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U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEURSeptember 14, 2017Judith KyrinisPortland, Oregon Q. You had all kinds of drama on the 6th, and then how did you feel you played after that, pretty solid? JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, solid. I think overall solid. It's really tough when this is your -- what is it, my sixth match. You already did two days of qualifying, you've done two practice rounds, so you know, I know I'm going to hit some loose shots. I remember that from the final back in Hollywood. And you just kind of let things roll off your back when you have a bad hole or you have a bad shot. But I think I played very solid and stuck to my game plan of what I wanted to do on certain holes with those bunkers that are right in your hitting area. Q. How important was the putt on 6? JUDITH KYRINIS: Pretty big. You know, I mean, I hit a great shot into that hole, and then for it to kind of go off and down, you know, and off the green, it was a little disappointing. Terrill had a terrible lie in that bunker. She made a fabulous shot, so to make that, it was a real momentum swing for me personally. Q. How long was that putt would you say? JUDITH KYRINIS: It was probably about 10 feet, yeah. Q. What about that stretch on 5 and 6? You looked like you were in good shape on both, looked like she kind of stole it from you -- JUDITH KYRINIS: Sure. Q. She ends up winning that hole and gets out of a fried egg on 6. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, I did not hit a great shot in there, a little clunky iron. Was struggling with some of my iron shots this week, so proximity to the hole on this golf course is really important because those longer putts are really tough to kind of make two-putts. I recognize I've got to -- as man any said, I've got to be closer to the hole, I can't be that far away. I think I did a pretty good job of that kind of coming in after that. Q. A big 2 you made on 12. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah. You know, I knew it was pretty flat, and as long as you keep the pace up on these greens and they're not going to kind of go one way or another way, it was probably a little more pace than I thought or wanted. You probably saw throughout my other golf. But happy to see it go down to the bottom of the hole for sure. Q. Does Manny play golf? JUDITH KYRINIS: He does, but I'll give him a shot a hole and we'll have some good matches. Q. You said to me earlier in the week that this course reminded you a lot of your home course. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yes, yes. Q. Just talk about the similarities. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, so the greens, although not -- our greens are quite small, so nothing compared to these size of greens, but the similarity are the characteristics, grass and slopiness and have to made a lot of sliders, the uphill, downhill putts. Very, very similar, very treed golf course. You have to really drive your golf ball well. It's probably not -- the Florida girls, people like that, they're not used to kind of these conditions, grasses. They're all pretty similar to what we play on on a daily basis in Ontario. Q. What's the name of your home club? JUDITH KYRINIS: The Thornhill Club. Q. Talk about Canada; what a week for Canada in this event, about the pride you're feeling. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, it's great. You know, Portland has been very good to Canadian golfers. Brooke has done very well in her time here, so we're proud of kind of keep on that tradition of playing well in Portland. All the girls I think that you saw, we all played very well, really kind of got far into the tournament, in our matches, and it was good because, you know, I've been looking at those leaderboards, which were fabulous, and it really kind of would spur you on. You'd see your friends doing well, and you're like, okay, let's go. You don't want to be left in the back of the bus, right, so it was fun. Q. Mary Ann, the most recent Canadian USGA champion, following you every step of the way. How cool was that? JUDITH KYRINIS: Well, we're very close friends. We push each other. I had a great year last year, and that really kind of invigorated her game to really work at it. I've looked up to Mary Ann for years, and it took me a long time to kind of win. Had a lot of runner-ups and things like that back in Ontario and back in Canada. Last year kind of got some of those monkeys off the back. The year before the North and South kind of spurred me on to feel that I can win. The old believe in yourself mentality. Q. How does it feel, three years ago you went to the 18th green, you were close to winning this thing, lost a great match, but now here you are three years later. JUDITH KYRINIS: It's very special, very surreal. I don't really believe that I've won yet. You know, it was a tough match to lose. You take it to 18, and like I said, I was like crying like a baby, and it's not because I was mad I lost, it's just because you're so pent up with all these emotions for the whole week. Then to have my brother come down and Mary Ann came down, and she also came down also for the final match with two of her friends, so it was really special to have those people kind of there to cheer you on, and so it was -- obviously in shock that my brother showed up today. Q. When did you first see him this morning? JUDITH KYRINIS: My husband and I were having breakfast in the grill room, and my husband says, oh, there's Dan. I'm like -- I kind of looked up, and really had to do a double take, because I'm like, Dan, oh, my God, and then I had very kind lady who I forget her name took him off so he could have a shower and whether they fed him or not, but anyways, it was great. It was awesome, meant a lot to me that he did that. I just felt that it was too far, like I didn't think he would be able to get here. It's not easy kind of to get out to this coast. Q. Are you guys golf buddies would you say? JUDITH KYRINIS: Well, no, because he's never had the temperament to -- he's a very good golfer, but he needs a little relaxing. He probably has done better now as he's done older and had kids and things like that, but yeah, when he was younger, it would fly, helicopter the club. Q. He seemed to be hanging back kind of out of your view. Is that by instruction? JUDITH KYRINIS: No, no, not at all, no. I didn't really see too many people out there, just kind of stayed in my little bubble. Talked to Manny, talked to Terrill, so I didn't really see kind of who was out there. Q. How many practice rounds did you play here? JUDITH KYRINIS: Two. Q. Is it difficult to develop a game plan? JUDITH KYRINIS: Well, you kind of use the qualifying, also, to get a game plan going. So obviously I