Klasse Fires 73 to Qualify for Inaugural U.S. Women's Open

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  EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Minnesota Golf Hall of Famer Leigh Klasse posted a round of 1-over par 73 Tuesday at Bent Creek Golf Club to earn medalist honors as well as a spot in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship.
 
A field of 12 women competed for two qualifying spots to the national championship, which will be contested for the first time July 12-15 at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill.
 
On Tuesday, Klasse, who now resides in Cumberland, Wis., carded a birdie at the par-4 seventh to move into red figures for her round before taking three bogeys over a four-hole span on the back to fall to 2-over. Bouncing back with a birdie at the par-3 17^th, Klasse would finish the day with a 73 to earn medalist honors and qualify for her 80^th USGA event.

“I have not stopped smiling—I am very excited about this,” Klasse said Tuesday. “This is not something that I expected and really had to be convinced to even try by a friend in Arizona. This definitely will be a highlight of my summer. I am really looking forward to this event—it will be very humbling to be in the company of these golfers that I grew up watching and inspired me to play better golf.
 
“I was very consistent off the tee and hit a lot of greens and left the ball in the right position.  I also had a great caddie, Molly Baker, who is a local member which really helped around the greens which are so key to scoring on that course.  I just tried to keep the ball in play and when I was out of position accepted it and did my best to get up and down or limit the damage to a bogey.”

Klasse, who turns 59 in September, was elected into the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame in 2014 and is a four-time Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year winner, as well as the eight-time defending MGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year.
 
She was a member of Team Minnesota who won the 2001 U.S. State Team Championship when it was played at Woodhill Country Club in Wayzata, Minn. Last September Klasse qualified for her eighth consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship, advancing to the Round of 16 at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore.
 
Joining Klasse at the national championship next month is Susan West, who fired a 3-over par 75 Tuesday before surviving a playoff with Karen Davies to earn the final qualifying position.
 
West, from Tuscaloosa, Ala., carded one bogey over her opening nine before a four-hole span in which she carded three more bogeys to drop to 4-over for the round. A birdie on the final hole put West into a playoff for the final spot.
 
Davies, of Scottsdale, Ariz., finished as first alternate, while Carolyn Barnetthowe, from Appleton, Wis., finished as second alternate.
 
As one of the five founding clubs of the USGA, Chicago Golf Club is the oldest golf club in continuous use in the U.S. Founded in 1893 by Charles Blair McDonald, who won the 1895 U.S. Amateur, the course has remained mostly untouched since its inception.
 
The U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be the 12^th national championship the club has hosted.
 
The 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be played at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C.