Seattle, Washington, United States: A field of 132 players from 492 entries began the week at the 2024 US Senior Women’s Amateur. After two rounds of stroke play and four rounds of match play just two remain for the final match at Seattle’s Broadmoor Golf Club.
Stroke play medallist Shelly Stouffer will take on the number three seed Nadene Gole in the 18-hole final after the pair won both their quarter-final and semi-final matches on Wednesday.
Canadian Stouffer won the 2022 US Senior Women’s Amateur while Australian Gole is competing in just her second US Senior Women’s Amateur after she reached the quarter-finals in 2023.
The morning’s marquee match of the quarter-finals was a rematch of the 2023 Senior Women’s Amateur between Brenda Corrie Kuehn and defending champion Sarah Gallagher. Corrie Kuehn, who has competed in more than 50 USGA championships, got her revenge with a one-up win to punch her ticket to a semi-final against Gole.
The other three quarter-final matches all ended on the 15th green with 4&3 margins: Stouffer defeated Kathy Hartwiger, Ellen Port eliminated the last remaining Washington native, Kim Shek, and Gole beat Dawn Woodard.
The first match off in the afternoon, Stouffer and Port tied the opening four holes with two pars and two birdies before Stouffer took the lead at the par-three fifth hole. She held that advantage until Port made birdie on the par-four ninth to level the match at the turn.
Stouffer reclaimed her lead with back-to-back wins with par on 10 and 11 but Port responded with a birdie on 12. When Stouffer won the short 14th with another par, Port hit back again, this time with a clutch 15-foot birdie putt. The back-and-forth battle continued when Stouffer made a birdie of her own on 16 to take a two-up lead with two holes to play. The pair traded pars on 17 to secure Stouffer’s 2&1 win and her spot in the final.
“I putted pretty well. I think I had one three-putt. I hit the ball pretty solid as well. I hit a lot of greens,” said Stouffer. “Ellen was scrambling a lot, so I figured she’d get worn out a little bit, which kind of happened a little bit.”
Port said: “I just didn’t play as well today. I missed a lot more fairways. I made more mistakes in this match than it seemed like I did all four combined.”
Gole, who owns a chocolate business in Australia, got off to a sweet start and took hold of her match with Corrie Kuehn early with birdies on two and three. She extended her lead to three-up with par on seven before Corrie Kuehn won her first hole of the match at nine to cut the deficit to two-down.
Gole, winner of The R&A Senior Women's Amateur Open in July, reclaimed her three-up lead on 10. Corrie Kuehn made things interesting with wins on 13 and 14 to bring the match within one before Gole responded with yet another win at the 14th.
Two down once again, this time with four holes to play, Corrie Kuehn clutched up with a birdie at the long 15th and tied the match with a 25-footer for birdie on 17. On the par-five 18th, Corrie Kuehn missed a 12-footer for birdie to win the match while Gole got up-and-down for par with a nifty chip to send the match to extra holes.
The match continued on the 10th, which Gole won the first time around with a par. On the first extra hole, Gole, who plays at Victoria Golf Club in the famed Australian Sandbelt, hit a match-winning shot from a sidehill lie in the rough to within just a few feet of the hole for a conceded birdie. Corrie Kuehn had a birdie look herself from some 40 feet away that failed to drop, which sent Gole to the final.
Gole said: “I played really solidly the first nine holes and probably should have been further up. Unfortunately, on the back nine I had a couple three-putts, and maybe I let (Corrie Kuehn) in.
“But she played the last six holes exceptionally well, holed some amazing putts. I feel very privileged to have played with her, and then to have (Sarah Gallagher) caddying for her as well, who I played last year in the quarters.”
Corrie Kuehn said: “I just kept plugging away. I struggled with my ball striking today. The rain did not help. I don’t play in the rain anymore. When it’s raining, I just don’t go out and play.”
