Voorhees Knows the Score After U.S. Amateur Win

For Heidi Voorhees of Studio City, ignorance was truly bliss.

Voorhees, playing in a round-of-16 match play Thursday in the United States Women’s Amateur golf championship, headed to the 18th hole at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., believing she was tied with Terrill Samuel of Toronto.

As she approached a chip shot from about 30 yards on 18, Voorhees glanced at a young boy carrying a scoreboard that showed her 1 up on Samuel.

“Why does that say I’m one up?” a puzzled Voorhees asked her caddy.

“You won the last hole,” the caddy replied.

Fresh off that dose of good news, Voorhees halved 18 and earned a berth in today’s quarterfinals at the 6,076-yard, par-72 course against Anne Marie Tobin of Lynnfield, Mass. If Voorhees defeats Tobin, she will play in the semifinals later in the day. The final is set for Saturday.

Voorhees, of Studio City, earlier had defeated Emilee Klein, also of Studio City, 2 and 1, in a second-round match involving former and current Notre Dame High students. Klein, 17, will be a senior in the fall.

“I played all right today,” said Voorhees, the No. 1 player on the USC women’s golf team as a freshman last year. “I made some putts.”

Voorhees, who won the Los Angeles city women’s championship in May, battled some decidedly non-Southern California weather--the Kansas summer offered 105-degree temperatures and a strong wind.

But cooler weather wasn’t all she missed about the Southland.

Said Voorhees: “I’m dying for some good Mexican food.”

The big enchilada is just three wins away.