Around the Green

Trio Ready for USGA Women's State Team

DALLAS—A trio of USGA veterans will represent the Lone Star State in the final playing of the U.S. Women’s State Team Championship from Sept. 26-28 at The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, N.M. Carolyn Creekmore from Dallas, Marian Barker of Lubbock and Mansfield’s Rachel Smith comprise the Texas team.
 
Since 1995, the USGA has conducted State Team competitions biennially for men and women, in which three-player teams from all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, compete in 54-hole team stroke play formats. This is the last year for the event, which will be replaced in 2018 with the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
 
In the event’s 12-year history, the Texas Women twice have finished as runners-up (1995, 2011). The Texas Men won the event a record four times (1999, 2005, ’07, ’14).
 
One of the most decorated Texas amateurs in the modern era, Creekmore already has one USGA gold medal and would love to add to it. Winner of the 2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Quarterfinalist, Creekmore has been a model of consistency over the years. She’s in the unique position of playing in the final U.S. Women’s State Team Championship after also being a member of the first team back in 1995.
 
“First of all, I was totally surprised that I made the team,” said Creekmore, the 1995 WTGA State Amateur champion and a six-time winner of the Texas Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship who was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 2010. “Nothing is better than playing on a team, except maybe playing for the great State of Texas! I am honored. Toni Wiesner, Robin Burke and I played in the first USGA State Team Championship at Disney World in 1995, so to also be playing in the last one with an equally talented team with Rachel Smith and Marian Barker is very special.”
 
Along with Creekmore’s extensive USGA experience, Barker has qualified for multiple U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championships and Smith has played in several U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs. A collegiate volleyball player at New Mexico State and former high school golf coach, Barker is a 10-time winner of the Women’s West Texas Golf Association Championship. She won the Texas Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship in 2008 and ’09, and teamed with Ryann White to win the 2011 Texas Women’s Four-Ball Championship.
 
Smith, meanwhile, will make her second appearance in the Women’s State Team Championship. She also represented Texas in 2015. Smith played collegiately at Winthrop University in South Carolina and won the Texas Pinehurst in 2014 with partner Becky Neal. A former Central Texas Women’s Amateur champion, Smith advanced to the Round of 16 at the 95th WTGA State Amateur in 2016.
 
Perched nearly 7,200 feet above sea level, Las Campanas sports two Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses. The classic desert venue opened in 1991 and features a 48,000-square-foot hacienda-style clubhouse, which is one of the largest abode-constructed buildings in the country. The U.S. Women’s State Team Championship uses a 3-count-2 format to determine team scores for each round of the 54-hole event. For more information, click here.