Dibos Leads Three U.S. Senior Women's Open Qualifiers from Ardsley
ARDSLEY, N.Y. (July 20, 2023) -- Alicia Dibos of Greenwich, Conn., earned medalist honors in Thursday's qualifying for the 5th U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship as the Winged Foot Golf Club professional shot the only round below par, a 2-under 70. She was joined by Kelley Brooke of Belle Harbor, N.Y., and Cheryl Anderson of Heathrow, Fla., as those advancing to Waverly Country Club in Portland, Ore., for the August 24-27 championship.
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Dibos started the round steady with a trio of pars.
“The first hole is a hole I can really remember," said Dibos. "It’s a really tough hole to start on as its way down hill and there’s water.”
After a smooth start, she found trouble and made bogeys on the par-4 fifth and the par-4 sixth. However, it was a great stretch of golf from Nos. 7-9 that separated Dibos from the rest of the field. She carded birdies on all three holes to quickly move to 1- under par.
“I don’t really remember any stretches of playing today, I just played every hole as they came and played it shot by shot for the entire day,” said Dibos.
Despite a bogey on the 10th, Dibos answered with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 to move to 2-under par. She found trouble on the par-3 13th with bogey, but once again battled back with her last birdie of the day on the following hole.
Even-par golf on the last four holes was enough to secure medalist honors. Dibos credited her putting as the key to her round.
“Practicing putting had been a focus during the practice round and focusing on getting the speed right allowed me to make putts," she said. "My putting was really working today.”
Brooke took home the second qualifying position firing an even-par 72 for the round. She made bogey on the tough opener but was able to bounce back right away with a birdie on the long par-3 second hole. She added one more birdie on the par-4 sixth for a 1-under 36 on the opening nine. Although she made two bogeys on the back, it was consistency that secured her a qualifying position.
Anderson claimed the final qualifying spot, edging the next closest competitor by two shots. Birdies on Nos. 4 and 16 helped her card a 2-over 74, with nines of 38-36.
Kathryn Imrie of Broughty Ferry, Scotland earned the first alternate position shooting a 4-over 76 after carding a 39 on the front and 37 on the back. Michelle Dobek of Chicopee, Mass., earned second alternate with a 77.