Stellar Start

On a day when no one at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur matched or broke par, a Coloradan was among the players at the top of the leaderboard after Saturday’s opening round.

Kristine Franklin of Broomfield, who won the CWGA Stroke Play in 1986 when she was known as Kris Hoos, was 3 over par after two holes at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore., but played her final 11 holes in 1 under to shoot a 3-over 75. That leaves her in third place out of 132 players with one day left in the stroke-play portion of the championship. She trails leader Lara Tennant of Portland by two strokes.

The top 64 players after Sunday’s second round will advance to match play, which begins on Monday.

Three other players with strong Colorado connections are also in the top 64 after Saturday’s first round: Susan Hartwell of Arvada (78, 23rd place), part-time Gunnison-area resident Marilyn Hardy (78, 23rd place) and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, a four-time quarterfinalist in this event (79, 34th place.)

Here are the scores for the players with strong Colorado ties:

3. Kristine Franklin of Broomfield 75
23. Part-time Gunnison-area resident Marilyn Hardy 78
23. Susan Hartwell of Arvada 78
34. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton 79
79. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Christie Austin of Denver 83
96. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore of Centennial 85
109. Kathy Malpass of Evergreen 87
117. Lisa Lee of Longmont 90
126. Sandra Bickel of La Porte 93
130. Sue Davis of Aurora 99

For all the scores from the Senior Women’s Am, CLICK HERE.