U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 4, 2022

Shelly Stouffer

Anchorage Golf Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Well, it was kind of a magical week for you with the club in your hand. Everything you touched turned to gold. What was the key to this week? You just kept on going through and beating everyone in impressive fashion.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, I just kept on playing my own game and hitting -- we kept to our game plan. I'm like, what am I doing here, Brett. Same thing, why change it now. We just kept on doing that, and it worked out really well.

Q. You said yesterday that it just felt comfortable. You wanted to keep it rolling. Is that normal for you, or did this week feel different, better, whatever it may be?

SHELLY STOUFFER: I don't know, lately it's been pretty normal because I'm feeling really good about my game, and I didn't really have a lot of nerves. Like today before all the hoopla kind of with the trophy and all that, I was like, oh, you know what, I can't deal with that, this is just going to be like -- I was like, this is a regular game of golf today. I just kind of made it in that way, and it totally worked in my favor, I think.

Q. How aggressive are you in playing match play generally? You made a lot of birdies over the course of the week. That doesn't maybe necessarily mean you were playing more aggressively, but how do you approach match play compared to other formats?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Well, you're playing the person so it's a bit different, but yeah, like there was a couple where I just cozied up my birdie putts because I knew I didn't have to make it, and I didn't want to three-putt, so that part was a little bit different.

But I just tried to play the game. I didn't really change much. I played like I play. It was pretty good this week.

Q. She had her first hole right there and we joked about it, you're standing over a short one. You don't want that in that situation, but talk about that last putt and how it felt when it went in.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Well, I saw the putt. It was two, three feet, I'm not sure, probably three feet, and I'm like, okay, I've had lots of these putts, and I'm like, okay, this is basically straight. I'm going to go through my routine and do the whole same thing, and voilà, it went in the hole.

Q. Where does this rank as far as championships that you've won?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Pretty amazing, probably the highest. Well, a USGA event, it's amazing. I won the Canadian Senior last year, which got me into this last year, which was amazing, and I came third. You know, I did one better this year.

Q. Talk about leaving last year as a semifinalist. That had to give you some confidence coming into this year.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, and I lost 1-down to Ellen Port on 18, and she made a birdie, which is great, because I hit one in the bunker. But I felt good about my game then, and I just continued on this year. I didn't really play all winter, and then I started up practicing again in the spring. But everything has been going well this year, and I've been playing a lot of tournaments and winning most of them. I've got a lot of confidence right now.

Q. Talk about what it means to have Brett here, and he's pretty involved as a caddie.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, for 15, I thought -- when I first thought Brett is coming, I was like, this might be bad, because I'm not sure. But then once the first -- after we got the first round under our belt, he was really good. He was helping with reading the greens. He knows my clubs. He knows my game because we play a lot together. He was great. He was awesome. He kept me calm.

Like he drew the birdie -- I had this other birdie in my bag actually that my sister's mother-in-law gave her, and it kind of like -- got me going with birdies, as well, so we have that with us, as well. That's in my bag. It didn't work for me on the first day, and then he drew the little birdie on the ball the second day, then I'm like, we just go with that. Brett had this bracelet, and I'm like, that's your birdie bracelet. We just had birdie things going on. It was funny.

Q. Was your first USGA event the 2001 Women's Open or had you playing in anything before that?

SHELLY STOUFFER: No, that was my first one.

Q. What do you remember from that week?

SHELLY STOUFFER: I remember the course played a lot different. It was really hard. It was a lot of weather. The rough was really thick. I know Pine Needles this year, I looked at it and it was totally different. It wasn't even the same golf course, and the fairways were wide, and when I played the fairways were narrow. It was really difficult. I did not play well.

But I made a couple birdies. I holed out for birdie on a bunker on like the second or third hole or something on a par-3, and that was amazing. But it was just amazing being there.

Q. There's been some Canadian dominance in this event of late, and you have some support here. Talk about that a bit.

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, Judith has been great. Unfortunately we had to play each other in the -- what was it, the quarterfinals, but she played great. That was a tough one, and it was nice to -- I mean, it's bittersweet a little bit, but yeah, the Canadians are so supportive of everybody, each other. It's amazing. Jackie is like awesome. Everybody here is awesome. Mary Ann, everybody. I love that they're watching me, and -- so much excitement.

Q. You said you got a text last night. Can you repeat that?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, I got a text from Marlene Streit last night. She said, you've got this, good job, keep it going, and it was awesome. I got texts from lots of people, but she's like right there. She won this how many times? I don't even know. Lots.

Q. What particularly gave you a comfort level on this course? You said you got on it and played it a few times, and at that point you were like, I like this, I set up well here?

SHELLY STOUFFER: Yeah, I think maybe just the 68 catapulted me into getting around this golf course.

All the tee shots actually, they all set up for me quite well. I picked the lines and I was hitting the ball really well. I just have nothing to complain about. The greens, there's a bit of spots that were a bit rough, but it was good. It was okay. Yeah, it was great.