Hot Springs, Virginia, United States: Nadene Gole will be aiming to underline her standing as the world’s number one senior woman golfer when she tees-off at The Omni Homestead Resort tomorrow.
The 56-year-old Australian has returned to America to defend her title at the 63rd US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
Gole created history last year when she defeated 2023 champion Shelly Stouffer 3&2 in the 18-hole final at Broadmoor Golf Club, in Seattle, Washington. It was her first United States Golf Association (USGA) title and she became the first player from Australia to win this championship.
Furthermore, Gole was only the fifth Australian female to win a USGA title, joining an elite group comprising Minjee Lee (US Girls’ Junior, US Women’s Open), Gabriela Ruffels (US Women’s Amateur), Jan Stephenson (US Women’s Open) and Karrie Webb (US Women’s Open).
A former professional, Gole’s outstanding form has continued into 2025 with victories at the English Senior Women’s Open and the Scottish Senior Women’s Open. She also had the distinction of being one of only four amateurs to make the cut at last month’s US Senior Women’s Open. She is currently 151st in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Also among the starting field of 132 players this week are three other Australians (Gemma Dooley, Sue Wooster and Wendy Harrington) and four Japanese (Tomoko Suzuki, Etsuko Kurihara, Keiko Kawaguchi and Itsuko Moridaira).
Wooster is a three-time runner-up in the US Senior Women’s Amateur who this year has claimed titles at the Italian Senior International Ladies Championship, the Western Australia Senior Amateur and the NSW Senior Amateur Championship.
In 2022, Wooster and Gole were members of the triumphant Australian team in the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Senior Amateur Championships in Malaysia. That same year, Suzuki was part of the Japanese team that placed second.
A year later at Vinpearl Golf Nam Hoi An in Vietnam, Wooster and Dooley finished first and second individually to lead Australia to a successful title defence. In 2024, Wooster and Dooley again helped Australia to reclaim the team title, while finishing second and third individually at Vietnam’s Vinpearl Hai Phong.
Immediately following their US adventure, Dooley and Harrington will head to the Philippines where they’ll lead the Australian challenge at the 2025 APGC Women’s Senior Amateur (September 24-26).
Following 18-hole rounds of stroke play on September 13 and 14, the field will be cut to the top 64 scorers for match play. Five 18-hole rounds of match play will occur from September 15 to 17 to determine the finalists, who will square off in an 18-hole championship match on September 18.
The US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship is open to any female golfer who is 50 years of age as of September 13 and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 14.4.
