Herrick Medals at U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier; 2 Others Advance

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By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  ROSEVILLE, Minn. – In just her first attempt at qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, Olivia Herrick carded a 3-over par 75 Friday at Midland Hills Country Club to earn medalist honors and advance to the championship in October.

Herrick, Roseville, Minn., is hardly a stranger to USGA events as she has qualified for four U.S. Women’s Amateur tournaments and two USGA State Team Championships. Herrick will be playing in her second team championship in Kettering, Ohio in less than two weeks.

Friday’s sectional qualifier was held to determine the field at the 27th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at the Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, N.C.

“Qualifying for this tournament was my main goal for the summer. I didn’t try to qualify for the [U.S. Amateur] so I really wanted to be selected for the State Team Championship and I’ve been working towards this tournament all summer,” Herrick, the 2010 MGA Women’s player of the year, explained.

Herrick, 25, should be brimming with confidence heading into the latter stages of the season as her worst finish this year was a tie for fifth place at the Women’s State Amateur last month. Herrick has six top-five finishes this season.

“I played pretty steady today,” she said. “I made a weird double-bogey on four, but I kept telling myself that this is a hard course and did my best to hang in there and made two birdies on the back.”

Herrick began her round with three pars before a double-bogey on the fourth put her at 2-over. On the final five holes of the front nine she made another bogey at the seventh and was 3-over par at the turn.

She would go to 4-over par after a bogey on the par-4 11th hole, but rebounded well with a birdie at the 164-yard 12th to get back to 3-over. She went to 4-over again with a bogey on the 13th but was able to finish strong with a birdie and four pars on the final nine holes to finish her round 3-over par 75.

“I got off the tee pretty well today. I was in contention or had an approach shot off of every tee box,” she said.

With 10 titles over the last three years, Herrick has proven to be one of the state’s finest amateur golfers time and time again. But with all the success, Herrick has questioned the need to continue playing competitive golf.

“Sometimes I think there’s something strange about being the age that I am and still playing competitively,” She said. “I find myself sometimes asking, ‘Why do I keep doing this?’ I could really throw myself into my career or do a million other things.”

“Golf still means a lot to me and moments like this are so gratifying and remind me that it’s fine to still play because it’s extremely rewarding,” Herrick said.

Amy Ellertson, Free Union, Va., shot a 6-over par 78 Friday to qualify with Herrick. Ellertson got off to a rocky start as she bogeyed two out of the first three holes to quickly fall to 2-over par.

With back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes, Ellertson went to 4-over heading to the back nine. A bogey on the 11th hole put her at 5-over before she finally carded a red number with a birdie on the 12th to get back to 4-over.

Two more bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes put Ellertson at 6-over where she would finish her round, three strokes behind Herrick.

“I didn’t play well on the front, which was the easy side,” Ellertson said. “I didn’t putt well and was having trouble with the speeds of the green.”

“I like when the courses are longer because I feel like I have an advantage. On the back I knew I had to bear down and shoot even par. I shot 2-over on the back—that’s with a three-putt on the par-5. Had I parred that I would’ve been 1-over, which I’d be happy with,” she said.

Despite the long distance to get to the Roseville qualifier, Ellertson said she has several ties to Minnesota and figured it’d be a good time to come back.

“All my people are here and I was born here. I have some property in Lake Sylvia and some clients here. The qualifier closest to me took place while I was on vacation so I figured this was a great excuse to get out to Minnesota,” Ellertson said.

Jessica Luciuk, Barrhead, Alberta, earned the final qualifying spot after defeating five-time MGA Women’s Player of the Year, Claudia Pilot, on the fifth hole of a sudden death playoff.

Both Luciuk and Pilot carded a 7-over par 79 before Luciuk eventually won on extra holes. The Canadian had a better front nine than most of the field as she made a bogey on the third but erased it with a birdie on the sixth hole to draw back to even.

With a bogey on the eighth hole, Luciuk made the turn at 1-over par. She would struggle on the final nine holes as she double-bogeyed the 11th hole to jump to 3-over for the day.

After bogeys at the 13th and 15th, Luciuk quickly found herself at 5-over par through six holes on the back nine. She would close out her day with a double-bogey on the 18th and finished at 7-over par 79, but still managed to advance.

Pilot, Lake Shore, Minn., and Leigh Klasse, St. Anthony, Minn., finished as first and second alternates, respectively.


U.S. WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR SECTIONAL QUALIFIER
MIDLAND HILLS COUNTRY CLUB
ROSEVILLE, MINN.
PAR 72, 6,205 YARDS

FINAL RESULTS

QUALIFIERS
1. Olivia Herrick, Roseville, Minn., 39-36—75
2. Amy Ellertson, Free Union, Va., 40-38—78
T3. Jessica Luciuk, Barrhead, Alberta, 37-42—79
T3. Claudia Pilot, Lake Shore, Minn., 39-40—79 (first alternate)
T5. Leigh Klasse, St. Anthony, Minn., 42-40—82 (second alternate)

DID NOT QUALIFY
T5. Ellie Layton, Rochester, Minn., 43-39—82
T5. Brenda Williams, Minnetrista, Minn., 41-41—82
8. Tiffany Maurycy, Denver, Colo., 40-44—84
T9. Christine Dean, Hopkins, Minn., 44-44—88
T9. Kathryn McKenzie, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 42-46—86