There was plenty at stake and every stroke made a difference on a tightly packed leaderboard at U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifying Wednesday at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster.
When everything sorted itself out, two former Colorado 5A state high school champions and two international players landed spots in the national Women’s Am, which will be held Aug. 6-12 in Kingston Springs, Tenn.
With the top four finishers out of a field of 50 at Walnut Creek advancing, University of Colorado golfer Gillian Vance from Lakewood and University of Denver player Mary Weinstein from Highlands Ranch made the grade along with Sara Camarena of Mexico and Annabelle Ackroyd of Canada.
It was the second USGA championship in two days for which Ackroyd qualified in Colorado. She advanced to the U.S. Girls’ Junior Tuesday at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie.
This will be the second straight U.S. Women’s Amateur for Weinstein and the first for Vance.
“We had a great season as a team for CU this past year (finishing 19th in the NCAA Finals),” Vance said. “That was fun, but this is like a whole new level for me. I feel like I’ve really done something for myself. I’m just on Cloud Nine right now.”
Added Weinstein: “It means so much” to go back to a second straight Women’s Amateur. “Last year didn’t go as well as I had hoped and planned (she failed to make match play). This year I went in with a different mindset and I really wanted to qualify so I could do my best and make up for last year. It really did mean a lot for me to make it this year.”
Camarena earned medalist honors Wednesday at Walnut Creek with a bogey-free 2-under-par 70. Vance and Ackroyd tied for second place at 71. (The top qualifiers are pictured, from left: Vance, Camarena and Ackroyd.)
Vance made two birdies and one bogey on the day, avoiding a playoff by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 17.
“I was kind of missing a lot of putts all day,” she said. “I had a lot of birdie chances and kept leaving them just short or burning edges. I finally made one on 17. That gave me the boost I needed because 72 was a playoff.
“This was very much one of my better (recent rounds). I’ve only gone under par once in a collegiate event in three years.”
Meanwhile, Ackroyd rallied on Wednesday after being 4 over par through four holes by playing the next five holes in 5 under, including making an eagle on No. 6. And, after a bogey on No. 16, she birdied the 18th.
Three players finished tied for fourth place at even-par 72, forcing a three-person-for-one spot playoff. Kelsey Webster of Boulder, who will be a CU teammate of Vance starting in the fall, was eliminated on the first extra hole as she missed the green in regulation and made bogey.
On No. 11, the second playoff hole, Weinstein (left) drained a 40-foot birdie that was matched by Jessica Sloot of Fruit Heights, Utah, a Colorado State University golfer who holed a 20-footer to extend the playoff. Then on the third hole of the playoff, on No. 12, Sloot hit her tee shot into a bunker on the par-4 and missed a 7-foot par putt, making bogey. Weinstein two-putted for 20 feet for par to advance.
“To qualify for the U.S. Women’s Am two years in a row is amazing for me,” said Weinstein, a former Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Girls Player of the Year who will be a junior at DU in the fall. “It’s one of the top tournaments on my entire schedule this year.”
Weinstein played her final seven holes of regulation in 2 under par, including making a 15-foot putt for birdie on 17.
Sloot will be the first alternate from the Walnut Creek site and Webster the second.
The upcoming U.S. Women’s Amateur will be the fourth USGA championship for Vance and the third for Weinstein. Both qualifiers from Colorado are 20 years old.
“This is one of my biggest accomplishments (in golf),” said Vance, a senior-to-be at CU. “I’m am just so excited. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen the next couple of years with golf and I’m trying to figure it out right now. This was a really good boost that I needed. I’m going to have so much fun out there, and I know that. My family, I don’t think we’ve gotten to do something like this since junior golf, so it will be a really good time.
“We got to nationals (as a team for CU), which was so much fun. It’s just been an incredible year, especially getting to go to the U.S. (Women’s) Amateur. Now it’s just icing on the cake.”
U.S. Women’s Amateur Qualifying
At Par-72 Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sara Camarena, Mexico City 70
Gillian Vance, Lakewood 71
Annabelle Ackroyd, Canada 71
Mary Weinstein, Highlands Ranch 72
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Jessica Sloot, Fruit Heights, Utah 72
Kelsey Webster, Boulder 72
For all the scores from Wednesday’s qualifyng tournament, CLICK HERE.
