To the surprise of no one who followed the high school girls golf scene a decade or so ago, there were Isabella DiLisio, the PIAA Class AAA champion in 2013 as a junior at Mount St. Joseph, and Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time District One Class AAA champion and a three-time runnerup in the state tournament for Pennsbury, making runs in last week’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Fiddlesticks Country Club’s Long Mean Course in Fort Myers, Fla.
DiLisio made the deeper run at Fiddlesticks, falling, 1-up, in the semifinals to Aliea Clark of New York City as darkness was descending at the end of a long day of golf Wednesday. Clark played 44 holes of golf in wrapping up her round-of-16 match early in the morning, edging Jacqueline Setas of East Lansing, Mich. in 19 holes in her quarterfinal match and then outlasting DiLisio in the semifinals to reach the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am final for the second year in a row.
Not sure if the 25-year-old DiLisio, who went on to star collegiately at Notre Dame following her standout high school career, had to come back Wednesday morning to complete her round-of-16 match, but I do know she ousted a tough customer in Courtney McKim of Raleigh, N.C., 3 and 1.
DiLisio pulled out a 3 and 2 victory in the quarterfinals over another former Pennsylvania high school star, Kate Scarpetta of Crystal Lake, to earn her spot in the semifinals. The 33-year-old Scarpetta, a screenwriter, was a four-time PIAA qualifier at Scranton Prep, played college golf at Princeton and played professionally on several tours before regaining her amateur status.
The rain can come at just about any time on Florida’s west coast and there was some waiting during the marathon Wednesday, but DiLisio and Clark, a native Southern Californian who is pursuing a pair of advanced degrees in business and film at NYU, headed out late in the day for their semifinal match.
DiLisio jumped to a 2-up lead by winning the third hole with a par and the fourth hole with a birdie. Clark, however, ripped off birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh holes to turn her 2-down deficit into a 1-up advantage.
DiLisio evened the match by winning the 11th hole with a birdie, but Clark regained a 1-up advantage by taking 14 with a par, maintaining that lead until DiLisio conceded Clark’s par putt in the fading daylight on the finishing hole of the Long Mean Course, and no, I couldn’t possibly make up a cool name like that.
“It was a great match,” DiLisio told the USGA website. “Probably my toughest and closest one of the tournament. I got 2-up pretty early. I was 2-up through four and then Aliea made three birdies in a row.
“But I hung in there. Just couldn’t get my putts to drop. I was hitting it all right, but she was hitting everything very close and making most of her birdie putts. It’s hard to compete when someone is playing like that.”
There was a little added interest in this year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in our area because next year’s Women’s Mid-Am will be staged at Stonewall’s North Course, the newer of Tom Doak’s twin masterpieces laid out on a former dairy farm in northwest Chester County.
DiLisio’s journey to the semifinals at Fiddlesticks actually began at Stonewall’s North Course – the “Udder Course” as it is often referred to by partners at the ’Wall – which staged the local qualifier, administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia, for this year’s Women’s Mid-Am, in mid-August.
It was a nice opportunity for some of the Philly-area mid-ams to familiarize themselves with the site of next year’s championship and DiLisio claimed medalist honors with a 5-over 75. Her run to the semifinals at Fiddlesticks exempts DiLisio into next year’s championship, a little closer to her Hatfield home.
Rogowicz, who was in the starting lineup for four years at Penn State, also had a nice run at Fiddlesticks, her bid halted by Setas, who earned a hard-fought 1-up decision in the round of 16. Setas survived a battle with Hodgkins’ lymphoma while playing college golf at Michigan State.
Rogowicz rolled to a seven-shot victory in the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship in early August at Lancaster Country Club.
Rogowicz’s 1-up victory over Kyle Fraser of Fort Worth, Texas in the opening round of match play at Fiddlesticks set up a fascinating round-of-32 match with Katie Miller, who had rolled to the Pennsylvania Women’s Mid-Amateur title at Lancaster by a whopping 16 shots and has been a player for several years on the national mid-am scene.
The 37-year-old Miller won three PIAA crowns at Hempfield area and went on to star at North Carolina. Her victory in Lancaster was extra special because it was her first as a mother. Miller married Oakmont Country Club head pro Devin Gee and her exemption into last year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Am was deferred while she was carrying their first child.
Rogowicz prevailed, 5 and 4, over Miller in the battle between two of Pennsylvania’s top women’s amateur players.
Miller, however, did get to celebrate when Krissy Carman of Eugene, Ore. struck a blow for mid-am moms by capturing the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am crown with a 2 and 1 victory over Clark in Thursday’s final with 2-year-old son Conrad in attendance.
It was a pretty good week for Pennsylvania and Philadelphia-area players at Fiddlesticks.
Allison Wix, a four-time PIAA qualifier when she was Allison Cooper at Central Dauphin, earned a spot in the match-play bracket before suffering a 4 and 2 setback at the hands of Heather Wall of Lakeland, Fla. in the first round.
