Scoring [icon name="external-link" class="" unprefixed_class=""] | Match play brackets [icon name="external-link" class="" unprefixed_class=""] | Qualifying round recap | Round of 16 recap | Championship preview [icon name="file-pdf-o" class="" unprefixed_class=""]
By Arthur Utley
HOT SPRINGS — Two Northern Virginians with seven titles between them, a third Northern Virginian and one from Glen Allen, each seeking a first title, won quarterfinal matches Wednesday and claimed berths in the semifinals of the 60th Virginia State Golf Association Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at The Omni Homestead Resort’s Old Course.
Defending champion Mimi Hoffman (Belle Haven Country Club, Springfield) defeated Cindy Morris (Elizabeth Manor G&CC, Portsmouth) 2 and 1 and will face longtime friend and rival Shelley Savage (Army Navy CC, Alexandria) in the upper bracket semifinal on Thursday. Savage eliminated Lisa Cox (Meadowbrook CC, North Chesterfield) 3 and 1 in their quarterfinal.
Hoffman has won four Senior Women’s Amateur championships. She beat Savage in the 2006 and 2011 finals. Savage claimed the first of her three titles in 2005 and is the last player to win back-to-back crowns (2012-13).
In the lower bracket, Joanne Kitusky (The Dominion Club, Glen Allen) prevented an all-Northern Virginian final four when she edged Joan Gardner (Mount Vernon CC, Alexandria) 1 up. Kitusky’s semifinal foe is two-time Senior Women’s Stroke Play champion Mary Cabriele (CC of Fairfax, Vienna), who thumped 73-year-old Fran Hensley (Gordon Trent GC, Ridgeway) 7 and 6.
Cabriele joins Hoffman as semifinalists from a year ago. Kitusky and Savage are in the semifinals for the first time since 2013 when they went on to play in a final that Savage won.
Cox, playing in the quarterfinals for the first time, was 2 up against Savage through six holes on Wednesday. Savage drew even by winning the ninth and 10th holes then went 1 up at the short par-4 14th. She closed out the match with back-to-back birdies on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th.
“I feel like I was very lucky to come through in the end because it really wasn’t my best ball striking day. It was a very close match,” Savage said. “Lisa chipped one in on me from an impossible spot (on No. 6). It was a miraculous shot. On 16 I hit my tee shot on the front part of the green and made a bomb (at least 30 feet).”
Savage debated whether or not to play in the tournament because her 92-year-old mother is in failing health in Michigan.
“Sunday morning I was thinking, ‘Should I be driving to the Homestead or to Michigan?” she said. “For me to get to the semis is miraculous… I’ve exceeded my expectations under the circumstances.”
Afternoon thunderstorms have occurred each day, and players were allowed to lift, clean and place in their fairway on Wednesday.
“The course has been playing much longer because we’ve had so much rain. It’s very soft. The greens are so much slower than what we’re used to,” said Savage, who noted, “Mimi has had my number in this tournament.”
Hoffman fell behind in the early going against Morris. Hoffman was 2 down after losing the sixth hole, but she didn’t lose another hole in the match. She captured the ninth, 13th, 14th and 16th to advance another step in the chase to join other five-time winners Peggy Woodard and Audrey Najjum.
“Cindy was on fire on the front nine. Her driver was hot and she was sticking her short irons really close to the pin. I was just trying to hang in there while she was hot,” Hoffman said. “Once we made the turn, I got hot.”
A key hole was the par-5 15th. They halved it with birdies, but Hoffman had to sink a 10-foot putt to gain the half after Morris had two-putted from 15 feet for her birdie.
“It’s always a good match when I play Shelley. What’s been good for me is that I have had really tough matches so far,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman won last year’s tournament while dealing with back issues. She had major surgery in November and has three fused discs, two 8-inch rods and 16 screws in her back.
“You can imagine how thrilled I am to be in the semifinals after all of that,” Hoffman said.
Kitusky was 2 up through six holes, all square after Gardner won the ninth and 11th holes and 1 down after Gardner won the 14th. Birdies at the par-5 15th and the 17th gave Kitusky the lead again, and the players halved the 18th.
“Joan and I had a great match. I had a great up and down, a phenomenal bunker shot on 16. My putter was great again. You expect these types (of matches)…once you get this far, they’re going to be close,” said Kitusky, who will go into Thursday’s semifinal with the same attitude she had in the quarterfinal.
“I have to play my game and let Mary play her game. Whoever plays just a tad better wins,” she said.
Cabriele defeated Hensley in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. She was 4 up at the turn then won the first three holes on the back nine to conclude a short day.
“(Fran) is a legend in Virginia so I knew I had to be on my game. My game plan was to just play the course. I couldn’t worry about what my opponent was doing. I just want to make sure I was making pars, and if I could get a birdie that was a bonus,” Cabriele said. “If I made a mistake, I was able to reconcile it, and I was able to capitalize on some things…just keep focused…keep your head in the hole.”
Kitusky has played in front of Cabriele for the three days of the tournament, and Cabriele has noticed how well her semifinal opponent has been putting.
“My whole thing is if she is on the green, she is going to make the putt. She is incredible around the green,” Cabriele said. “I’m swinging pretty well so whatever happens, happens. I’m just thrilled to be in the semifinals.”
Retired Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Arthur Utley is a frequent contributor to coverage of VSGA championships.