became more comfortable kind of how the course was playing. They had so many tee decks that they were moving around, so kind of did make it a little bit more challenging to kind of come up with a real solid game plan. Q. Were you watching at all what Terrill was doing off the tees? JUDITH KYRINIS: No, I know what she does. I know her game real well. I know she's going to hit that 3-wood and she gets it running and going, and that's Terrill. She's a fabulous ball striker. Q. So you know her game? JUDITH KYRINIS: Absolutely, yes, very well. Q. Had you played Waverley before? JUDITH KYRINIS: I had no, not. First time to Oregon -- no, sorry, not to Oregon. I played in the Am two years ago at Portland Golf Club. Q. What does it mean to you to be exempt into the first Senior Women's Open? JUDITH KYRINIS: Wow, how special is that? At the Canadians in Newfoundland, we all decided we were going to ride just because it was such a hilly course because we wanted to give ourselves the best chance, because if you won that, you got exempt into that, so we knew there was a big carrot trying to win that Canadian Senior, and unfortunately none of us did, so very happy that I was able to do this. It's going to be like, wow, awesome. I can't even begin to think -- Q. You're exempt for two years. Have you played Chicago Golf Club? JUDITH KYRINIS: Oh, gosh no. Q. And Pine Needles the next year? JUDITH KYRINIS: Pine Needles, wow. Pinehurst has some good vibes for me, so hopefully Pine Needles does, too. Q. The greens at Chicago Golf are rectangular, so you can actually get caught in a corner. JUDITH KYRINIS: Oh, really. Q. Because the corners are not round. JUDITH KYRINIS: Okay, awesome. I'll have to see if I can get out there. I've played Cog Hill, but that's the only course in the Chicago area. Q. You had an exemption into this championship because of your runner-up or no? JUDITH KYRINIS: Yes, yeah, so this is the end of my gravy train. Q. It's tough to qualify for this. JUDITH KYRINIS: It is tough, and oh, boy, it's kind of tough to put that pressure on your one big qualifier, so now to have 10 years, that's like, whoa, crazy, awesome. Q. Tell me your kids' names, ages. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, so I've got Michael is my oldest. He's 20. I've got Drew is 18, and then I've got Emma, who is 16. Q. Did you really hit a hole-in-one when you were eight and a half months pregnant? JUDITH KYRINIS: I did. I had Michael in my belly. He came along August 29th I think or 27th. Oh, my God, it's terrible. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Don't say anything. Anyway, his birthday, Manny and I were actually playing in a husband and wife tournament, so we actually -- it was the fifth hole, and on the fourth hole is where we started, and he looks at the card, you know, you get from the pro shop. It says, first one to get the hole-in-one on 5, you get a gift certificate into the pro shop, and he says, oh, geez, that's our last hole, though. So I'm thinking, how many hole-in-ones do you really think are going to be out here, honey. And then get up there, and boom, slam dunk, and I made everybody happy in the husband-wife tournament, buying them drinks. Q. Do you remember what club? JUDITH KYRINIS: It was a 7-iron, and I think it was -- I would say roughly it was probably 130. But that I do remember. Q. Have you had other holes-in-one? JUDITH KYRINIS: Yes, I believe I've had six now. Q. When did you start playing golf? JUDITH KYRINIS: I grew up in St. Catharines, and I started there caddying for a friend and I'd go hit balls at the local range, and none of my family golfed at the time, so my parents got me a membership there when I was about -- I think about 12 or 13. Never competed as a junior, and I didn't really kind of get back into competitive golf or playing competitive golf until I was finished with my nursing school and living in Toronto. So never went to school or did any of that stuff, so yeah. Q. Are you still working as a nurse? JUDITH KYRINIS: I am, yes. I job share, so it's kind of like part-time, 20 hours a week, and I'm sure they're thrilled. All my peeps at work, yeah. They're very supportive. Q. The kids, where are they? JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, they're back at home. My daughter is in high school in grade 11, and my two boys are doing some gap years, so they're just working, trying to figure out -- it's tough at that age to try and figure out what you want to do yet. Q. Have they been texting you? JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah, it's great when your 18 year old says, love you, in a text, with a big red heart. It means a lot when they do that. You get teared up because -- they're boys. Q. Do they play? JUDITH KYRINIS: The boys play but not competitively. They play social golf. They were hockey players. Q. Of course. JUDITH KYRINIS: Yeah. So we got too much hockey 24/7, 12 months a year. Q. They'll pick it up when they're older? JUDITH KYRINIS: No, they're good. They can get around. They hit it pretty decent. Q. Are you interested in sports? Is hockey big for you? JUDITH KYRINIS: Oh, absolutely, yes. No, I played hockey growing up, played hockey until two years ago when actually accidentally a puck took off the top of my finger. They sewed it back on and it's all fine, it doesn't bother me, but after that as soon as I took my glove off, I'm like, oh, my golf. I realized then, I think I'll stop. It was one of those like, my golf! But that's what we do in the winter, right. I stay active. Q. Big Maple Leafs fan? JUDITH KYRINIS: Toronto Maple Leafs fan. MT and Mary Ann are big Habs fans, so we have a lot of repartee going back and forth with each other. At least they're getting better, so I'm hopeful. Q. Besides all your compatriots, is there a kind of hero in golf or women's golf? JUDITH KYRINIS: You know what, I've always looked up to Marlene Stewart Streit. She's a very close friend, kind of like a second mom. She's got a lot of daughters, she says, but she texts me every day. She took me out for nine holes, we played, we worked on the game before I left for the Canadians, and it's pretty special to have someone like that to help you out. I went to her inauguration at the World Golf Hall of Fame, so I've known her a long time. Q. Waverley obviously takes a lot of pride in their champions. What does it mean to you to be a champion specifically at this club? JUDITH KYRINIS: Well, it has a rich history, as we all know, the whole hallway down there, and it's pretty cool. A lot of great champions, and for myself to be there, I'm just -- again, it's surreal. It's kind of crazy. I never would have dreamt this, but you dream it, but you don't dream it's ever going to happen. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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