Lara Tennant Makes Round Of 32 at the 62nd U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur

Seattle, Washington - Lara Tennant seeking her fourth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur this week, got a very tough draw on the first day of match play Monday.

Tennant faced three-time Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Sarah LeBrun Ingram who she would go on to beat 1 up. Tennant jumped out to a 4-up lead through 10 holes.

Ingram locked in and fought back with wins on Nos. 12, 13, 15, and 17 to send the match to 18th green.

Tennant became the first player since Carol Semple Thompson (1999-2002) to win at least three consecutive Senior Women's Amateur championships in 2021 and continued her attempt for a fourth title on Monday with a tightly contested win over Ingram, a two-time victorious Curtis Cup captain (2021, 2022).

“I thought ‘Well, that’s a tough first-round pairing’!” Tennant said when she saw the draw. “I know Sarah is a great competitor and she certainly was today. Kudos to her."

Ingram locked in and fought back with wins on Nos. 12, 13, 15, and 17 to send the match to 18th green. With nearly identical 60-footers from the front portion of the green, Ingram went first and turned up the pressure after she knocked her attempt within gimme range. Tennant then followed suit with a decent lag putt inside 5 feet before she rolled in the winning stroke.

“Today I played well enough to win, but was not my best day,” Tennant said. “Sometimes that happens in match play. I’m just happy to advance. Sara is a tough competitor. I knew it would be a good match.”

Fellow Oregonina Lisa Poritz of Portland made matchplay on Monday after finishing 52nd in the first two days of stroke play at +20. Portiz lost to Linda Jeffery 5 and 4.

Rosie Cook of Redmond finished in a tie for 14th finishing at +14 in stroke play to make the match play but lost to Annick Riff 2 and 1.

The Round of 32 will begin at 7:45 a.m. (PST) on Tuesday morning, followed immediately by the Round of 16 approximately at 1:45 p.m.

Tennant will face Julie Streng from Greensboro, North Carolina in the Round of 32 with their tee time set for 9:15 a.m.

As Tennant continues chasing her fourth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur let’s watch to see if the Portland native can pull off a bit of history once again.