is a fine player and once shot 69 on The Cascades. He has played golf with both Sam and J.C. Snead.

“J.C. gave me a pair of shoes the other day,” Chapin said. “We wear the same size.”

As a youngster, Chapin played The Cascades nearly every day. “I’d get off the school bus and play my way home,” he said. Today, he lives in that house near the sixth green where he was born.

He remembers the week of that long-ago Women’s Open, the strength of the women players of that day. “Carol Mann really impressed me,” he said, recalling the 1965 U.S. Women’s Open champion.

“There are some good players here this week, too,” he said. “Carolyn Creekmore, I like the look of her. Like Jack Nicklaus said, ‘You’ve got to have a killer instinct and a clear conscience to be a golfer,’ and she has that.”

The Cascades recently returned the bunkering to the original William S. Flynn design, but the course is a little different, Chapin said. Today’s fairways are narrower than those of the past. The biggest difference since 1967, he said, “The irrigation system is in. We used to water the course by hand. I worked on the system in 1973, when we laid the pipe by hand. We had to do it at night and we could only do three fairways a night.”

In today’s fast-paced and transient world, it’s rare to find someone who has lived and worked at the place where they were born, but Chapin is just such a treasure.

Reinstated Amateurs in Every Match

Five of the eight quarterfinalists in the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur are former professionals who applied for, and received, reinstatement to their amateur status. Only Pat Cornett, Dana Harrity and Brenda Pictor are lifelong amateurs. The former professionals still in the field are Sherry Herman, Carolyn Creekmore, Kim Eaton, Noreen Mohler and Robyn Puckett. Eaton and Puckett are facing off this morning in match No. 2.

Special Signature

Terry Kocon has the unusual distinction of seeing her fingers turn different colors at USGA championships.

That’s because Kocon, an Albuquerque, N.M., resident is a calligrapher and responsible for several hundred numbers and letters that dot the colorful and exactly-done scoreboard at this week’s USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

Kocon has been winning the award for most colorful fingers – and likely sorest right arm – since starting to work at USGA championships in 1999. The quality of her work is in demand, too; she works no less than a dozen events a year, including USGA championships as well as the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship and select American Junior Golf Association events.

A self-described “military brat,” Kocon was born n Pennsylvania before moving several times before eventually settling in Albuquerque, N.M. At a young age, Kocon was admittedly captivated by a drafting board that her parents used to keep in the basement of their home, always interested in the intricacies of fancy numbering and lettering.

“We’re used to having green fingers,” she laughs.

These days, her keen eye and commitment to quality for the art of shaping and appearance of the board is clear to all competitors. Always on the move, but with an air-traffic controller’s calm, Kocon’s fingers seemingly respond quickly and almost magically to constant murmurs of “red-3,” “green-4.”

Kocon, a graphic artist in Albuquerque, takes pride in having put her own signature on national championships. Many competitors keep a portion of Kocon’s scoreboards as a memento; one amateur in Texas has even wallpapered his garage with a collection of her precisely-crafted artwork.

“They take my handwriting home. It makes me feel real good,” Kocon says.

- Andrew Blair

Sign Her Up!

After we media folks write our stories and assemble the scores, we send them via the Internet to a number of outlets. A key outlet, of course, is the Associated Press, which then distributes the material to all of its subscribers nationwide.

Once the day's story and results are e-mailed, we call AP in New York to verify that they’ve received it. It’s the last chore of the day. The AP folks are always courteous and most of them sound as if they have a dry sense of humor – a typical trait among journalistic types. I called AP to verify on Sunday night, and talked to Mary Ann. “Hi, I’m Rhonda Glenn and I’m calling to make sure you got our results from the Senior Women’s Amateur,” I said.

“Yes, we got them. Hey, that looks like a pretty cool tournament. How can I get in?” asked Mary Ann. After a minute of chatting, I found that Mary Ann plays with men on weekends, from the middle tees, not the forward tees. She’s over 50, which is key, and she’s a pretty good player. I told her where to find an entry form on usga.org.

But Mary Ann is right. Very cool event. We had 502 players enter the championship this year and go through sectional qualifying.  Hope we see Mary Ann next year.

