Links: Tournament Field
On May 31st, seventy-four of the top female competitors from New England and beyond will begin their quest to capture the 18th Connecticut Women's Open Championship. The tournament, which will be played at Round Hill Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, is open to any amateur or professional female golfer regardless of residency.
What’s at Stake: The championship is contested over 36-holes of stroke play, with 74 players vying for the title. Professionals will be playing for a total purse of $10,000, with the champion taking home a winner’s check of $4,000.
Last Year’s Championship: In the 2015 Connecticut Women’s Open Championship at the Golf Club of Avon, amateur Megan Khang of Rockland, Massachusetts shattered the record books en-route to her third Women’s Open victory. Khang shot rounds of rounds of 65-64—129 to win by nine strokes over Ashlan Ramsey of Greenville, South Carolina, who captured low professional honors.
Since winning the Connecticut Women’s Open last August, Khang has turned professional and successfully qualified for the LPGA Tour. In her 2016 rookie campaign, she has a 4th, 7th and 11th place finish in ten events, and is currently ranked 55 in the Race to the CME Globe.
About the Course: The 2016 Connecticut Women's Open Championship will be hosted at the Round Hill Club for the first time in the event's history. This will mark Round Hill Club's second CSGA major championship, having previously hosted the 2008 Connecticut Open Championship. The club was also host to the stroke play portion of the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
A total of 74 players will begin their quest for the 17th Connecticut Women’s Open Championship, of which 35 are professionals and 39 are amateurs.
There are 4 Past Champions in the field. They are:
– Elizabeth Caron, Greenlawn, N.Y. – 2003, 04, 05 and 06 Champion
– Jordan Lintz, Milford, Conn. – 2011 Champion
– CJ Reeves, Bedford, N.Y. – 2009 Champion
– Lynn Valentine, East Lyme, Conn. – 2008 Champion
The Connecticut Women’s Open is the only CSGA event that is open to all players regardless of residency. This year’s field is represented by 13 states (Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont), as well as 3 countries (USA, Canada and Netherlands). Connecticut is the most represented in the field, with a total of forty players hoping to capture the title in their home state.
Elizabeth Caronreturns to the Connecticut Women’s Open looking to capture her fifth title. Caron graduated from Duke University where she was named both the WGCA and ACC Player of the Year and won a total of seven collegiate tournaments and two NCAA team titles. In addition to her four Women’s Open championships, she also captured five straight Connecticut Women’s Amateur Championship (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001). Her husband, Jason, won the 2012 Connecticut Open Championship at Wee Burn Country Club.
Lynn Valentine of East Lyme, Conn. Valentine will be seeking to capture her second Women’s Open title, having previously won in 2008 at Tumble Brook Country Club. Valentine also took home low professional honors in 2012 and has finished inside the top ten in four of the last five years. She has also competed in numerous events on the national level, including the 2008 United States Women’s Open Championship.
When professional Jordan Lintz of Milford, Connecticut begins her first round on Tuesday, she will be looking to become just the fourth player in tournament history to win more than one Women’s Open championship. Lintz won her title in 2011 at the Golf Club of Oxford Greens, defeating four-time champion Liz Caron on the second playoff hole. She is currently a Teaching Professional at Oronoque Country Club in Stratford, Connecticut.
Only one player (Elizabeth Caron) has successfully captured the Women’s Open title on their home course, winning the third of her four titles at Wampanoag Country Club. Amateurs Courtney Gardner and Ashley MacFarlane, and professional Debbie Jacobs-Dungee all call Round Hill Club home and are looking to equal Caron’s feat from 2005 in front of the home crowd.
Catherine McEvoy of Riverside, Connecticut enters the Women’s Open hoping to become the fourth player to win the Women’s Open as an amateur. She won the 50th Connecticut State Women’s Amateur title at Indian Hill Country Club last year, shooting rounds of 78-76-73—227 to edge Jen Holland by a single stroke.
At age 14, Maisie Filler of Bloomfield, Connencticut is the youngest player in this year’s field. A 2020 high school graduate, Filler captured the 2015 CWGA Junior Championship at Wethersfield Country Club by twelve strokes, and won two tournaments in 2015 on the Connecticut PGA Junior Golf Tour circuit.
After finishing runner-up in 2013, Ashli Bunch of Morristown, Tennessee will be looking to win her first Connecticut Women's Open title. Bunch, a veteran of the LPGA and Symetra tours with over $720,000 in career earnings, held the overnight lead heading into the final round in 2013 before finishing second by a single stroke to Megan Khang.
CJ Reeves, the 2009 Connecticut Women’s Open Champion, will be seeking to capture her second Women’s Open title. A PGA and LPGA Professional at Century Country Club, her list of accomplishments includes winning the Metropolitan PGA Women’s Match Play title in 2014 en-route to earning Women’s Player of the Year honors, and qualifying for the LPGA Championship in 2001. She was also named the Metropolitan PGA Teacher of the Year in 2001.
Par and Yardage – The tournament will be contested at Round Hill Club, which will play at approximately 5,747 yards and a par of 35-36–71.
