When career amateur Carol Semple Thompson tees off Thursday, she will make more USGA history.
The Sewickley native will have played in more USGA events than anyone — ever.
“I believe I have played in 116,” she said earlier this week during a lead-up press conference to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. “But I’m not counting.”
Semple Thompson, 72, will finally get to play in the Women’s Open, which has only been played twice before (2018, ‘19). She is in the 120-player field on a special exemption.
The World Golf Hall of Famer’s 117 USGA starts will be the most by anyone — man or woman — when play gets underway at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn.
“I can’t say much for my golf, I haven’t been playing a lot,” Semple Thompson said. “But I am thrilled to be here and I thank the USGA very much for the exemption.”
The limited play is understandable. Semple Thompson’s husband, Dick, died in April after enduring Parkinson’s disease.
Semple Thompson was pleased to see the Women’s Open come to fruition.
“It was time for it,” Semple Thompson said of the still-budding event. “I think it’s worked out beautifully. I’m sorry I missed the first two, but it’s great to be here for the third one.”
Semple Thompson’s parents worked for the USGA. Her father, Harton, was an association president, while her mom, Phyllis, was a committee member.
As an aspiring 16 year old, Semple Thompson’s first tournament win came at the Western Pennsylvania Women’s Championship when she defeated her mom in the finals.
“I grew up as a USGA brat,” she said. “Both of my parents were involved in the USGA. To be able to play in that many championships and to win seven of them, it’s just fantastic. I could never have imagined that when I was a teenager.”
A seven-time USGA champion, Semple Thompson, who grew up around the game at Sewickley Heights Golf Club, is competing in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
She last played Brooklawn in 1979.
A winner of the prestigious Bobby Jones Award, Semple Thompson’s seven USGA wins trail Jones and Tiger Woods, who have nine apiece.
JoAnne Gunderson Carner, with whom Semple Thompson is paired Thursday and Friday, won eight times. Carner is the oldest player in the 50-and-up field at a remarkable 82.
Woods, Carner, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Semple Thompson are the only players to win three different USGA events.
Semple Thompson’s wins include the 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the 1990 and ‘97 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 1999, 2000, ‘01 and ‘02.
She also has played on a dozen Curtis Cup teams.
Semple Thompson was a member of the first Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Hall of Fame class in 2013, alongside Palmer, Lew Worsham, Jock Hutchison and William C. Fownes Jr.
7-time @USGA champion Carol Semple Thompson is playing in her first USGA championship since 2014 at this week's #USSeniorWomensOpen. pic.twitter.com/SvfbmgSQRC
— USGA PR (@USGA_PR) July 27, 2021