Historic Homestead

The picturesque resort hotel at The Homestead. (Fred Vuich/USGA)

If you’re an American history buff, the resort at The Homestead has a lot to offer. Hot Springs, Va., became noted in the pre-Revolutionary days for its warm, healing springs. Famous founders of our country used to journey here to enjoy their balm. One of the most prominent was Thomas Jefferson.

Driving up the little roads that twist through the Allegheny Mountains, one wonders about that difficult journey via horseback more than 200 years ago. The landscape is breathtaking. A few maples on the mountainsides are just now beginning to have a glow of orange and red. We’ve seen small deer scramble down a tree-covered rocky cliff to drink from the pond at the 18th green. Fred Vuich, our USGA photographer this week, says the pond is full of rainbow trout. I believe Fred would much rather be manning a fishing pole than a camera this week. Hot Springs is as beautiful as American gets. I could live here.

Fashions

So what are the players wearing this year? Lots of the three-quarter-length pants; “clam diggers” or “pedal pushers” or, as a few LPGA Tour pros used to call them, “Flood pants!” Slacks, of course, and the neat new longer, slim-cut stretch-fabric shorts. Lots of water-proof vests for the morning chill. It’s not quite autumn, but it’s mighty late for summer so we’re in transitional colors.

I’ve seen a number of shirts and sweaters in that pretty “grass green” that looks so nice on the golf course. Players are wearing quite a bit of black. Golf shoes tend to be the colorful saddle-shoes, combining different shades and white. Speaking of white, I lived in Virginia for seven years and the theory was you wore white shoes only between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Of course, this practice varies around the country. In some places it’s from Easter to Labor Day. In Florida, my native state, it’s year round!                              

The Word: Great Golf Books

Finding that defending champion Diane Lang learned a lot of her golf from Hogan’s “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf,” makes me think of all of the wonderful golf books I’ve read. I’m not really a formal collector, but have some 500 volumes.

Begin thinking of golf books you’ve read in your own life and perhaps e-mail me about some of your favorites. I’d love to know what you liked.

Charles Price and Herbert Warren Wind are my particular favorites. I have a collection of Price stories that will make you weep and laugh at the same time. Wind’s best work, I think, was in his essays for The New Yorker, many of which are collected in “Playing Through.” Wind’s, “The Story of American Golf” is valuable just because someone had the energy to sit down, do the interviews and assemble all of that history, but I don’t think it’s Wind’s finest writing. That came in his essays.

Wind, coincidentally, worked with Hogan on The Modern Fundamentals, from what I’ve been told a rather long and excruciating task because Hogan was such a perfectionist. That reminds me of my own work with Kathy Whitworth and Judy Bell on their books. Working with these legendary women was a memorable experience. With Whitworth, I used a tape recorder, of course, and tried to write her life story in her own words. As she speaks in that sort of colorful, Texas vernacular, I thought it worked out well. What I noticed most, however, was the painstaking attention Kathy paid to the photographs of her golf swing. She poured over those photos for hours and hours, pointing out some tiny little flaw in one of the swings and tossing that photo aside, time after time. This was a very tedious process to me. I think it was the only part of the book that really interested her and it showed how fully involved she is with the golf swing, her great knowledge and her attention to detail – all of which combined to make her a great champion. The book is “Golf for Women,” and I still refer it to it for short game tips and course management.

Judy Bell’s book, “Breaking the Mold,” was so much fun. Judy is of course so funny and her memory of her fascinating life is superb. Much of that book was written based on interviews I did with her while she was lying on a lounge undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, from which she has thankfully recovered. Sometimes I couldn’t get her “off the dime” to finish our work, so I developed a technique – I’d just write what I had, knowing it was sprinkled with errors, and mail it to her. She’d read it and start marking it up in her big slashing style, call me and rant for awhile, and at last I had her attention. It’s a book Judy should be proud of because her life is truly something to be proud of.