Got a chance to watch Wix in action as she was in this Stonewall looper's group in the local qualifier at Stonewall’s North Course in August. With her brother Tim on the bag, Wix was the runnerup to her old scholastic rival, DiLisio, with a solid 6-over 76. It probably could have been lower, but Wix played it smart, not getting too aggressive while not losing sight of the ultimate goal: Advancing out of the qualifier.
Then there was four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Meghan Stasi, who has lived in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. area for a long time, but grew up in South Jersey. She dominated the Philadelphia women’s amateur scene when she was known as Meghan Bolger and captured the title in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Match Play Championship seven straight times from 1999 to 2005.
Stasi came home to Tavistock Country Club this summer and claimed the WGAP Match Play Championship for the ninth time.
Stasi reached the quarterfinals at Fiddlesticks, her bid finally halted in a 2-up loss to Jennifer Peng of San Diego, who had captured medalist honors in qualifying for match play for the second straight U.S. Women’s Mid-Am.
Like DiLisio, the showings by Rogowicz and Stasi at Fiddlesticks will exempt them from local qualifying for next year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, so all three should have tee times next September at Stonewall’s North Course.
Peng, the Ivy League’s Player of the Year at Yale for the wraparound 2016-2017 season, grabbed medalist honors as she added a 5-under 67 in the second round to her opening round of 1-under 71 for a 6-under 138 total.
Kelsey Chugg, the 2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion from Salt Lake City, Utah, was the runnerup, just a shot behind Peng after adding a 3-under 69 to her opening-round 70 for a 5-under 139 total.
Miller, the three-time reigning Pennsylvania Mid-Am champion, finished two shots behind Chugg in third place with a 3-under 141 total after adding a 2-under 70 in the second round to her opening-round 71.
Peng reached the semifinals before falling to Carman, the eventual winner, 3 and 2.
Wix just avoided being part of a 14-women playoff for the final nine spots in the match play bracket as she carded a second straight 77 for a 10-over 154 total.
Coatesville native Kelli Pry, who lives in Tampa, Fla. these days, just missed making the playoff for the final spots in match play as she added a 77 in the second round to her opening-round 79 for a 156 total.
Lauren Bernard, who starred scholastically at Notre Dame and collegiately at Bucknell, was another player who emerged from the qualifier at Stonewall’s North Course. Bernard, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, added an 81 to her opening-round 82 for a 163 total.
Four other players who punched their tickets to Fiddlesticks at Stonewall’s North Course also failed to make match play.
Barbora Millichip, a native of the Czech Republic who plays out of Honeybrook Golf Club, added an 85 in the second round to her opening-round 83 for a 168 total.
Karen Siegel, an assistant coach for the women’s golf team at Penn, got the call after winning a playoff to be the first alternate out of the Stonewall North qualifier. Siegel opened with a solid 81 before adding an 89 in the second round for a 170 total.
Debbie Johnson of Stamford, Conn., struggled to a 90 in the opening round before adding an 86 in the second round for a 176 total. Stephenie Harris, who plays out of Lookaway Golf Club, bounced back from an opening-round 92 with an 86 in the second round for a 178 total.
As I’m putting this post together, Hurricane Ian is delivering a direct hit on Fort Myers. Here’s hoping the staff and membership at Fiddlesticks, fresh off what sounds like a fantastic job hosting the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am, will be able to put the pieces back together in the wake of Mother Nature’s fury.
A week earlier, the iconic three-leaf clover logo for Erin Hills in Erin, Wis. provided a hint of what was to come as a couple of Irishmen, Matthew McClean and Hugh Foley, battled it out for the title in the 41st U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
There were weather issues in Wisconsin for the U.S. Mid-Am as well with the second day of qualifying for match play at Erin Hills and Blue Mound Golf & Country Club in Wauwatosa, Wis. was completely washed out. And the rain didn’t let up as the second round wasn’t completed until the morning of Sept. 13th.
The U.S. Mid-Am was never able to quite catch up from a day-and-a-half of weather delays. As a result, after the 29-year-old McClean defeated giant-killer Josh Persons of Fargo, N.D., 3 and 2, and the 25-year-old Foley claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Bryce Hanstad of Edina, Minn. in the semifinals Sept. 16th, they turned right around and played the first 18 holes of the scheduled 36-hole final.
McClean finished the first 18 holes with a 2-up advantage with Foley cutting into his Irish pal’s lead by winning the 18th hole with a conceded birdie.
When the pair returned for the final 18 holes Sept. 17th, McClean continued to build on his advantage, eventually putting Foley into a 5-down hole with six holes to play.
Foley made things interesting by ripping off three straight wins with birdies at the 31st, 32nd and 33rd holes to cut his deficit to 2-down with three holes to play, but McClean was able to close out his 3 and 1 verdict with a par on the 35th hole.
The 38-year-old Persons, a reinstated amateur who owns a PGA Tour Canada win, had a huge day Sept. 15th by eliminating the two finalists in a memorable U.S. Mid-Amateur final in 2016 at Stonewall, Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif. and Scott Harvey of Greensboro, N.C.
