• A gold medal and custody of the Mildred Gardiner Prunaret   Trophy for the ensuing year

• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the next 10 U.S.     Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships, if otherwise eligible

• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the next two U.S.   Women’s Amateur Championships, if otherwise eligible

• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the next two   USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championships, if otherwise    eligible

• An exemption from sectional qualifying for the next two U.S.   Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, if otherwise   eligible

The Trophy – The Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship Trophy was presented in 1987 by Mildred Prunaret, who was chairman of the USGA Women’s Committee from 1959 through 1963.


HISTORY

The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship originated in 1987 as a result of a need determined by an ad hoc committee headed by Dena Nowotny, a member of the USGA Women’s Committee.

The Women’s Mid-Amateur, the USGA’s 13th championship, was created to provide a national competitive arena for amateurs age 25 and older. By 1987, it had become increasingly difficult for female amateur golfers beyond college to compete equitably with their collegiate counterparts, for whom golf was nearly a full-time vocation.

As with any new championship, there was initial concern with the level of entries. In this case, women amateurs responded with enthusiasm. The first championship attracted 320 entries, only 29 fewer than the number that had entered the 1987 Women’s Amateur a few weeks earlier.

The starting field of 130 players was determined by sectional qualifying. The first Women’s Mid-Amateur was played at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. The inaugural championship was won by Cindy Scholefield, 27, of Malibu, Calif.

The Women’s Mid-Amateur has been the setting for a number of noteworthy finals. In 1989, Robin Weiss of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., defeated Page Marsh Lea on the 22nd hole. In 1990, despite the tremendous pressure of competing on her home course as a crowd favorite, Carol Semple Thompson, 41, of Sewickley, Pa., defeated Marsh Lea, 3 and 1, at Allegheny Country Club, where Semple Thompson had learned the game.

Sarah LeBrun Ingram of Nashville, Tenn., in 1994 became the first player to capture consecutive Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships, having previously won in 1991 and 1993. In 2000, Ellen Port, 39, of St. Louis, Mo., won her third Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif. She also won the title in 1995 and 1996.