McConnell enjoys return to Southern Hills for first time since winning 1987 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur
Above: 2023 U.S Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Kimberly Dinh with 1987 champ Cindy McConnell
By Ken MacLeod
Standing on the towering first tee at Southern Hills Country Club with a smile, a greeting and a pin sheet for each of the contestants teeing off for a practice round in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Cindy McConnell (formerly Scholefield) went unrecognized by most.
The honorary starter for Saturday and Sunday’s practice rounds once stood on that same tee with an entirely different purpose. On a blustery fall day in 1987, McConnell won the first U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, added that year for women 25 and older. Until Saturday, she had not been back to Tulsa.
McConnell had all aspects of her game working that week and cruised into the final, where she found herself paired with a fellow Californian Pat Cornett, who was also asked to attend this week but recently came down with Covid. The two had shared a hotel room all week, gone to dinner and spent the night before the final watching Game 7 of the National League playoffs between Cornett’s favorite team the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals (won 6-0 by St Louis.)
That’s about the way the next day went for Cornett. McConnell birdied three of the first six holes and closed out the match 6 and 5 on the 13th hole.
“Everything was on that week,” McConnell said. “Driving it straight, good irons, putts were going in. It was one of those special weeks and you don’t have those that often.”
That victory helped McConnell be selected to the Curtis Cup team in 1988 at Royal St. George’s in England, a major goal of the UCLA grad’s amateur career. She then turned professional but after four years of modest success gave that up for marriage, two children and a life that included much surfing, mountain climbing and other outdoor activities but little golf.
It wasn’t until the USGA started another event, the U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2018, that McConnell decided to return to competitive golf. She has also competed in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, state events in California and coached her son’s high school team. She enjoys the game again and seemed genuinely thrilled to be back at Southern Hills.
Watching the beautiful swings and booming drives of the contestants, who were easily able to get home on the 456-yard par-4 first hole, McConnell said the game had changed dramatically from her amateur days.
“Whether it’s the training, the technology like Trackman, the coaching, they all have such beautiful swings and hit it so high,” McConnell said. “We used to drive the legs and all this sliding around, come from the inside. Now it’s rotation and they don’t get stuck inside. I fought a hook forever and never hit it as high as the girls today.”
McConnell was given a tour of Southern Hills by club historian Clyde Chrisman. What jumped out to her first was how many trees had been removed and the exposure of the creeks in many areas.
“It was tighter and I’m sure we played it much shorter,” McConnell said. “Some of the holes look very similar. But it’s magnificent. And the history hall that Clyde has worked on is the best I’ve ever seen. Olympic Club has a great one but this is really excellent.”
While on the tee, McConnell, the first winner of the women’s mid-amateur, met the most recent winner, 2023 champion Kimberly Dinh, an MIT grad and senior research specialist for DOW. The fellow USGA champions had a nice chat and seemed to instantly share a bond. And McConnell is looking forward to the week to see who else will join the USGA championship club from Southern Hills, a list that includes Babe Zaharias (1946 Women’s Amateur), Rex Baxter (1953 U.S. Junior), Tommy Bolt (1958 U.S. Open), Dexter Daniels (1961 Senior Amateur), Bob Murphy (1965 U.S. Amateur), Hubert Green (1977 U.S. Open), Retief Goosen (2001 U.S. Open) and Ben An (2009 U.S. Amateur).
U.S. Women’s Amateur notes: Competition starts Monday with stroke play and there are 16 past USGA champions in the field. The event is free to the public. For more including tee times and field notes, go to www.usga.org.