Klasse Eliminated from U.S. Senior Women's Amateur During Round of 16 in Portland

  PORTLAND, Ore. – After cruising to victory during the Round of 32 Tuesday, Minnesota Golf Hall of Famer Leigh Klasse was eliminated by Tara Fleming during the Round of 16 at the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Waverley Country Club.

Making her eighth consecutive appearance at the event, Klasse downed Canada’s Sandra Turbide during the opening round of match play Monday. During her match against Switzerland’s Evelyn Orley, Klasse birdied the first hole and never looked back, advancing with a 4 and 3 victory.

Squaring off against Fleming during the Round of 16 Tuesday afternoon, Klasse grabbed an early 1-up lead by winning the second hole with a par before Fleming came surging back to win three straight holes and would increase her lead to 3-up with her third birdie in a span of five holes.

Klasse came back to win the ninth and tenth to pull within one, but Fleming won four straight beginning at the 12th and closed out the match at the 15th to eliminate Klasse, 5 and 3.

“I look forward to trying to compete in this again next year and hope to go deeper and get an exemption,” Klasse said after her loss to Fleming Tuesday. “I thought I had a good chance to go deep in this tournament this year because I felt very comfortable with the course.

“I enjoyed playing the course. I thought it set up well for me from tee to green. It required accurate drives and placement of shots into the greens—a thinking course—and not all about distance. The greens were very sloped and being below the hole was rewarded.”



THE 2017 U.S. SENIOR WOMEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
WAVERLEY COUNTRY CLUB
PORTLAND, ORE.
5,728 YARDS, PAR 72


TUESDAY’S ROUND OF 16 RESULTS
Tara Fleming, Jersey City, N.J., def. Leigh Klasse, Cumberland, Wis., 5 and 3


TUESDAY’S ROUND OF 32 RESULTS
Leigh Klasse, Cumberland, Wis., def. Evelyn Orley, Switzerland, 4 and 3


MONDAY’S ROUND OF 64 RESULTS
Leigh Klasse, Cumberland, Wis., def. Sanda Turbide, Canada, 4 and 3


For complete tournament results go to: www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2017/u-s--senior-women-s-amateur/scoring.html