Headline: Pam Kuong Punches Ticket to 2017 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship at Sectional Qualifier at Blue Hill Country Club

For Immediate Release: August 22, 2017

Pam Kuong

Canton, MA — While the calendar still says summer, Tuesday’s USGA Championship Qualifier at Blue Hill Country Club was focused on the fall and the 2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, the last event on the 2017 USGA competitive schedule.

At the end of the 18-hole contest, six competitors learned they would be advancing to the Championship Proper, including Massachusetts native Pam Kuong, who shot a 6-over par 78, which placed her fourth on the leaderboard.

The USGA U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship Proper is scheduled for Quail Creek Country Club in Naples, Florida from October 7-12.

Click here for complete results from the sectional qualifier at Blue Hill CC.

“I think this is the first qualifier I have done in maybe two or three years in anything,” said Kuong, one of most decorated female golfers in Massachusetts over the course of her career. “Obviously, I am thrilled that I am going. Anytime you can make a USGA event, that’s the goal.”

The Wellesley Hills native Kuong, who holds her handicap index out of nearby Charles River Country Club, will compete in her second USGA Championship Proper of the season after she and Sue Curtin advanced to the US Women’s Amateur Four Ball Championship at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina over Memorial Day Weekend. 

After tallying bogeys on Holes 2 and 3, Kuong, who didn’t pick up clubs until age 35, settled in to play par on the rest of the front nine. After making the turn at 2-over par 38, she was able to play the field and continue her phenomenal play that kept her near the top of the leaderboard. 

Kuong credited her short game on the difference maker Tuesday.

“Clearly, my putting was really solid. I had good pace on the greens and when I did miss a green, I was able to get up and down, for the most part. With the wind swirling, I knew it was just a matter of getting in the middle of the green.”

In addition to her play in USGA events, the 2012 WGAM Player of the Year Kuong has won two Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championships, the 2011 New England Women’s Amateur and three New England Senior Women’s Amateurs.

Besides Kuong, five additional competitors also advanced from Tuesday’s sectional qualifier. Hilary Hall (Dublin) earned medalist honors with a 3-over par 75 while Tara Watt (Manchester, NH), Staci Creech (Bangor, ME), Liliana Ruiz-Munoz and Jane Fitzgerald move on to Naples comes October.

Massachusetts natives Elizabeth Corcoran, the 2017 winner of the WGAM Amateur President’s Cup, was named first alternate while Tracy Welch of Winchester was named second alternate.

For more information on the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, visit USGA.org.