In USGA senior amateur qualifiers held in Colorado this week, it was a case of, “like husband, like wife.”

A day after Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kent Moore shared medalist honors at U.S. Senior Amateur qualifying at Flatirons Golf Course in Boulder, his wife, fellow Hall of Famer Janet Moore, followed suit on Friday by being medalist at U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur qualifying at The Club at Codillera’s Valley Course in Edwards.

Janet Moore (left), who last weekend won her 19th CWGA championship by teaming up with Allie Johnston to claim the Brassie title, continued her roll by posting the low score out of 46 entrants at Cordillera. Moore shot an 8-over-par 80 in very windy conditions on a formidable mountain layout.

“It is very special,” Moore said of the husband-wife medalist feat for the national senior amateur qualifiers. (Kent shot 69 at Flatirons on Thursday.) “But after careful calculation, we figured we played in a 12-shot wind today,” she joked.

Everything is relative, of course.

With wind blowing 15-20 mph much of the day and greens nearly as tough to putt as those at the Colorado Open’s longtime former home, Hiwan Golf Club, low scores were nowhere to be found on Friday. It was so difficult that competitors who shot 89 played off for the last of the 10 available berths into the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.

Of those 10 berths, seven went to Coloradans. The qualifiers for the Senior Women’s Amateur, which will be held Sept. 26-Oct. 1 in Nashville, Tenn., were:

Janet Moore of Cherry Hills Village 80
Kathy Malpass of Evergreen 81
Kelly Loeb of Tucson, Ariz. 81
Deb Hughes of Denver 83
Cathy Stypula of Boulder 85
Katherine Moore-Lilly of Minneapolis 85
Diane Henry of Kerrville, Texas 86
Beverly Hoffenberg of Greenwood Village 87
Jennifer Hocking of Colorado Springs 87
Patty Smogor of Centennial 89

The alternates were, in order:

Kathleen Johnson of Broomfield 89
Julie Robichaux of Kingwood, Texas 90

Smogor won a playoff with Johnson for the final national berth.

Moore, Malpass and Hocking also qualified last year in Colorado for the Senior Women’s Amateur. Malpass will be competing in the Senior Women’s Am for the sixth time and in a USGA championship for the ninth. It’ll be No. 2 in both categories for Hocking.

Meanwhile, for Moore, it will be her 19th USGA championship. She’s previously competed in three U.S. Women’s Amateurs, one Senior Women’s Amateur, two USGA Women’s State Teams and a dozen Mid-Amateurs.

On a day when birdies were few and far between, Moore made one, at the par-5 third hole, where she almost chipped in for eagle and tapped in a 3-inch birdie putt. Other than that, it was tough going.

“It was playing very difficult,” said Moore, 51. “I was grinding all day to get pars, even bogeys. Quite a few good players had high scores. With the wind and the mountain greens, if you hit your ball in the wrong place, it can add up quickly.”

Moore said she benefited from having as a caddie Brett Gagnon, who once was an assistant professional at Cordillera, and now works in the same capacity at Red Sky Golf Club. Gagnon is a former caddie at Cherry Hills Country Club, where the Moores are members.

“If I didn’t have Brett, I definitely would have been a few shots higher,” Moore said. “He saved me a couple of times.”

When Moore went to the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur last year, she had a lot on her plate as she was coaching the women’s golf team at Wheaton College in Illinois. Suffice it to say her game wasn’t in peak form and her rounds of 83-87 left her three shots out of advancing to match play.

But after stepping away from coaching — after four seasons — in the spring, she hopes to perform much better at the national championship this time around.

“Last year was a busier time with coaching, and playing in the Senior Am and the Mid-Am was a little too much,” said the five-time CWGA Stroke Play champion. “I hope this year I have more time to practice and get ready. Hopefully, I get there and represent Colorado well.”

For all the scores from Friday, CLICK HERE.

(Below are some of Friday’s qualifiers: From left, Diane Henry, Bev Hoffenberg, Kathy Malpass, Deb Hughes, Kelly Loeb, Jennifer Hocking and Janet Moore.)
 

