The Oak Marsh course at Amelia Island Plantation hosted the Women’s Senior Amateur Match Play, the last Women’s Championship of 2017. Diane Lang added Senior Amateur Match Play Champion to her long list of accolades after a 4 &3 victory over Marion Reid.
Championship Division
Monday began the stroke play seeding round where 29 of the top senior women battled the Oak Marsh course to make the round of 16 match play. The competition proved to be tough with a tight leaderboard naming Beatriz Arenas, of Wellington, the number one seed by one stroke after a round of 78. Many familiar names finished in the top 16 including two past senior players’ of the year, Gigi Higgins and Tama Caldabaugh, Hall of Fame inductee, Taffy Brower, and the current Women’s Senior Amateur Champion, Sarah Phillips-Durst, to name a few.
After a slight fog delay on Tuesday morning, first round matches began. The number one seed, Beatriz Arenas, fought 20 holes to face Taffy Brower, of Boynton Beach, in the afternoon Quarterfinals. Gigi Higgins (4 seed) and Marion Reid (5 seed) would meet in the Quarterfinals after winning their first match. Sarah Phillips-Durst, number 15 seed of Tallahassee, prevailed after 20 holes and defeated Carolina Hart (2 seed) to go head to head with Tama Caldabaugh in the afternoon match.
The winning streak continued for Brower (9 seed) as she earned a 1UP victory over Beatriz to move on to the Semifinals. Reid defeated Higgins, 2 & 1, to play Brower Wednesday morning. Phillips-Durst continued to advance along with Diane Lang (6 seed) and both would face each other in the Semifinals. Marion Reid started the final day of the Championship with a fire, defeating Brower 7 & 6 to play in the final match! Diane Lang would meet Reid in the Finals after a 5 & 4 victory over Phillips-Durst.
Diane Lang entered the Final match looking to add to her list of impressive accolades, including three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Champion and three-time State Senior Amateur Champion. Marion Reid, fighting for her first FSGA Championship victory, started the match one-up after the first hole. Lang fired back winning holes four and five with pars, but Reid stayed close taking the match to all-square after nine holes. With determination, Lang birdied the tenth hole to gain a one-up lead. Another birdie on hole 12 increased Lang’s lead to two-up heading into the home stretch. A par and bogey on holes 14 and 15 sealed the victory for Lang! This marks Diane’s first Senior Amateur Match Play Championship win!
Championship First & Second
Jodi Sullivan, of Saint Petersburg, and Janice Wilson, of Flagler Beach, advanced to the Final match in the Championship First division. Sullivan, number four seed, won
2& 1 over Alexandra Frazier (1 seed) and Wilson dominated Susan Keane (3 seed), 6 & 4, in the Semifinals. The Final match saw Janice Wilson earn the 1UP victory. In the Championship Second division, Katherine Moore-Lilly (1 seed) dominated match play with a 4 & 3 win over Jan Stottlemyer (3 seed) in the Final match.
Middle Division
The Middle Division was seeded based on handicap index and the round of eight matches began on Monday morning in the form of net match play. Each of the four matches saw the higher seed advance to the Quarterfinals! Beatriz Niemeyer, of Bradenton,advanced through each match as the number eight seed and would face Shari Zeimetz (6 seed), of Jacksonville, in the Semifinals. Niemeyer continued on her winning streak capturing the Middle Division with a 4 & 3 victory.
Middle First
The finals boiled down to Sheila Brocki, of Jacksonville, and Kimberly Byle, of Dunedin. Brocki was entering the Finals with confidence after defeating the number one seed, Marla Flinn, in the Semifinals. Byle started off match play hot with a 3 & 2 win over the second seed, Karin Hathaway. Brocki never let the win out of sight earning a 3 & 2 win over Byle in the Final match. 
Forward Division
Round of eight matches began Monday morning with the players seeded based on handicap index. Gilda Perez, the last seed, battled through each match to reach the Finals where she would play Terry Doying-Main for the overall win. Doying-Main (2 seed), from Port Saint Lucie, won each of her matches 5 & 4 to advance to the Final match. The Final match saw Doying-Main defeat Perez 5 & 3.
Forward First
Dolores Ainsworth (4 seed), of Port Saint Lucie, fought through 19 holes in her first match to win 4 &3 in the Semifinals against Victoria Goitz. Fort Myers resident, Lynn Robbins (3 seed), was victorious over Susan Bean, 2 & 1, and Sharon Sheline, 5 & 3, to advance to Wednesday. Lynn Robbins prevailed after a 3 & 2 win against Ainsworth. 
Consolation Brackets
- Championship - Kim Keyer-Scott (5 seed) defeated Laura Carson (7 seed) 2 & 1
- Championship First - Kathy West (2 seed) earned a 3 & 1 win over Christine Hunt (4 seed)
- Middle - Patricia Gelardi (2 seed) defeated Lori DesRuisseaux (4 seed) 5 & 3
- Middle First - Peggy Butts won by default as the number one seed
- Forward - Monique Patenaude (1 seed) earned a 4 & 3 victory against Linda Jane Parson (3 seed)
- Forward First - Emily Brown (2 seed) was defeated by Teresa Brandes (1 seed) 2 & 1
Alternate Lists