There are some new writers who have written hugely popular books, but I’m afraid the most entertaining of these new works leave me cold – too many mistakes; names of featured players misspelled, names of championships incorrect, and, as journalists always say, you build credibility one penny at a time. If you make a mistake, take out a dollar’s worth of credibility. In one book I wrote, quite a popular one, I made two mistakes. They’ll haunt me forever, although no one has noticed them, thankfully.

Records

A couple of records have been established this week. The cut came at 162 and this ties the lowest cut (2008) since the championship went to match play, necessitating stroke-play qualifying rounds. It’s a numeric record, but at 22 over par, the cut trails 1997, 2003 and 2008 when the cut was 20 over par.

Joan Higgins of Glendora, Calif., shot 142 for 36 holes to win medalist honors. This ties the second lowest qualifying score in championship history. Carolyn Creekmore shot 73-69—142 last year at Tulsa (Okla.) Country Club. The late Toni Wiesner holds the qualifying record, a phenomenal 67-68—135 at Golden Horseshoe G.C. in nearby Williamsburg, Va., in 1998. Following that championship I received a note from Toni, who wrote, “I can’t believe those scores. I don’t know what happened?” It was magical.

At 5,515 yards,The Cascades is the shortest championship layout in history. Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1969 was previously the shortest course at 5,650 yards. Players note, however, that the mountainous terrain of The Cascades Course makes it play much longer than the advertised yardage. Some of the uphill holes are playing 30 to 40 yards longer than the yardage on the scorecard.

Our International Guests

Six players from foreign countries made the cut; Beatriz Arenas of Guatemala, Susan Dye of England, Cheryll Damphouse and Jackie Little of Canada, Chris Utermarck of Germany and of course Diane Lang, the defending champion and three-time winner from Jamaica. Surprisingly, all but Little and Lang are in the upper portion of the bracket.

Calling The Homestead Home

Richmond’s Boodie McGurn is more than two and a half hours from her central Virginia home, but she can’t help but feel like she’s in her own backyard this week.

She’s won two Virginia State Golf Association Women’s Amateur titles at The Homestead’s Old Course (near the resort’s hotel) and counts the Cascades Course among her favorites. With seven Virginians competing in this week’s national championship, the ever-popular McGurn feels like she is among family.

“I am so at home here,” said McGurn, who camped in the area while growing up. “I love it – it’s so nice. I’m savoring every minute. I get up every morning at the crack of dawn so I can enjoy it.”

Apparently, the Cascades layout, seemingly cut out of the Allegheny Mountains, agrees with McGurn. She shot a Virginia-best 11-over 151 (75-76) in stroke-play qualifying, earned the sixth seed and is among five Virginians to make match play; the others are her close friend Lindsay Wortham (Richmond) as well as Portsmouth’s Cindy Morris and northern Virginians Mimi Hoffman (Alexandria) and Shelley Savage (Alexandria).

McGurn, who faces Canada’s Kelly Koselek in the first round of match play, won’t make any predictions about her performance once match play starts, but knows one thing is guaranteed.

“I’m not leaving until the last Virginian is gone,” she says. “I’m absolutely not leaving, so hopefully one of us will go all the way.”

- Andrew Blair

Senior Women’s Amateur Still a Day in the Sun

Having attended many dozens of USGA championships and having played in a few, I can’t help but notice the uniqueness of the Senior Women’s Amateur.

Many of these players have competed against each other since junior golf days, and some encountered each other more than 45 years ago. They are old campaigners in a game that rewards experience. Nearly all of them play crafty golf, avoiding trouble, taking the sure route to the hole. There are a lot of players here with fine short games. For others, the years have taken their toll on previously smooth putting strokes but if their skills are not quite as fine, their knowledge of the game is more extensive than ever before. They simply know more shots.

And they’re not afraid to talk golf. In the days leading up to the first round, you could encourage nearly any player here to discuss golf theory and get an eloquent response. Diane Lang, the three-time winner and defending champion, even admits to learning the game from Ben Hogan’s, “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf,” a book written more than 40 years ago. While it’s a classic, ask anyone at the U.S. Girls’ Junior if they’ve read it and you will no doubt receive a very blank stare.

