Hiestand turns 48-foot putt into spot in final

At 58 and in her 22nd appearance, Mary Jane Hiestand is beyond surprised she will be playing for the first time in the championship match of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

Just as surprising is how Hiestand closed out her opponent Wednesday to reach Thursday morning’s match-play final.

Onthe first extra hole on the Cypress Creek Course at Champions Golf Club, the No. 56 seed stunned herself and the gallery by sinking a 48-foot putt for birdie. Shannon Johnson, the No. 4 seed, then failed to hole out a chip shot from off the 10th green in an attempt to extend the match, giving Hiestand a 19-hole win.

“I’m still in shock,” said Hiestand of Naples, Fla., the original site of this national championship conducted by the USGA that was relocated to Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. “To have that putt get up there and start riding that ridge and go in, amazing.”

Hiestand will face 26-year-old Kelsey Chugg of Salt Lake City in the 18hole final that starts at 9 a.m. Thursday. Chugg had entered match play as the No. 50 seed after shooting rounds of 85 and 72 in stroke play.

After disposing of No. 10 seed Hayley Hammond of Mooresville, N.C., 6 and 4 earlier in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, Chugg posted a 3 and 1 semifinal win over 25-year-old co-medalist Marissa Mar of San Francisco.

“I was a little intimidated,” said Chugg, who played at Weber State and is a four-time winner of the Utah Women’s State Amateur. “(Mar) said, ‘Oh, I played at Stanford.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ She’s a member at Olympic (Golf) Club, too. I’m a muni golfer.”

It may be an unlikely pairing to determine the winner of the 31st U.S. Women’s Mid-Am, but Hi- estand, a five-time Florida Women’s State Golf Association Senior Player of the Year, and Chugg, who eliminated the 2015 champion Lauren Greenlief in the round of 16, are the two survivors among the 64 players who began the match-play portion of the championship.

Hiestand, whowas easily being outdriven by Johnson, 34, of Norton, Mass., relied on her short game and putting.

“She’s got a golf course out here, and I have a to- tally different golf course,” said Hiestand, who won both of her Wednesday matches in 19 holes — the earlier one coming at the expense of Courtney McKim of Raleigh, N.C.

Her winning putt against Johnson hada good amount of break.

“All I was trying to do is get it up close,” Hiestand said. “I ran up to see it coming down on its line. I thought this could go in.” Richard Dean is a freelance writer.