Tennant Wins 3rd Sr. Women's Amateur in a Row

POINT CLEAR, Ala. -- Lara Tennant, the two-time defending champion and co-medalist at this year's U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, stretched her unbeaten streak to four years on Thursday with a 2&1 victory over Ellen Port. 

This was a marquee matchup, pitting Tennant, 54, the player who has dominated the tournament since 2018, against Port, 59, a three-time former champion and a winner of seven USGA titles (3 Senior Women's Amateurs and 4 Women's Mid-Amateurs), and it was all square through 11 holes on the Dogwood Course at the The Lakewood Club. But then Port missed the green at the 457-yard, par-5 12th with a wedge, and Tennant won the hole with a par.

At the 14th, a 347-yard par 4, Port came up short with her second shot, and it ended up in a penalty area. A two-putt par by Tennant gave her a 2-up lead. Port's last best chance to cut into that lead came at the 351-yard, par-4 15th, where Tennant missed the green and failed to get up and down. But Port three-putted for a bogey.

"Lara is such a good putter and such a good player," Port said afterward. "I knew she wasn't going to make many mistakes. We each made a bad swing. Unfortunately, mine was when we were running out of holes (No. 14), and then I couldn't convert the (par) putt on 15. That would have helped my cause a little bit."

The No. 1 seed Tennant and No. 3 seed Port made matching pars at the 16th, and when they did the same at the 17th, Tennant had her 18th consecutive match-play victory in this tournament -- and her third Senior Women's Amateur championship in a row.

The first time she played in it was 2017, when the then-50-year-old from Portland was playing on her home course, Waverley Country Club in Eugene, Ore. She was the medalist that year, but lost her first match (the Round of 64).

Tennant hasn't lost since then. She won the Senior Women's Am in 2018 and again in 2019, and got to keep the trophy for an extra year when the tournament was canceled last year, a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. In addition to winning the match-play part of the tournament this year, she shot the lowest 36-hole score in the stroke-play qualifying (72-71-143). That was matched only by Gigi Higgins, who followed a 74 last Friday with a 69 on Saturday.

"I love that trophy," Tennant said after securing it for yet another year, "and it's been at my house for quite a while, because of Covid and winning the two previous years. So I've gotten kind of attached to it."

Tennant's closest match this year came in the Round of 32, where she faced the 2017 champion, Judith Kyrinis. Tennant was 2 down after eight holes, but she played 1 under the rest of the way and ended up winning in 19 holes. Her favorite score seemed to be 2 up, because she won 2&1 three times in her six matches, and won 2 up over Canadian Senior Women's Am champ Shelly Stouffer in the semifinals. (It was Stouffer, the No. 10 seed, who eliminated co-medalist Higgins, 1 up in the quarterfinals.)

With the victory, Tennant became the 12th player to win a USGA championship three years in a row. (Three in a row has happened 13 times, actually, because Tiger Woods did it twice, winning the U.S. Junior in 1991, '92 and '93, then winning the U.S. Am in '94, '95 and '96.)

The championship match began Wednesday morning, but only two holes were completed before the rain from Tropical Storm Nicholas made the course unplayable. Tennant had just gone 1 up with a par at the second. As a result of all the rain (3.5 inches in two days), the fourth hole had to be changed from a par 4 to 115-yard par 3 when the match was resumed Thursday morning. Port won the third with a par, but Tennant birdied the shortened fourth to reclaim the lead, and she birdied the 454-yard, par-5 fifth, as well, to take a 2-up lead. She just missed a third consecutive birdie at the sixth. Port countered with a birdie at the seventh (277 yards, par 4), and she leveled the match with a par at the ninth (346, par 4), after Tennant hit her second shot into a water hazzard and made a double bogey.


U.S. Senior Women's Amateur

At The Lakewood Club -- Dogwood Course

Par 72, 5,719 yards

Point Clear, Ala. 

Stroke-play results (the top 64 advance to match play)

1. Lara Tennant, Eugene, Ore.                      72-71--143

2. Gigi Higgins, Cape Coral, Fla.                   74-69--143

3. Ellen Port, St. Louis                                   73-72--145

4,. Susan Cohn, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.  71-75--146

T5. Kathy Hartwiger, Birmingham, Ala.           69-78--147

T5. Amy Ellertson, Free Union, Va.                 70-77-147

T50. Adele Peterson, Eden Prairie               76-84--160

What it took -- 163 (4 players for last 3 spots)

Missed cut 

Brenda Williams, Minnetrista                        84-83--167

Betsy Aldrich, Minnetonka                            89-84--173


Match play

Round of 64

(1) Lara Tennant, Portland def. Tina Barker, Fairfield, Conn. 2&1

(2) Gigi Higgins, Cape Coral, Fla. def. Jennifer Hoyt, Horseshoe Bay, Texas 4&3

(3) Ellen Port, St. Louis def. Angie Whitley Coleman, Wilmington, Del. 5&4

(11) Karen Garcia, Cool, Calif. def. Adele Peterson, Eden Prairie 1 up


Round of 32

Tennat def. (33) Judith Kyrinis, Canada 19 holes

(4) Susan Cohn, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. def. (29) Kim Eaton, Mesa, Ariz. 2&1

(5) Kathy Hartwiger, Birmingham, Ala., def. Mary Jane Hiestand, Naples, Fla. 3&2

Higgins def. Maggie Leef, Pewaukee, Wis. 4&2

Port def. Marilyn Hardy, Magnolia, Texas 2&1

(22) Sylvie Van Molle, Belgium def. Garcia 1 up


Round of 16

Tennant def. Kelley Nittoli, San Antonio, Texas 2&1

(8) Sally Krueger, San Francisco def. Susan Curtin, Westwood, Mass. 3&2

Cohn def. (13) Tama Caldabaugh, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. 7&5

Hartwiger def. (21) Adrienne Maclean, Tequesta, Fla. 20 holes  

Higgins def. Lynne Cowan, Rocklin, Calif. 3&2

(10) Shelly Stouffer, Canada def. Patricia Erhart,. Birmingham 3&1

Port def. herese Quinn, Jacksonville, Fla. 19 holes 

Van Molle def. Tracy Welch, Winchester, Mass. 22 holes


Quarterfinals 

Tennant def. Krueger 3&2

Cohn def. Hartwiger 3&2

Stouffer def. Higgins 1 up

Port def. Van Molle 4&2


Semifinals

Tennant def. Cohn 2 up

Port def. Stouffer 1 up


Final

Tennant def. Port 2&1