More than any single quality, however, the Senior Women’s Amateur has a lot of love. You see it when players first met each other again. When they asked, “How are you?” they asked with real concern. They are older now and they know the toll that illness has taken in their ranks.

At the Players Dinner, Championship Chairman Ede Rice, a member of the USGA Women’s Committee, remembered three of this championship’s stalwarts: Phyllis Semple, Carolyn Cudone and Toni Wiesner. Semple played many times and scored some high finishes. She was also a very visible presence in the gallery of her daughter, Carol Semple Thompson. Phyllis lent style and a lot of grace to the Senior Women’s Amateur. Carolyn Cudone, a former Curtis Cup player, won this championship a record five straight times. Her fine game and her cheery way are missed. She had been away for a long time and Carolyn was in her 90s when she died this year, but the players know who she was and they have the utmost respect for her.

Toni Wiesner’s death from cancer was harder. Wiesner was their contemporary. She was runner-up to Lang just last year. Last year she was just another player, although a very good one, here to laugh and dine and play, just like everyone else. Now, in seemingly less than a minute, Toni is gone. It was hard to take.

While these players laugh and joke with each other, there’s a certain fragility of spirit in this field. By now, they have lost people that they love. They know for sure that nothing lasts forever. “Fame, I’m gonna live for-ever!” may apply to youngsters, but not to the players here. A few of them know fame and they are icons to their peers – Marlene Stewart Streit, Carol Semple Thompson, Anne Quast Sander. They have earned their lofty places among the game’s immortals.

Here they are treated like everyone else, but their fellow players know and they treasure what these friends have done.

This is a very jovial field, seemingly relaxed. The players here aren’t “just golfers,” they have lived their lives in other ways. In business, education and with their families, they have achieved things that perhaps they never dreamed they could accomplish.

The game is the same here but the old rivalries have mellowed. These players treasure this experience. They value the time they have here and in playing yet another year. This is a national championship, true, but for the players, it’s also a big, warm hug.

Rollins Graduates United

Five players giggled and arranged and rearranged themselves for souvenir photographs. All five are graduates of Rollins College, giving the NCAA Division II Florida school a hefty representation in the 2009 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur.

Connie Hirschman Shorb of York, Pa., was part of the Class of 1969. Laura Lecker Carson of Lake Bluff, Ill., graduated in 1978. Two players, Cindy Grant Pallatino of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Joanne Simila Catlin of Ashburnham, Mass., were in the Class of 1979. And the most prominent golfer among them, World Golf Hall of Fame member Marlene Stewart Streit of Canada, graduated in 1956, the same year in which she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Catlin and Streit were paired together in Saturday’s opening round of stroke play. It’s been a good reunion.

For Local Volunteer, Winning Is a Habit

There are a number of players with multiple titles to their name at this week’s Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, but none can likely match the win count of one USGA volunteer.

Roanoke resident Arman Fletcher, who is serving as a spotter this week, has won golf tournaments over an eight-decade span and collected an incredible 300 victories during that period.

He’s conquered some of the nation’s top courses and played with some of the nation’s premier amateurs, including past USGA president William C. Campbell. Fletcher has also won multiple Virginia State Golf Association senior titles. At age 60, he was honored as the 1987 VSGA golfer of the year after taking home the State Senior Amateur and Senior Four-Ball titles. He also won the North & South Super Senior at Pinehurst No. 2 that same watershed year.

Self-taught, Fletcher grew up in Princeton, W.Va., and broke par for the first time at 10. A few years later, still a pre-teen, he won his first event, a caddie tournament, accounting for the first of three straight victories in what would become a lifelong habit. Since, he’s been a frequent visitor to the winner’s circle, taking the National Elks tournament 13 times. It’s no wonder the 81-year-old is in the Roanoke Valley Hall of Fame. The key to his longevity?

“A very competitive attitude,” said Fletcher. “I’m constantly trying to improve my game and been very fortunate. I’ve never had a lesson in my life. I would try certain things and if they didn’t work, I would never try them again. If it worked I kept it. If it didn’t, I threw it away.”

