Maria Fassi lives just north of Mexico City, but when it comes to qualifying for USGA championships, she feels right at home in the Denver area.
Each of the past two years, the talented golfer from south of the border has made trips to Colorado successful ones as she’s qualified for U.S. national amateur championships — the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2013 at CommonGround and the inaugural U.S. Women’s Four-Ball last fall at Heritage at Westmoor.
And Wednesday proved a charm as the 17-year-old earned a spot into arguably the most prestigious women’s golf tournament there is, the U.S. Women’s Open.
The high school junior (above) shot rounds of 70-69 for a 5-under-par 144 total at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton to secure one of the two qualifying berths available for the Women’s Open, which will be contested July 9-12 in Lancaster, Pa.
Joining her in advancing was another highly-regarded amateur from outside the U.S. Bertine Strauss of South Africa, who just completed her college career and graduated from the University of Texas, earned medalist honors Wednesday at 138 following rounds of 70-68.
Asked to explain her USGA qualifying success in Colorado, Fassi said, “The conditions are really like what I’m used to playing. It’s the same altitude (actually Mexico City is a couple thousand feet higher) so that helps a lot. I have good memories here, so to remember that you did good here helps.”
As for Strauss, while she had never been to Colorado before this week, she’s likewise quite accustomed to playing golf at a mile-high-plus altitude as she’s from an area in South Africa that’s slightly higher than Denver. So she too felt right at home, particularly in landing a spot in the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time.
“I might just want to keep on coming back,” the 23-year-old said with a smile. “It’s got good memories so far. No reason not to want to keep coming back.”
A player with close ties to Colorado came up just short of advancing. University of Denver golfer Elyse Smidinger, who in the last year has qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Publinks, couldn’t quite make the grade on Wednesday. With a nice up-and-down for birdie on the last of her 36 holes Wednesday, Smidinger posted a 140 total (68-72), which left her as the first alternate from the Riverdale Dunes site.
In all, five players finished with sub-par totals on Wednesday. No Coloradans qualified in the Centennial State for the third consecutive year, but two in-state golfers who have previously played in the U.S. Women’s Open were in the hunt. Becca Huffer of Denver (2012 qualifier) finished sixth at even-par 144, while Carleigh Silvers of Greeley (2014 qualifier) was eighth at 145.
As it was, the two 2015 qualifiers have some pretty strong credentials. Strauss (left), a three-time South African Junior Champion, is the reigning Big 12 Conference women’s golfer of the year and last month won the Ping Arizona State University Invitational. She currently stands 56th in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Strauss has never before competed in a USGA championship, but thanks to an eight-birdie, two-bogey day on Wednesday, national tournament No. 1 is a big one.
“It’s a great honor to go to the U.S. Women’s Open,” she said. “You always watch it on TV and it’s one of the biggest stages for women’s golf. I’ll love to go. It will be a good eye-opener for me, wanting to play professionally, to see how everything works. I’ll be very excited.”
Fassi early this year won the Mexican Women’s Amateur and is currently ranked 223rd in the world among women’s amateurs.
Although at 17, Fassi already has competed in four USGA championships — two U.S. Girls’ Juniors, a U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball — and is exempt into the 2015 Girls’ Junior and the Women’s Am, getting into the U.S. Women’s Open falls into a different category.
“It means the world,” said Fassi, who has committed to play college golf at the University of Arkansas. “I want to turn professional when I’m older. To be able to play a professional tournament at this stage, this will be a really good chance for me. There’s no words to explain that.”
Fassi racked up 11 birdies to go along with six bogeys in her two rounds on Wednesday.
For scores from Wednesday’s qualifier, CLICK HERE.
