U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 14, 2021

Shelly Stouffer

The Lakewood Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you start with the morning? You ended up finishing off a match in the early morning, right?

SHELLY STOUFFER: That's right, yeah, at 7:30. That happened today? Yes, I played -- I didn't have to play -- I had to hit one shot this morning, actually. I hit a tee shot on 17 and then my opponent didn't play that hole very well, and she didn't make her putt on 16 because I was already in the hole for a birdie, and then she kind of missed a shot here and there and then she gave me my putt. Yeah, it was a good one. I had to get up -- I got up at like -- no, I got here at 6:30, so I probably got up at 5:30. I got up at 5:30 and then got ready, came over, got warmed up, and yeah.

Q. Another good win in the morning in the regular round, the quarterfinals round. Can you tell me a little bit about that match?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Well, I wasn't up at any point in the match. She was always up. I think I was 2-down at one point. Yeah, and she made a good putt on No. 1, I think, for birdie and then she parred 2. I don't think I did. Anyway, so I'm 2-down, and then I started playing a little bit better. I can't remember it.

Q. It's a long day.

SHELLY STOUFFER: And then I fought back, and I had some good shots. Hit a lot of greens on the back nine and hit two really good shots on 18, and she hit a tee shot right, so she had to punch out, and so we were all square on -- well, on 17 tee, and I hit a decent shot. She hit a good shot, too, and I bombed my putt by, so I had actually a pretty -- kind of dicey putt to make on that hole, and I made it.

Then I hit a really good tee shot on 18 and a good approach to like three or four feet or something on -- maybe three feet on 18, and then she kind of chipped out and kind of chili'd one and hit it on and gave me the putt.

Q. What about having Judith on your bag, just this day in general? Obviously it must be a great thrill. Were you very good friends already going into this week?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Well, not really. We just kind of -- this year we played a couple of rounds up in Quebec for the Canadian Senior that was I'm going to say last week but it was probably two weeks ago now. I ended up winning, but we played a couple rounds and I got to know her a little bit more. I met her in 2015, I think, before that.

Was it 2015, Judith? In Wolf Creek. Was there some other place that I met you? Anyway, yeah, so I didn't really know her much, and she texted me -- she knew I was here alone, so she texted me this morning and asked if I wanted her to caddie, and I said yes, for sure. It was awesome, and it was really good. I appreciated it. She did an awesome job. Yeah, very good.

Q. Tell me just a little bit about the match with Ellen; you guys had very much of a back-and-forth match, tight match, even all the way down the stretch. She said she was absolutely sure you were going to make that par putt on 18. She made the birdie to finish it, so quite a match.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, it was good. It was great. I hit two bad shots on 14, hit one in the hazard and then -- well, no, what is it called now? The penalty area. Anyway, so then she made a par there and then got 1-up, and then on the 15th hole, again, I hit a pretty good tee shot and had the same number as I had earlier in the day, and I hit the same club except I hit a better shot and I made the putt for a birdie on 15. So that felt awesome to get back to all square after being down one.

Then she was just missing putts. I hit a sprinkler head or something on 16, and I kind of had a brutal bounce, but I still was able to putt it.

Yeah, and then made another good second putt on 17 to go to 18, and just didn't hit my pitching wedge very well on 18, which was a little unfortunate, into the bunker. But I can't complain. It's been quite a ride for the last couple weeks here.

Q. You lost to a great champion, right?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, she's awesome. She played great. Yeah, she was great. It was a really good experience. It was lots of fun playing today, and really enjoyed it. It was good.

Q. Do you feel like you belong at this level? Did this week make you feel like, I belong in this level of players that are winning championships? You were right in the mix this week.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Definitely. I definitely think that I belong. I wasn't coming here to lose, but no, I felt like -- I felt very comfortable. I felt like I belonged. I felt like this is a great opportunity. I've been having a really good year, a really good last couple years, even though I didn't play many tournaments in BC, but I won the BC Senior for the last two years and then I won the Canadian Senior. That's how I got into this tournament. I wasn't even coming --

Q. Until last week.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Exactly, so I get the exemption, and I'm like, well, I've got to go, because I've been to the Mid-Am in 2015. That's where it was, at Squire Creek.

Anyway, yeah, and so there I made it to the round of 32, so it was nice to get past that round.

I mean, every round it seems like a bit harder, right? So it was just a great experience.

Q. It's a progression, right?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to the next time. I get an exemption into the Senior Open next year for winning the Canadian, so I'm excited about that.