But none was as good as Thursday’s, which just happened to come in the qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

Stypula, a member at Boulder Country Club since 1997 and a full golf member since 2001, shot a 1-over-par 73 and shared medalist honors with part-time Gunnison-area resident Marilyn Hardy. (Stypula, in yellow, is pictured with Hardy.)

Considering Hardy has made it to the semifinals and quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur — in separate years — and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, tying her for medalist is no small feat.

“This is the best round I’ve ever played — and on a big day,” said the 59-year-old Stypula, a former girls golf coach at Fairview High School. “This is probably my biggest (golf) accomplishment. My feeling is working with girls stands a little higher, but in competition, this is the biggest.”

In all, seven players out of Thursday’s field of 20 earned spots into the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am, which is limited to players 25 and older. The national championship is scheduled for Sept. 6-11 in Noblesville, Ind.

Joining Stypula and Hardy in qualifying were Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Janet Moore of Cherry Hills Village (74), former USGA Executive Committee member Christie Austin of Greenwood Village (77), Shannon Langhardt of Lakewood (78), Kareen Markle of Eagle, Idaho (78) and Lynn Fischer of Niwot (81 and winning a playoff against Blair Fraser of Boulder).

Hardy, who’s married to nationally recognized golf instructor Jim Hardy, has competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am more than 20 times, while Moore has played in a dozen.

Stypula, the BCC senior women’s club champion each of the last two years, will be competing in the national Mid-Amateur for the first time.

“It sounds like fun,” she said.

Stypula actually shot a 73 in one previous round at Boulder Country Club this year, but that came on a set of tee boxes much shorter than Thursday’s, which measured 6,175 yards. Before Thursday, she had played those tees just twice.

For the day, Stypula finished with four birdies and five bogeys. Her four birdie putts ranged from 15 feet to the 35-footer she drained on No. 18.

“Those were just gifts,” said Stypula, who owns a handicap index of just under 6.0. “It was a really lovely day.”

Though players as young as 25 can compete in the Mid-Am, all of Monday’s top four scorers are at least 49 years old.

Hardy, despite her credentials, had to rally Thursday after starting poorly. She double-bogeyed her first hole and was 4 over par after four. But she went 3 under par for her last 14 holes and finished birdie-birdie-par.

“I knew I had a lot of golf in front of me” after the slow start, said Hardy, 52. “I was thinking, ‘One hole at a time and make pars.’ I drove the ball really well and love the golf course.”

Hardy, a former basketball and volleyball player at UC-Irvine, has played in a number of USGA qualifiers in Colorado in recent years. This trip to Boulder was about a 4 1/2-hour drive from the Hardys’ home near Gunnison. The Hardys, who live in Houston most of the year, are members at Dos Rios Golf Club in Gunnison.

“We enjoy it so much,” Marilyn Hardy said of living in the area during the summer. “There’s so much to do out here.”

U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur
At Par-72 Boulder CC

ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Marilyn Hardy, Houston TX 38-35–73
Catherine Stypula, Boulder CO 36-37–73
Janet Moore, Cherry Hills Village, CO 35-39–74
Christie Austin, Greenwood Village, CO 40-37–77
Kareen Markle, Eagle, ID 39-39–78
Shannon Langhardt, Lakewood CO 37-41–78
Lynn Fischer Niwot, CO 38-43–81

ALTERNATES (In Order)
Blair Fraser, Boulder, CO 40-41–81
Annette Gaiotti, Salt Lake City, UT 39-43–82

FAILED TO QUALIFY
Meghan Christensen, Vail Colorado 43-42–85
Karen Hale Boynton Beach FL 43-42–85
Suzanne Smith, Breckenridge, CO 42-44–86
Janice Roberts Wilson, Northeast, FL 43-44–87
Lisa Lee, Longmont, CO 42-47–89
Katy Rothberg, Denver CO 46-43–89
Jessi McVay, Denver, CO 43-47–90
Joanna Ringsby, Denver, CO 49-41–90
Beverly Hoffenberg, Greenwood Village, CO 45-46–91
Sue Davis, Denver, CO 45-46–91
Jennifer Hocking Colorado Springs, CO WD