To view the Championship on the USGA Tournament Management App, use the GGID: "WSGASRWMNAM"
DuPont, Wash. - The 24th Washington State Women's Amateur Championship is being held concurrently with the 8th Washington State Women's Mid-Amateur, 18th Washington State Senior Women's Amateur and 4th Washington State Super Senior Women's Amateur championships at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. on June 27-29.
All four championships will be conducted by the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA). The Women's Amateur and Mid-Amateur championships will be contested over 54 holes of stroke play on June 27-29, while the Senior and Super Senior championships consist of 36 holes of stroke play on June 27-28. Tee times begin Tuesday, June 27 at 7:30 a.m. PDT.
The Washington State Women's Amateur is the state's premier amateur championship for women, and traditionally draws the region's best players. Returning this year to defend her title is Marianne Li of Bellevue, Wash. She just finished her sophomore year at the University of California-Berkeley and was the top-ranked junior golfer in Washington while at Newport High School in Bellevue, qualifying for five USGA national championships and winning the 2014 Pacific Northwest Junior PGA Championship.
Also in the field are Alivia Brown, who won this title in 2015. Brown just finished her junior year playing for the Washington State women's golf team. She was runner-up in the 2015 PNGA Women's Amateur. Also playing are Bree Wanderscheid of Goldendale, Wash., a two-time 1A high school champion and now a junior at Washington State University; Kendall Gray of Federal Way, Wash., who won the 2013 Pacific Northwest Junior Girls' Amateur and now is a junior at the University of Idaho; and Kelly Hooper of Spokane, Wash. who won the 2015 Pacific Northwest Junior Girls' Amateur and is a sophomore at Montana State University.
The field of the Women's Mid-Amateur championship includes heavyweights such as two-time champion Leslie Folsom (2012, 2013) of Tukwila, Wash. and 2014 champion Shawn Farmer of Renton, Wash. Farmer was named the 2016 WSGA Women's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. Returning to defend her title is 2013 Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame inductee Alison Murdoch of Victoria, B.C.
The strong field in the Senior Amateur includes defending champion Lisa Smego of Oro Valley, Ariz. She has won this title four times (2006, 2007, 2013, 2016) and has also won the Women's Amateur twice (2010, 2011); and 2009 and 2012 champion Yasue Alkins of Steilacoom, Wash.
Karen Madison of East Wenatchee, Wash. returns to defend her title in the Super Senior. She also won the 2015 Pacific Northwest Super Senior Women's Amateur and was named the 2015 WSGA Senior Women's Player of the Year.
Past champions of the Washington State Women's Amateur have gone on to make their mark in the golf community, and include Paige Mackenzie (2002), a member of the University of Washington Athletic Hall of Fame who finished her senior year ranked the No. 1 golfer in the nation by Golfweek, and is a studio analyst on Golf Channel and LPGA Tour player; Kelli Kamimura (2001) now is the head coach of the women's golf team at Washington State University; Jimin Kang (1999), who was the runner-up at the 1999 U.S. Women's Amateur while still in high school, and now a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour; Molly Cooper (1997, 2000), who was medalist at the 2000 U.S. Women's Amateur qualifier, and now is the director of tournament and member programs at the Pacific Northwest Section PGA; Renee Skidmore (2005), who competed on Golf Channel's "Big Break" series; and Erynne Lee (2011), who was selected the WSGA Women's Player of the Year in three consecutive years, made it to the quarterfinals or better of the U.S. Women's Amateur three times, and is now a rising star on the UCLA women's golf team.
Opened in 2007, The Home Course is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2017. The course is cooperatively owned and operated by the Washington State Golf Association and Pacific Northwest Golf Association, and has been the site of numerous local, regional and national championships, including being the companion course to Chambers Bay for the 2010 U.S. Amateur and the venue for the 2014 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. The Home Course will also be the companion course to Chambers Bay for the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
Founded in 1922, the WSGA is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving over 68,000 individual members at more than 550 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, the WSGA works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds.
The WSGA also serves as a statewide representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.
Congratulations to the 18th Washington State Senior Women's Amatuer Champion!
Yasue Alkins, Steilacoom, WA