The 31-year-old Hagestad, who rallied from 4-down with five holes to play to defeat Harvey on the 37th hole at Stonewall six years ago, had added a second U.S. Mid-Am crown to his resume as summer was turning into fall a year ago at the Sankaty Head Golf Club in Siasconset, Mass. on Nantucket Island with a hard-fought 2 and 1 victory over Mark Costanza of Morristown, N.J.
It looked like Hagestad and Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Am champion at Saucon Valley Country Club, were on a collision course toward a rematch of their epic final at Stonewall.
But Persons put a monkey wrench in those plans by claiming a hard-fought 1-up victory over Hagestad in the round of 16.
Persons then ousted the other half of the title matchup at Stonewall by outlasting Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Am champion at Saucon Valley Country Club, in 21 holes in the quarterfinals later in the day to advance to the semifinals.
Costanza had another nice U.S. Mid-Am run halted by Harvey in the round of 16 as Harvey claimed a 3 and 2 victory over last year’s runnerup at Sankaty Head.
Two members of the GAP contingent in Wisconsin, Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Gregor Orlando and Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Ben Cooley, survived the 17-man playoff for the final 12 spots in the match-play bracket.
Orlando, who had earned a return trip to the U.S. Mid-Am with his run to the quarterfinals a year ago at Sankaty Head, drew a tough assignment in the opening round of match play as he suffered a 2 and 1 setback at the hands of Costanza, last year’s runnerup.
Cooley, who fell to Huntingdon Valley clubmate Brian Isztwan in the final of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship earlier this year, had emerged from a GAP-administered U.S. Mid-Am qualifier at Blue Bell Country Club. Cooley dropped a 2 and 1 decision in the opening round of match play at Erin Hills to Ian Davis of Edmond, Okla.
In qualifying, Orlando added a 1-over 72 at Erin Hills to his opening round of 2-over 72 at Blue Mound to get into the playoff mix for match play with a 3-over 144 total. Cooley solved the Blue Mound layout to the tune of an opening round of 3-under 67 before struggling to a 6-over 77 at Erin Hills to also land on 3-over 144.
When the second round of qualifying for match play was finally completed, Jake Shuman of Boston and Sam Jones of New Zealand shared medalist honors, each signing for a 7-under 134 total.
Shuman fired a 4-under 66 in the second round at Blue Mound after opening with a 3-under 68 at Erin Hills. Jones closed with a 4-under 67 in his second round at Erin Hills after opening with a 3-under 67 at Blue Mound.
Hagestad, who has fallen to No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) since the U.S. Mid-Am, made a strong opening statement when he carded a sizzling 6-under 64 at Blue Mound in the first round of qualifying for match play. Hagestad cooled off with a 4-over 77 at Erin Hills in a disjointed second round to finish in a tie for ninth place with a 2-under 139 total.
Jimmy Ellis, winner of the 2020 Pennsylvania Open at iconic Oakmont Country Club, failed to advance out of the playoff for the final 12 spots in match play after posting a 3-over 144 total. Ellis opened with a 1-under 69 at Blue Mound before adding a 4-over 75 at Erin Hills in the second round.
Carlisle Country Club’s Jeff Frazier, coming off a run to the semifinals in last month’s U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at The Kittansett Club in Marion, Mass., just missed joining the playoff for match play with a 4-over 145 total.
Playing in his eighth U.S. Mid-Am, the 57-year-old left-hander matched par in the second round at Erin Hills after opening with a 4-over 74 at Blue Mound. Frazier was the medalist in a GAP-administered qualifier on his home course.
Nathan Smith, the four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion from Pittsburgh, was also in the group at 4-over 145 as he added a 3-over 74 at Erin Hills in the second round to his opening round of 1-over 71 at Blue Mound.
Haverford School product John Sawin, the vice president & director of golf at Pebble Beach, landed on 5-over 146 as he added a 1-over 71 at Blue Mound in the second round to the 3-over 75 he posted in the opening round at Erin Hills.
Another player who emerged from the GAP-administered qualifier at Blue Bell, former Temple standout John Barone, playing out of Glenmaura National Golf Club, also landed on 5-over 146. Barone opened with a solid 2-under 68 at Blue Mound before adding a 7-over 78 at Erin Hills in the second round.
Another top GAP player, Vince Kwon of Marlton, N.J. added a 3-over 73 at Blue Mound in the second round to his opening round of 6-over 77 at Erin Hills for a 9-over 150 total.
LuLu Country Club’s P.J. Acierno, who also punched his ticket to Wisconsin at Blue Bell, opened with a 4-over 74 at Blue Mound before carding a 6-over 77 in the second round at Erin Hills for a 10-over 151 total. Acierno starred collegiately at La Salle and scholastically at La Salle.
Two other players who came out of the GAP-administered qualifier at Blue Bell, Pine Valley Golf Club’s Jeff Osberg, one of two players who have won all four of GAP’s major championships, and North Hills Country Club’s Geoffrey Cooper withdrew after the opening round of qualifying.
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