Hot Springs, Virginia, United States: Australians Nadene Gole, Sue Wooster and Gemma Dooley and Japan’s Etsuko Kurihara have all booked their places in the last 32 at the 63rd US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
Under idyllic late-summer skies at the Omni Homestead Resort’s Cascades Course, Gole saw off the challenge of American Amy Ellertson in the Round of 64 on Monday.
Bidding to become the 10th player to win back-to-back US Senior Women’s Amateurs, Gole went ahead for the first time at the eighth hole and never trailed again en route to a 3&2 win.
Gole said: “It was an interesting day. I wasn’t quite on my game. Still working out the greens. There’s this whole thing of defending [the title], and I'm going to just have to give it a go and keep enjoying it. That’s the most important thing right now.
“It was a beautiful day, so there's no complaints weather-wise. We had a couple putts that turned around and looked back at us in the face, but that's just how it is.”
Wooster, a three-time runner-up in the championship, progressed 3&1 at the expense of Claudia Ramirez while Dooley delivered a 2&1 success against Martha Leach.
Kurihara completed an excellent day for the Asia-Pacific contingent, overcoming Laura Coble, 4&3.
However, her fellow-Japanese Keiko Kawaguchi missed out on a place in the match play phase. Kawaguchi finished in a share of 62nd place in the 36-hole stroke play segment and was among six players contesting a play-off on Monday morning to determine the final three spots in match play. She was eliminated at the first extra hole, making a bogey at the short 15th.
In Tuesday’s Round of 32, Kurihara faces Canadian Stefani Markovich, while Gole takes on Jennifer Dalgadillo, Wooster squares off with Adele Peterson and Dooley does battle with Jayne Pardus.
Among the notables to bow out at the first stage of match play was Kathy Hartwiger, winner of the British Women’s Senior Amateur in July at Walton Heath in England. Seeking to become the third player to win senior women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year – a feat accomplished by Gole in 2024 and Lara Tennant in 2019 – Hartwiger built a three-up lead through seven holes but ended up falling to Ireland’s Tracy Eakin, one-down.
