Championships

The leading golf tournament for female amateurs, the U.S. Women’s Amateur is the United States Golf Association’s third oldest championship, held annually since 1895. Along with the British Ladies Amateur, it is considered the highest honor in women’s amateur golf. The tournament consists of two rounds of stroke play qualifying, with the leading 64 players competing in match play, culminating with a championship match of 36 holes. The two finalists earn exemptions in the next U.S. Women’s Open.
 

Making their way through a match play field that included Carol Semple Thompson, Dottie Pepper, and Danielle Ammaccapane, co-medalists Michiko Hattori of Japan and American Cheryl Stacy both prevailed in their preliminary matches to reach the championship final. Hattori took home the championship trophy, defeating Stacy 5 and 4.

Organized by both the United States Golf Association and the Ladies’ Golf Union (now merged with The Royal & Ancient), the Curtis Cup was first held in 1932. Pitting the best female amateurs from the United States against a team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the Curtis Cup is similar to the Walker Cup for amateur men. Teams of 8 players compete in singles and foursomes to determine the winner. If the matches are tied, the previous winning team retains the Cup.
 

Captains Mary Budke of the United States and Pam Benka of GBI led their teams in the 32^nd Curtis Cup on August 3 and 4, 2002, to what would become a thrilling finish. Playing in her record-breaking 12^th Curtis Cup, Pittsburgh native and amateur legend Carol Semple Thompson dropped a bombshell 27-foot putt from off the green at #18 to capture the Cup for the American team with a final score of 11-7.

In 1980, the PGA Tour formally established the Senior PGA Tour, open to golfers aged 50 and over. The tour was renamed the Champions Tour through the 2015 season, after which the current name of PGA Tour Champions was adopted.

The Senior Players Championship is one of the five major championships on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. The winner also earns entry into the following season’s Players Championship on the PGA Tour.

Fox Chapel Golf Club hosted the Senior Players Championship for three consecutive years from 2012 through 2014 and produced three winners.

In Fox Chapel Golf Club’s inaugural year hosting the Senior Players Championship, 51-year-old journeyman player Joe Daley shot a closing round 2-under 68 to hold off Tom Lehman, Olin Browne, Mark Calcavecchia, and Fred Couples with a 14-under 266, capturing the crown and the $405,000 first-place winnings as well as full Champions Tour status for the following calendar year. It was also Daley’s first win on the PGA or Champions tours.

Mother Nature significantly influenced the 2013 event, with more than four inches of rain during the week taming the usually stiff test of golf, especially for long hitters like Fred Couples and Kenny Perry. During the final round, Perry had tap-in birdies on holes #16 and #17 to give him a 2-stroke lead over Couples. Finishing with a par on #18, the 52-year-old Perry completed a bogey-free 6-under 64 to finish at 19-under 261, two shots ahead of Couples and Duffy Waldorf.

The event returned to Fox Chapel Golf Club in 2014, the 35th season of the Champions Tour. For the 2014 event, the weather was spectacular throughout the week, providing a stiffer challenge for the players than the prior year. Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, regarded as one of the all-time greats, appeared to be in trouble when his second shot ended up in the rough short of the green on the 18th hole on Sunday but made a spectacular pitch to about five feet and made birdie to shoot 70 to finish at 15-under 265. Langer’s playing partner Jeff Sluman missed a birdie attempt on #18 to cap off a bogey-free 65 to force a sudden death playoff. Sluman narrowly missed a birdie putt on the first playoff hole, earning the 56-year-old Langer his first of what was to become three straight Senior Players Championship victories.

Open to women over 50, the U.S. Senior Women’s Open was first held by the United States Golf Association in 2018 at the Chicago Golf Club. The field for the tournament is 120 players competing over 72 holes of stroke play. The winner is exempted from the following year’s U.S. Women’s Open.

The sixth annual event was held at Fox Chapel Golf Club in 2024. The field included an all-star roster of players, including Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster, and Helen Alfredsson.

Highlights of the tournament included 85-year-old Hall-of-Famer Joanne Carner firing a 9-over 80 to break her age by five strokes in the second round. Despite her spectacular round, Carner fell short and missed the cut by 14 strokes. Canadian Terrill Samuel shot a final round even par 71 to finish at 8-over 292 to tie for 19^th place, winning low amateur honors.

American Leta Lindley, runner-up in the prior two U.S. Senior Women’s Opens, made history with a comeback win for the ages. Shooting a blistering final round 7-under 64 to finish at 9-under 275, Lindley earned a two-shot victory over 54-hole leader Kaori Yamamoto of Japan.