Susan Glasby quit playing golf as a teen because, as she says, she was “burnt out.” “I didn’t pick up a club again until two years ago,” said the Australia native who now lives in Huntington, W.Va. She’s making the most of her – so to speak – second round.
Glasby put together a three-round score of 75-79-74 – 228 to win the 106th Metropolitan Women’s Amateur Championship on June 9-11 at Ivy Hills Country Club. Glasby, playing out of World of Golf, edged 2014 and 2019 champion Emily Stipanovich of Coldstream Country Club by three strokes and Allison Schultz of Maketewah Country Club by four strokes.
Four Bridges Country Club’s UnAe Mueller earned the overall Senior championship, capturing the Joan Comisar Flight with an 82-88 – 170, six strokes better than Little Miami Golf Center’s Carolyn Mindel. Mueller capitalized on a blistering start, shooting a 37 over the first nine holes.
“That was a shocker,” she said. “I kind of fell apart in the second nine with a 45, but I couldn’t believe my eyes with a 37. It was my lucky day. On No. 6, I hit my tee shot out of bounds, but it hit a tree and came out on the fairway.”
She also chipped in her third shot on No. 7. “I said, ‘What’s going on here?’” she said. “I was lucky all day long that day. The gals I played with couldn’t believe how lucky I was. On No. 12, everybody was finished putting and I thought I saw something funny. I looked down and saw a four-leaf clover.
“I was able to keep balls in the fairway,” she added. “I only missed the fairway one time all week. I’m not a longer hitter, but I’m consistent. I was able to play own game. I didn’t worry about the other players.”
Mueller counts this win as the biggest of her career. “I guess it is, as it goes,” she said. “I came out several times close. As an individual, this is the biggest one.”
Heritage Country Club’s Tereza Riccella won the Seniors’ Judy Diem Hayes Flight with a two-round score of 101-103 – 204, four strokes ahead of second-place Donna Heine of O’Bannon CreekGolf Club. Riccella had to reacquaint herself with Ivy Hills.
“It’s been seven or eight years since I’ve been there,” she said. “I forgot how hard the greens were. The greens were everybody’s downfall. When you thought you had a putt, it either stopped short or went 15 feet past and curved. I was fine off the tee. I always liked to say I have a good short game – until I got to Ivy Hills. Ivy Hills has a way of humbling your short game.”
This year’s Met was Riccella’s 17th straight and she’s been her flight’s winner or runnerup seven times, she said, but this one was a little more special. “This is my first time winning since we went to medal play,” she said.
Glasby, who won the event in her third try after finishing third in 2019 and tied for seventh last year, wasn’t really impressed with her performance. She also was unfamiliar with the course. “I had never seen Ivy Hills before,” she said. “It was the hardest 6000 yards I’ve ever played.” The long-driving Glasby had to adjust her approach to stay competitive, she said.
“I didn’t pull my driver out at all,” said Glasby, who followed her mother when she moved in 2013 from Australia to marry a West Virginia man. “There was nowhere to land it. My main advantage is my driver. It’s my favorite club, but it had to stay in the bag.”
Glasby, who maintains dual citizenships, was second, two strokes behind Schultz and two ahead of Stipanovich, after two rounds and had to overcome that deficit and a third-day 10 on No. 4 to win. She made up for it by logging five of her third-round six birdies over the last 14 holes. “I wasn’t concerned,” she said. “Ivy Hills is one of those courses where anybody can have a 10. I was able to wipe it out of my mind.”
West Virginia isn’t exactly a golf hotbed, and Glasby has a difficult time finding tournaments near her home, which forces her to seek out events further from home. She recently played in Florida and was planning to play in the Michigan Women’s Open. That’s what has brought her to Cincinnati. “It’s an open tournament,” she pointed out. “Finding tournaments around this area is very difficult.”
That means she has to literally go to extra lengths to indulge her renewed love of the game. She plans to return to Cincinnati next year to defend her championship. “I guess, since I took that long off from the sport, I missed it,” she said. “Golf is one of those sports that gets in your blood.”
By Mark Schmetzer