HADDONFIELD, N.J. – Golf plays an important role in the lives of Angie Whitley Coleman and Lisa Day. Whitley Coleman found the game in her early 20s, while Day spent time as an LPGA member before regaining amateur status. On Tuesday, their golf origins didn’t matter. In U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Qualifying administered by GAP at Tavistock Country Club (par 72, 5,558 yards) the pair shared medalist honors with scores of 4-over-par 76.
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The cutline stopped at 8-over-par 80. There were six qualifying positions and two alternate positions available for the Championship proper. Clair Stewart of Middletown, Del., Melana Regan of Wyndmoor, Pa., Mariana Mindlin of Argentina, and Mercedese Large of West Hartford, Conn. grabbed the final qualifying positions.
The 63rd U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship will take place Sept. 13-18 at The Omni Homestead Resort (Cascades Course) in Hot Springs, Va.
“It’s shocking,” Whitley Coleman, 61, of Wilmington, Del., said. “There were several strokes [I] left out there, it never occurred to me it might be enough to co-medal. That is thrilling.”
“It’s great,” Day, 64, of Coatesville, Pa., said. “I didn’t think I would be [co-medalist,] but I was trying to make everything count.”
Whitley Coleman limited the damage on her card with a bogey being her worst score of the day. She embellished her round with birdies on Nos. 6 (par 4, 351 yards) and 8 (par 3, 165 yards). On the former, she steered an 8-iron from 136 yards to eight feet. On the latter, she drained the ensuing 18-footer after teeing off with her 5-hybrid.
“If I had to give it a score, I would say overall my play probably was about a B+,” Whitley Coleman, who refines her game at DuPont Country Club, said. “I did have a couple of good up-and-downs to kind of save the round.”
The seasoned competitor will lean on her experience in five other USGA Championships as she prepares for the Championship proper. She also won the 2023 Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s (WGAP) 2022 Tournament of Champions.
Her competitive edge remains hungry since diving headfirst into the game at the end of her corporate career.
“I took an early retirement because I wanted to learn how to play golf, and 20 years later here we are,” Whitley Coleman said.
Whitley Coleman worked for MBNA, a bank holding company, as a technology project manager before the company was bought out by Bank of America.
After completing her undergraduate studies at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. in 1998, she attended a postgraduate business program sponsored by Honeywell. As part of the program, students were exposed to golf and tennis.
“I remember just saying, ‘Once I have a career [and] I’m making money, I’m going to return to golf cause I really think I’d like to play this game,’” Whitley Coleman said. “I never let that go.”
In 2005, she began playing at Deerfield Golf Club in Newark, Del. Conveniently, the course was owned by MBNA at the time.
The golf bug bit and never let go.
Now, Whitley Coleman spends winters in Tampa, Fla. so her game can remain sharp. Since 2015, she’s worked with coach Scott Wickham the Director of Instruction at Avila Golf & Country Club.
A specific golf goal occupies space in her mind.
“I really would love to be a quarterfinalist, like really make it deep into one of these (USGA Championships).” Whitley Coleman said. “Ultimately, [it would be] wonderful to actually win one.”
Whitley Coleman also enjoys supporting The First Tee and other golf programs that allow her to give back to the game.
The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur will be Day’s first USGA Championship.
In Tuesday’s qualifier at Tavistock, she carded two birdies to get to her final number. On No. 11 (par 4, 269), she hit a sand wedge from 75 yards to 10 feet. On No. 13 (par 3, 128 yards) she holed a 20-footer after teeing off with her 7-iron.
“I knew if I could keep it together, I would qualify,” Day, a Honeybrook Golf Club member, said. “I’m looking forward to [the championship.] I’m going to probably see some friends I haven’t seen that we used to play on The tour together many years ago.”
Day’s golf story began when she started taking lessons at Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, where she used to bartend, in 1978. Her affinity for the game ignited her desire to pursue golf professionally.
Shortly after completing her PGA certification, she worked as an assistant professional at West Chester Golf and Country Club. In the early 1980s, she played on the LPGA Futures Tour, the official qualifying tour of the LPGA now called the Epson Tour.
“I made cuts regularly,” Day said. “I couldn’t really find sponsors to continue to play and I guess I got tired of asking people for money, so I decided to stop.”
At that point, Day left golf entirely and pursued a career with the U.S. Postal Service which she retired from last year. It was also a fine time for her to return to golf.
“I decided I wanted to play golf again, so I filed for my amateur status back,” Day, who also plays at Tanglewood Manor Golf Club said. “I haven’t played as a pro [for a while,] so they reinstated me immediately.”
Day says she enjoys playing with her husband Jerry and their son Bill. It was their love for the game coupled with her own that brought her back.
In 2022, Day had surgery to remove dysfunctional bones from her wrist which slightly hindered her progress in getting back onto the competitive golf trail. Now, she regularly plays with clubmates and even represents Honeybrook in the WGAP Team Matches.
“I had to relearn my swing again, but I had very good, sound mechanics,” Day said. “I really drew on those mechanics today.”
Regan will also be USGA Championship freshman this year. She carded a 7-over-par 79 to earn the fourth qualifying position available.
A birdie on No. 7 (par 4, 268 yards) after her 9-iron from 115 yards settled to five feet helped to fuel her qualifying score.
“Really stacked field today,” Regan, 54, and a Philadelphia Cricket Club member, said. “[I played] really solid tee to green. [I] only missed one fairway, and just had a bunch of good up-and-downs.”
Regan is the reigning GAP Women’s Senior Champion.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 130,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
| Qualifiers | |
| Name, city, state | Score |
| Angie Whitley Coleman, Wilmington, Del. | 76 |
| Lisa Day, Coatesville, Pa. | 76 |
| Clair Stewart, Middletown, Del. | 78 |
| Melana Regan, Wyndmoor, Pa. | 79 |
| Mariana Mindlin, Argentina | 80 |
| *Mercedese Large, West Hartford, Conn. | 80 |
| Alternates (in order) | |
| *Susie Kirk, Philadelphia, Pa. | 80 |
| Binney Wietlisbach, Wayne, Pa. | 81 |
| Failed to qualify | |
| Lynn Scully, Cheshire, Conn. | 82 |
| Allison Long, Coatesville, Pa. | 83 |
| Lisa Short, Atlanta, Ga. | 83 |
| Karen Siegel, Maple Glen, Pa. | 83 |
| Colleen Rafter, Brick, N.J. | 84 |
| Diane Cardano-Casacio, Flourtown, Pa. | 86 |
| Alicia A. Kapheim, Pennington, N.J. | 86 |
| Susan Sardi, Skillman, N.J. | 86 |
| Janice Park, Meadowbrook, Pa. | 87 |
| Maureen Smith, Fircrest, Wash. | 87 |
| Linda Erkert-Bullock, Milford, N.J. | 88 |
| Sandy Abbott, Doylestown, Pa. | 88 |
| Stephenie Harris, Furlong, Pa. | 88 |
| Monica Pedano, Wayne, Pa. | 89 |
| Michele Kreisler Rubenstein, Haverford, Pa. | 91 |
| Deb Vandall, Yardley, Pa. | 92 |
| Penrose O’Donnell, Yarmouth, Maine | 93 |
| Meredith Riedel, Durham, N.C. | 93 |
| Jung Priolo, Ambler, Pa. | DNF |
| Sarah Braendel, Malvern, Pa. | NS |
| DNF – did not finish | |
| NS – no show |
