Three Australians will try their luck in the US Women’s Amateur championship which began overnight at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
Young guns Justice Bosio (Queensland) and Caitlin Peirce (SA) are joined by veteran Victorian Sue Wooster, who at 61 is the oldest player in the field.
Bosio [pictured], 19, from Caboolture, is a current Karrie Webb Scholarship holder and has twice been runner-up in the Australian Women’s Amateur, including this year. She is one-over after seven holes of her first round.
Peirce, 20, from Royal Adelaide, has been a prolific winner of state amateur championships in recent years. She is one-over after nine holes of her first round.
Wooster, a legend of Victorian golf, was runner-up in the US Women’s Senior last year and has been ranked the No.1 senior women’s amateur in the world. She carded an opening 74, four-over.
Bel-Air was designed by George C. Thomas Jnr, who also was the architect for Riviera and Los Angeles Country Club in the area, some of the best courses in the world.
The course’s signature hole is the par-3 10th, which is connected by an iconic white bridge, with players required to take an elevator up to the tee.
The club also is home to a number of celebrity members, including legendary play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels, tennis Hall of Famer Pete Sampras, actors Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Jason Bateman, Dennis Quaid and Luke Wilson, as well as former club president Jamie Widdoes, a retired actor who portrayed Hoover in the 1979 hit comedy “Animal House”.
The course itself meanders through four canyons and will certainly offer a stern test to the field of 156 competitors.
There will be 36 holes of strokeplay on Monday and Tuesday, local time, with the top 64 progressing to matchplay from Wednesday.
