Vermont’s Carson Laderoute Has Great Experience at 2019 USGAWomen’s Mid-Ams
Carson Laderoute of Burlington Country Club qualified for her first USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur tournament this year and reported back to the VSWGA about her experience. The 5-day event was held in September on the Tom Weiskopf-designed Meadows course at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The USGA Women’s Mid-Ams are open to female golfers 25 years and older with a maximum handicap index of 9.4who qualify at various courses determined by the USGA. The starting field for this year’s 33rdcompetition was 132 players.Days one and two were 18-hole stroke-play events. The third day began the match play portion of the tournament with the lowest-scoring 64 players, followed by the semi-finals and finally the championship match on the lastday.
Ina Kim-Schaad of New York City won, 3 and 2, over Talia Campbell, also of New York City.
Carson played two days of really good golf, and though she didn’tadvance to the third day, she’s glad she was able to participate and hopes to do it again.
About the Event:
“The event was similar to a professional event which was pretty cool to experience. They had our names on the range while we were warming-up, they gave us unlimited access to Pro V1 range balls, they provided foam rollers and bands to warm-up on the range, and we received very detailed yardage books. They had USGA officials managing the pace of play the entire time, with checkpoints every 3 holes to make sure we were on pace. Additionally, we had spotters all around the course which made it less stressful to find a golf ball that didn’t find the fairway.”
About the Course:
“The course was by far the nicest course I have ever played on. It was a very well manicured mountain course 7,000 feet above sea level with lots of elevation changes playing at about 6,400 yards. The ball was flying about 15-20 yards further depending on the club which was a great experience. We had to adjust our yardages based on the environment and trust our new yardages.”
About the Competition:
“The competition was superb. A lot of the players that attended the event played Division I golf or professional golf. It was great to play alongside great players and I hope to have another opportunity to attend the event.
“This was by far the best tournament I have been able to participate in. The opportunity was very rewarding and I was able to learn a lot from the experience and I hope I can qualify again for future events.”
The 2020 USGA Women’s Mid-Ams will be held August 29-September 3 at the Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton, South Carolina. Qualifying rounds are scheduled for August 1-19.