Port Ekes Out a Victory; Defending Champ Also Wins Match at U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur 

Ellen Port knows how to close out matches. The 63-year-old from St. Louis, Mo., has won seven USGA championships in her illustrious career, including the last time she raised a trophy, in this event in 2016. On Monday at the 63rd U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, Port leaned on her extensive experience in the Round of 64.

Under idyllic late-summer skies at the Omni Homestead Resort’s Cascades Course in Hot Springs, Va., Port earned a hard-fought, 1-up victory over Michigan State University women’s golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll. Port jumped out to a 4-up lead through seven holes before Slobodnik-Stoll, of Haslett, Mich., won Holes 11 through 13 to cut the margin to 1-down. After Port recorded a double bogey on the par-5 17th, the match was tied going to the par-3 finishing hole, where Port calmly made a par to secure the win.  

“It was the tale of two nines,” said Port. “My goal was to just play the course and not Stacy... I was successful on the front nine but got a bit careless on the back. Stacy took advantage and hit some quality shots and squared the match on 17. I was thankful to get the win.

Defending champion Nadene Gole of Australia also emerged victorious as she seeks to become the 10th player to win back-to-back U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs. After a back-and-forth first seven holes with her opponent, Amy Ellertson of Free Union, Va., Gole took her first lead on the 8th hole and never trailed again en route to a 3-and-2 win.  

“It was an interesting day,” said Gole. “I wasn’t quite on my game. Still working out the greens. There’s this whole thing of defending [the title], and I'm going to just have to give it a go and keep enjoying it. That’s the most important thing right now.”

Another previous U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion who survived a tough match was Judith Kyrinis of Canada. The 2017 champion and stroke-play medalist found herself 3 down through 10 holes to 2003 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Amber Marsh Elliott of Greensboro, N.C., who emerged from a two-hole playoff this morning to secure the final spot in the match-play bracket. Kyrinis righted the ship with wins in four of the next six holes to take a 1-up lead and hang on for the win.  

“I started a little rough and obviously Amber played really well,” said Kyrinis. “I was 3 down and I just told myself to stay patient. You know Amber is a USGA champion so you can’t take anybody lightly no matter what your seed is. She hit the ball great and made some great putts. We both took turns maybe not playing our best golf, but that’s match play.”

Other notable players to secure their place in Tuesday’s Round of 32 include three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore.; 2022 champion Shelly Stouffer of Canada; 2023 champion Sarah Gallagher of Canton, Ga.; 2023 runner-up Brenda Corrie Kuehn of Asheville, N.C. and three-time runner-up Sue Wooster of Australia.  

Kathy Hartwiger of Pinehurst, N.C., who won the British Women’s Senior Amateur in July at Walton Heath in England, was seeking to become the third player to win senior women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year. Naden Gole accomplished the feat in 2024 and Lara Tennant did it in 2019. Hartwiger built a 3-up lead through seven holes but ended up falling to Tracy Eakin of Ireland, 1 up.

What’s Next?

The Round of 32 will begin at 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 16, followed immediately by the Round of 16 at approximately 2 p.m. Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• The 6-for-3 playoff took two holes to complete. Play began on the par-3 15th hole, with Lori Schlicher of Lewiston, Mich., scoring a birdie 2 to qualify and earn the No. 62 seed. Two players were eliminated with bogeys and the remaining three players, who all made pars, advanced to the par-5 16th hole to continue the playoff. Celina Lam of Canada and Amber Marsh Elliott of Greensboro, N.C., both parred the hole to secure the No. 63 and 64 seeds, respectively.  

• Maria Olivero of Argentina defeated Kathy Kurata of Los Angeles, Calif., marking the 10th time in U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur history that a match was decided by an 8-and-7 margin.

• Four of the five 50-year-olds making their U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur debuts reached match play, and all four won their Round-of-64 matches.

• Three Round-of-64 matches went at least one extra hole, with two matches going to 20 holes.

• Medalists are 24-4 in the first round since the format switched from 54 holes of stroke play to match play in 1997 (the championship was not played in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic). But only two medalists have gone on to win the championship: Carol Semple Thompson in 2002 at Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C., and Lara Tennant, who was co-medalist in 2021, at The Lakewood Club (Dogwood Course).  
  

• Kristin Shifflett, the only Virginia native left in the field, advanced in match play with a 19-hole win over Pam Prescott of Powdersville, S.C.

• Six Senior Women’s Amateur champions advanced to the Round of 32. That group includes Sarah Gallagher, Nadene Gole, Judith Kyrinis, Ellen Port, Shelly Stouffer, and Lara Tennant.

Quotable

“USGA championships are the ultimate and that is what keeps us all working so hard to get here. We test our games, reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Sometimes I wonder how in the world I won one championship, let alone seven!” – Ellen Port on the atmosphere at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur

“It’s amazing. I always love to represent my country. I am wearing my Argentinian team shirt. When Argentina goes anywhere, we wear these shirts. This morning, I knew I needed to put it on.” – Maria Olivero on how it feels representing her country

“It was a beautiful day, so there's no complaints weather-wise. We had a couple putts that turned around and looked back at us in the face, but that's just how it is.” – Defending champion Nadene Gole on her Round of 64 match

“The wind kicked up. Picking clubs into the green is always tough because there is definitely some firm greens out there. You can hit a good chip, and it just keeps wandering by. All of those approach shots out there are tough. I drove the ball well, so I was happy with that.” – Judith Kyrinis on how the course played

“Probably just consistency, not making any big errors and hitting the fairways. I think after the first hole I hit almost all the fairways.”- Sarah Gallagher on the best part of her game