It should come as no surprise that Fletcher is helping at this week’s national championship. Over the course of his life, he’s regularly provided assistance in the form of course management aid and swing tips to golfers, be it a scratch player or a novice, a championship caliber player or a weekend duffer.

“I think you’re put on this earth to help other people and if you can’t do that, you’re just taking up space,” he says. “That’s why I help everybody. I love the game of golf. I think it’s the greatest game there is. You get credit for all the good shots and have to take credit for all the poor ones.”

Undoubtedly, he has plenty of knowledge to pass along.

“I want to see everyone play well.”

He offers a wry smile and displays a glimpse of the tournament-tested fire that remains.

“I don’t want to beat you when you’re playing poorly. I want to beat you when you’re playing well. I don’t want to walk around and watch you beat yourself. That’s no fun.”

Despite some declining health that hasn’t allowed him to play for the last eight years, his love of the game remains as vibrant as ever. Even with all of his victories, Fletcher has one more goal in sight.  

“I’m trying to get to 2010, win another tournament and make it nine decades [of wins],” he laughs.

-Andrew Blair

Disqualification

Melissa Sage of Charlotte, N.C., who shot a 9-over-par 79, failed to sign her scorecard and was disqualified from the championship.

The Places We Have

JoAnn Washam, a long-hitting player on the LPGA Tour a few years ago, would often greet her friends by twirling her golf club and saying, “Just another beautiful day in paradise.”

Washam had it right. Ask anyone at the 2009 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur – players, committee members, USGA staff members – and they will tell you they are privileged to go to the sites we visit. This week it’s The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.

The Homestead is one of the last gracious, old-line resorts, updated to suit today’s modern world with computer connections and big-screened TVs in all of the rooms at the grand hotel. There are graceful touches of the past, however, as rocking chairs line the wide front porch and a rare and quiet courtesy from the staff.

The golf course – thank goodness – remains exactly as the legendary William S. Flynn designed it, holes tumbling along the mountainsides and stretching greenly through the flatter land of the valley. Brooks cascade through the rough and the trees whisper in a gentle wind.

It was a chilly morning and the fairways were a bit soft, but the sun was warm on your back and by mid-afternoon the course had regained its bounce.

As at all USGA championships, the players play and practice hard and many don’t leave until spending a last few lingering hours on the practice putting green. The staff and committee members work late into the night, but we all know how lucky we are to be here.

Rarely do people manage to go on a yearly trip to such fine courses and resorts but, each championship season, the Senior Women’s Amateur visits places like The Homestead.

The clubhouse here is small and perfectly proportioned, a little Italianate wonder on the wooded mountainside. Jacob Rubino, a successful Wall Street trader, had it built as a summer house in 1894 on his 1,700-acre parcel of land. The clubhouse has oak floors and its three stories offer the open feeling of Palladian design. A red-tiled roof lends a European air.

Each day, the chef and cooks from The Homestead’s hotel bring gleaming pans of hot food and set up luncheon under a yellow-and-white striped awning adjacent to the practice putting green. The food is beautifully displayed and delicious. Today the table groaned with pasta dishes, which included chicken fettucini alfredo. “I use only heavy cream in the sauce,” said the chef, “no light cream for me.”

The players line up for their salads, pasta and rich, chocolate desserts and either eat in an open dining tent or on the clubhouse porch.

Perhaps some contestants and some volunteers live this way at home, but I have doubts. More of them may be like Sandy Woodruff, who lives in Santa Cruz, Calif. Sandy is here with her husband, who spent today fly-fishing.

“I’m just here to enjoy this,” she said. (She enjoyed it mightily, firing a 4-over-par 74 in the opening round.) “At home I played with some very nice players who asked me about how I started golf and what club my parents belonged to. I said, ‘Club! We never belonged to a club! My folks owned a little pitch-and-putt course, and that’s where I grew up.’ I suppose some players grew up on private courses, but not many. To me, this championship and the places it takes us are very special.”

Very special, indeed.

We Have An Ace

Carolyn Creekmore, the 2004 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion, made a hole-in-one on the 147-yard 11th hole in the first round of stroke-play qualifying on Saturday. The Dallas, Texas, resident used a 5-iron.