HOT SPRINGS, Va. -- Former Furman golfer Dawn Turner Woodard defeated Australia's Sue Wooster on the 20th hole of the 18-hole championship finale to win the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur at the Cascades Course at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va., last week, in just her second appearance at the championship.  

Woodard defeated Julie Streng, 4 and 2, in the round of 64, before beating Erin O'Hara, 6 and 5, in the round of 32.  She posted a 2 up victory over Martha Linscott in the round of 16 then scored a 2 and 1 advantage over Stefani Markovich in the quarterfinals.  Woodard defeated Canada's Shelly Stouffer, 1 up, in the semifinals to advance to the final match. 

In the finals, Wooster took an early lead on the second hole before Woodard evened the score with her first birdie of the day on the par-4 third.  Wooster then birdied the next two holes to build an early 2-up lead. After tying the next three holes, Woodard slimmed the margin with a birdie on the par 5th ninth then won both No. 11 and No. 12 to tie the match.

Wooster led by one through No. 15 but bogeyed No. 16 to deadlock the match.  Woodard's tee shot on the 170-yard par-3 went over the green into the rough, then Wooster landed her shot 15 feet from the hole.  After Wooster two-putted for par, Woodard needed a seven-footer to tie, and she buried her par putt to extend the match into a playoff hole. 

After tying the first playoff hole, Woodard found the fairway with her tee shot on the par-5 20th hole, laying up and two-putting for par.  Wooster came up short with her approach shot and was faced with a must-have up-and-down from the rough, missing her 15-footer to extend the match, crowning Woodard as champion.

"Someone needs to pinch me," said Woodard after the tournament. "This is a really special win.  It was a hard golf course, but I knew if I kept giving myself opportunities, I still had a chance.  More than anything else, I think just never giving up on myself this week was most important." 

As the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur champion, Woodard earns a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, plus exemptions into the 2026 U.S. Women's Amateur at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., and the 2027 U.S. Women's Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2.  She will also receive two-year exemptions into the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur (2026 and 2027) and U.S. Senior Women's Open (2026 and 2027). 

A native of Nichols, S.C., Woodard competed for the Paladins from 1992-96.  A member of three SoCon Championship teams, she helped Furman to the inaugural SoCon title in 1994 and went on to win the individual league title in 1995 and 1996.  After being honored as part of the first three All-SoCon teams, Woodard was named to the SoCon 100th Anniversary Team.  She posted three top-16 finishes at NCAA regional tournaments and placed 21st at the 1995 NCAA Championship, where the Paladins finished sixth.