Jordan Ferreira of University Place, Wash. and Alivia Brown of Gig Harbor, Wash. are tied for the lead after shooting even-par 72s in the opening round of the 21st Washington State Women's Amateur Championship. Alison Murdoch of Victoria, B.C. leads the 15th Washington State Senior Women's Amateur by six, while Carol Dick holds a four-shot lead in the Inaugural Washington State Super Senior Women's Amateur.
The three championships are conducted by the Washington State Golf Association, and are being held concurrently at Port Ludlow (Wash.) Golf Club.
Both Ferreira and Brown had three birdies and three bogeys on the day. Brown had made the turn at 3-under par, but struggled on the back nine with bogeys on three of the last five holes.
Ferreira, 19, just finished her freshman year playing on the women's golf team at the University of Notre Dame. Last month she set a course record in qualifying for last week's U.S. Women's Open. Ferreira is a two-time WSGA Junior Girls' Player of the Year.
Brown just graduated from Bellarmine Prep, and in the fall will be playing on the women's golf team at Washington State University.
Defending champion Mallory Kent of Tukwila, Wash. is tied for ninth after opening with a 7-over par 79.
Murdoch, who in 2013 was inducted into both the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, won this championship in 2010, and has a six-shot lead over defending champion Lisa Smego of Olympia, Wash.
The format for these championships calls for 54 holes of stroke play. For tomorrow's second round, the leaders will be teeing off at 11:40 a.m.
Past champions of the Washington State Women's Amateur have gone on to make their mark in the golf community, and include Paige Mackenzie (2002), a member of the University of Washington Athletic Hall of Fame who finished her senior year ranked the No. 1 golfer in the nation by Golfweek, and who currently plays on the LPGA Tour; Kelli Kamimura (2001), a former four-time high school state champion and All-American at the UW, who now is the head coach of the women's golf team at Washington State University; Jimin Kang (1999), who was the runner-up at the 1999 U.S. Women's Amateur while still in high school, and who now plays on the LPGA Tour; Molly Cooper (1997, 2000), who was the medalist at the 2000 U.S. Women's Amateur qualifier, and who now is the Director of Tournament & Member Programs at the Pacific Northwest Section PGA; Renee Skidmore (2005), who recently competed on the Golf Channel's Big Break series; and Erynne Lee (2011), who was selected the WSGA Women's Player of the Year in three consecutive years, made it to the quarterfinals or better of the U.S. Women's Amateur three times, and is now a rising star on the UCLA women's golf team.
