Gole, Gallagher Win Battles of Champions as U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Reaches Quarterfinals

And then there were three.

In a championship defined so far by the dominance of past winners—four of the top six finishers in stroke play, all seven in the field advancing to match play and six earning victories in the Round of 64—just three former champions remain after a grueling double-round day at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va.

Following a morning Round of 32 that whittled the field to 16, Tuesday afternoon featured marquee matchups between past champions: three-time winner Ellen Port taking on defending champion Nadene Gole, and three-time champion Lara Tennant squaring off against 2023 champion Sarah Gallagher.

Gole, 56, of Australia, outlasted three-time winner Port, 2 up, in one of Tuesday afternoon’s most tightly contested Round-of-16 matches. Gole struck first to win the opening hole, but Port quickly answered, winning the next two to take the early advantage. By the sixth hole, Port, who has four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles to go along with her Senior Women’s Amateur wins, had stretched her lead to 2 up. 

Gole, however, showed the resilience that carried her to last year’s win. She clawed back by winning the 8th and 13th holes to tie the match, then seized momentum with a win at the 14th. Another victory at the 15th gave her a 2-up cushion, but Port wasn’t done, cutting the deficit in half with a clutch win on the 16th. Gole advanced to the quarterfinals by winning the18th with a steady par to seal the match, 2 up.

“Today’s been a game of patience. It’s hard to explain, but you know, it’s a long day,” said Gole, who also defeated Port in a Round-of-32 match in 2023. “Ellen’s always going to be a tough match; she’s a great competitor. We started off a bit scrappy. She flew some good putts in there in the end, and I got some good ones, so I just got her there on the last hole.”

Similarly, on the other side of the draw, Gallagher outlasted Tennant, 2 up. Gallagher struck first with a win at the fourth hole, only to see Tennant answer quickly by taking Nos. 5 and 6.

The back-and-forth continued as Gallagher squared the match on the 9th, before Tennant edged back in front with a win on 10. Gallagher’s birdie at the par-4 14th pulled her even once more, and she finally regained the lead on 16 with a conceded birdie—her first advantage since the early going. A par on the closing 18th sealed the hole and the match, sending Gallagher through to the quarterfinals for the third straight year. 

“I knew I was going to have to be really, really focused,” said Gallagher. “I kind of expected her to make everything, because I know she’s got such a great short game. So when you have that expectation, you're not really that disappointed when [her] ball goes in. I just kind of kept that attitude all day and tried to be really patient.”

Shelly Stouffer, the 2022 champion, was the other former winner to advance, defeating Marie Arnoux, of France, 1 up. In addition to winning in Alaska in 2022, Stouffer, 55, of Canada, was also last year’s runner-up.

What’s Next?

Match play continues on Wednesday with the quarterfinals and semifinals, starting at 8 a.m. EDT. The semifinal matches are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. Thursday’s 18-hole championship match is scheduled for 9 a.m. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• All quarterfinalists are exempt into next year’s championship, set to take place at Portland (Ore.) Golf Club Sept. 26-Oct. 1. 

• With Kristin Shifflett falling to Linda Jefferey, 5 and 4, in the Round of 32, no Virginians remain in the field. 

• There were 13 countries represented in the field to start the week, but just three remain. The United States has four players standing, while Canada and Australia each have two.  

• Sue Wooster, of Australia, is a three-time runner-up in the event, having reached the final match in 2018, 2019 and 2022. This is her first quarterfinals appearance since 2022

• Both of Kristyl Sunderman’s matches on Tuesday went extra holes. She defeated 2023 runner-up Brenda Corrie Kuehn in 20 holes in the morning, and Linda Jeffery in 20 holes in the afternoon.

Quotable

“It got off to a rough start. Lisa [McGill] was playing solid golf. She played very well the whole round and I was just sloppy and struggled with my putting. It was the do or die moment and I just kept digging in and I started making a couple putts. Near the end my irons were dialed in and that took some pressure off. It was a sloppy start but a strong finish. - Stefani Markovich on her 21-hole victory over Lisa McGill in the Round of 16

“I’ve seen every moment as a blessing. I’m thankful, and I didn’t think I’d get here. I tried to just stay detached from the outcome.” - Markovich on her emotions heading into the quarterfinals

“It feels good to win, but I wish it wasn’t against a good friend of mine. I’d always rather play someone I don’t know. It’s awful playing against your friends, because once you’re at this point, it’s what we all want. [Linda] and I actually practice playing match play together.” - Kristyl Sunderman on her 20-hole victory over Linda Jeffery

“It was really up and down. She’s such a good player and I knew it was going to be just like that. I knew we would be back and forth, so I just got lucky I guess.” - Sarah Gallagher on her Round of 16 match against three-time champion Lara Tennant

“Yeah, it’s early days, there is a lot of golf to be played. I’d love to do it, why wouldn’t I, you know? Anyone else would want to do it as well. We are all here to compete.”- Nadene Gole on defending her title