The state’s most accomplished female amateur golfers ages 50 and older will soon be gathering in Houston for the 36th Women’s Senior Stroke Play. BraeBurn Country Club will be hosting the championship for the first time, which is scheduled for August 25-27.
Even though this will be the initial women’s event to be held at BraeBurn, the historic club is certainly no newcomer when it comes to staging TGA championships. Quite the opposite, in fact. The upcoming Women’s Senior will be the second of five elite TGA competitions BraeBurn is hosting over an eight-year period. Last year, the club welcomed the 2024 Texas Four-Ball and is slated to host the 2026 Texas Senior Amateur, 2030 Texas Mid-Amateur, and the 2032 Texas Amateur. Additionally, BraeBurn previously hosted the 1995 Texas Amateur and the 2005 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play.
“We are incredibly honored and excited to have the opportunity to conduct this year’s Women’s Senior Stroke Play at BraeBurn Country Club,” said Kristi Knight, TGA Director of Women’s Golf. “We are thankful for the club’s ongoing commitment to promoting amateur golf, and we know it will be a great host for the championship and that the players are looking forward to competing on this renowned course for the first time.”
Located on the southwestern edge of downtown Houston, BraeBurn Country Club is one of the oldest private clubs in the city. Originally founded in 1926 as the Colonial Country Club, BraeBurn was designed by renowned Texas Golf Hall of Fame architect John Bredemus. In 1929, a group of investors led by Jack Burke, Sr., Bredemus, and Sid Van Ulm purchased Colonial Country Club from the original developer and after restructuring later reopened as BraeBurn Country Club in 1931.
BraeBurn has undergone several upgrades over the years, and in 2021 the club engaged Tripp Davis to lead a major renovation of the golf course.
The overarching goal from Davis and his associates was to enhance and strengthen the key architectural elements of Bredemus’ original creation that had been lost over time. The multimillion-dollar project included restoring strategic lines of play, reshaping mounding and contours, and rebuilding and all tees, greens and bunkers. Completed in the spring of 2022, Davis’s meticulous work at BraeBurn modernized the layout to meet the requirements of today’s game while maintaining its old-school charm to provide a more enjoyable and challenging experience for golfers at every level.
“BraeBurn is truly one of the great classic designs in Texas and the dynamic renovation has elevated every aspect of play,” Knight said. “This golf course has always been a special place and is certain to not only challenge the state’s best senior women amateurs but also deliver a world-class experience.”
The 36th Women’s Senior Stroke Play will be contested over 54 holes of individual stroke play with no cut.
The 96-player starting field is separated into divisions based on a player’s WHS™ Handicap Index and will compete from different tees and yardages, with individual champions recognized in each division. The 16 players with the lowest handicap indexes will compete in the Championship Division (approx. 5,350-5,650 yards), plus those players who opted into Championship Division at the time entries were submitted. The remaining players will compete in the Flights Division (approx. 4,900-5,175 yards). Additionally, within the flights division there will also be separate age group recognition for Super Seniors (65-69 years of age) and Legends (70+ years of age).
Claudia Ramirez of San Antonio returns to defend her title after an exciting wire-to-wire victory in last year’s championship at Walden on Lake Conroe Golf Club in Montgomery. Ramirez was four strokes ahead of the field after 36 holes and carded a final round 10-over-par 83 in difficult scoring conditions which proved to be just enough to finish two shots clear of runner-up Marna Raburn of Addison.
It was an especially satisfying victory for Ramirez after coming so close in recent years. She finished in fourth place in 2023 at Bentwood Country Club in San Angelo and tied for fourth in 2022 at Shady Valley Country Club in Arlington before finally reaching the winner’s circle in 2024. Ramirez heads into BraeBurn in top form, having recently earned co-medalist honors in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Qualifying on July 24 at Willow Creek Golf Club in Spring.
Several top finishers from the 2024 championship are also in this year’s starting field and include Raburn, Jennifer Hoyt of Horseshoe Bay (4th), Julie Robichaux of Kingwood (7th), Cindy Gilkeson of Sugar Land (T8), and Karen Veriato of San Marcos (T8).
For more on the 36th Women’s Senior Stroke Play Championship, click here.
