U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 4, 2024

Terrill Samuel

Fox Chapel Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Terrill Samuel, the low amateur after the fourth round of the U.S. Senior Women's Open at Fox Chapel. Can you talk about how you're feeling knowing you've earned low amateur honors.

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, I'm very proud of how I played for the four days. It's a super honor to be the low am. I never expected it, so it's quite a great surprise and an honor to be low am at the tournament.

Q. You had four birdies today. Could you walk us through the round?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, I started off with a bogey. I can just remember the last two birdies because I came off two three-putts because I went bogey-double, and then I birdied 16 from a long, long way. It was a bomb. It had no business going in, but it went in. Then on 17 I knocked it pretty close, which was nice. It got above the dip, the six-foot dip, and I was able to hit a downhill one, and that was really nice. It kind of made up for the two three-putts, so I was very happy because I was going the wrong way at the time.

Q. You know Judith Kyrinis and she's been low am at this championship. Have you talked about how she felt when she was low amateur in this championship?

TERRILL SAMUEL: We play against each other all the time, and she usually gets the better of me. Yeah, she's an awesome player and an awesome friend. Yeah, we always chat together, definitely.

Q. Will you let her know that maybe this time you got the best of it?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Well, I'm playing in a tournament with her. I've got a practice round Monday and Tuesday, so maybe I'll rub it in a little.

Q. Considering all the rainfall, obviously yesterday and then again overnight, could you talk about how the course played today?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, USGA was nice enough, they moved a lot of the tees up for us.

I remember in the practice round, it wasn't even wet then, and it was playing pretty long. But they moved some of the really tough par-4s up, so it wasn't bad. It was just like you had to watch for the mud balls a little bit. I was lucky I just had little bits of mud on mine and wasn't too bad.

I thought the USGA set it up very fair. You probably used almost every club in your bag, which is nice, which they always do.

Q. Where does being low amateur in this championship rank in your golf career?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Right up there, yeah. Like I said, I'm very proud of that. It's so much fun to come here and play with pros. They treat you so well. I had great pairings this week, and they were just awesome to me. That made it easier to play. I was very lucky with my draw.

Q. There seems to be a good group of Canadian golfers that play in this championship every year. Has it become very competitive up there?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, there's probably at least five or six of us, like my age group, that compete, and most of the time we're battling it out. We're lucky to have that, the five or six of us.

Q. As the leaders come down the stretch here, is there anything that you experienced that you think might be key for them down the stretch?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, just on this golf course, it's hard not to, but you want to make sure you know -- you want to be above the pin or on the uphill side of it, but you can't always do it, because like 17 is a tough hole. It's like 180-something to the pin, and you've got that big six-foot dip. You want it to be an uphill putt, but sometimes you can't do it. You just hope you're on the green and stuff like that. But if you can, you kind of aim to the correct side, and hopefully you have not a super fast downhill putt.

But it's not as fast as it was because of all the rain, too. If it had not rained, it probably would have been even more treacherous.

Q. What's next for you on your schedule? You mentioned going to another championship on Monday.

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, I've got our Ontario Senior Am starting on Tuesday, it's three days, and then I have the Canadian Senior Am, and I got into the U.S. Mid-Am, and I'm in the U.S. Senior Am, so I've got a lot left.

Q. What does this do for your confidence?

TERRILL SAMUEL: Yeah, I've been playing really well this year, so I hope it keep it going.