4 from Michigan heading to U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship

Jacqueline Setas of East Lansing will be the first one standing on the tee at 7:15 a.m. Monday -- and hopes to be the last one standing come the end of the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Setas and three other Michigan natives are headed to Springfield, Pa., to compete in the event next week. She will share the first tee time of the 116th annual championship with Nicole Whiston of San Diego and Maria Torres of Puerto Rico.

Stephanie Carras of Midland, Kelsey Murphy of Plymouth and Gabrielle Shipley of Hastings also qualified. Sarah Burnham of Maple Grove, Minn., Setas’ teammate at Michigan State, is in the field, too.

Like the U.S. Amateur that’s coming to Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township the week of Aug. 15, the U.S. Women’s Am will play two rounds of stroke play Monday and Tuesday to determine the top 64 players, then conclude with six rounds of match play, through Sunday, to define the champion.

Setas grew up in the Lansing area, playing at Lansing Catholic Central. She led the Cougars to three state titles in Division 4 and, in 2013, she won the individual state championship by nine strokes. She earned Lansing Catholic school records with scores of 30 (nine holes) and 68 (18 holes). In her sophomore season at MSU, Setas averaged 79 strokes per round in five tournaments and then shot a blistering three-under par 68 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier July 6 in Northbrook, Ill.

Shipley, a recent graduate of Grand Valley State, won the NCAA Division II national championship in May, then won the USGA qualifier at Northbrook. She also got a shot in two professional tournaments as a sponsor’s exemption for LPGA Symetra Tour events -- the Tullymore Classic and the Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship -- in the state. This coming fall, she plans to go through LPGA Qualifying School.

Headed into her senior season at Eastern Michigan, Murphy won the qualifier June 27 in Brampton, Ontario. As a college sophomore, she won the Nittany Lion Invitational while coming from nine strokes back with a then-career-best 68 in the final round. In high school in 2012, Murphy led Plymouth to its first state title in any sport, winning medalist honors along the way.

Carres is going into her senior year at Midland Dow. Last fall, she and her team finished runner-up in the Division 2 state finals. She finished fourth and third, individually, in the state championships the prior two seasons. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur on June 30 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Burnham took the state of Minnesota by storm when she qualified for her high school team while in seventh grade and eventually earned six varsity letters. She was Minnesota Junior Player of the Year in 2012 and ’13 and, at age 16, was named the Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year despite being a junior golfer. At MSU this past season, Burnham led the Spartans with a school-record 72.42 scoring average and going to the NCAA finals. This her second U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Rolling Green Golf Club will be set up at 6,259 yards and will play to a par of 36-35–71.