Amy Fruhwirth Reflects On Her U.S. Women’s Am Title

Thirty-five years later, AZ GOLF Championships Manager, Amy Fruhwirth, still considers winning the 1991 U.S. Women’s Amateur on August 10 at Prairie Dunes Country Club the defining moment of her golf career.

What makes the story even better is Fruhwirth arrived at the 1991 U.S. Women’s Amateur with virtually no expectations of herself.

In fact, she wasn't even playing much competitive golf.

Fruhwirth graduated from Arizona State University in May 1991 after helping the Sun Devils win the 1990 NCAA Championship. She played golf for ASU from 1986-90 and returned for a fifth year to finish her degree, but exhausted her NCAA eligibility.

Instead of competing, the 23-year-old Fruhwirth worked as a retail clerk at the Phoenician while staying close to the game. She practiced, worked on her short game and often headed to ASU in the evenings to chip and putt.

After taking many months off from competition, Fruhwirth qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur through a USGA local qualifier in Arizona.

The championship began Aug. 5, 1991, at Prairie Dunes.

Fruhwirth opened playing great golf and earned medalist honors for the No. 1 seed in match play.

“I was playing out of my mind,” she said.

It wasn't that she hit every shot perfectly, it was what happened when she didn't.

When Fruhwirth found trouble, she always found a way out. Her short game seemed almost limitless.

“I knew I was playing well but I didn't realize how good of a short game I had until that week,” she said. “I don't hit the ball very far, so I had to have a good short game... I knew I could get up and down from anywhere.”

That confidence became a weapon.

At one point, Fruhwirth made four consecutive birdies which she said was typically unusual for her game, but that week everything just felt simple.

“I was in the zone,” she said. “When you're in the zone you don't think about hitting it well or hitting it bad, you just see the target.”

One Match At A Time

The U.S. Women’s Amateur can take quite the physical toll. Players advancing deep into match play can face two matches in a day and play 36 holes or more.

“It was a marathon,” she said. “A couple of the days you’re playing two matches each day. I just remember my feet being sore after each round. I was exhausted and I kept telling myself to just get to the next round.”

So that's what she did.

One round. Then another. Then another.

Her semifinal was particularly dominant. Fruhwirth defeated Martha Leach 7 & 6, matching the third-largest winning margin in an 18-hole semifinal in U.S. Women’s Amateur history.

Waiting for her was Heidi Voorhees, another player with Pac-10 ties at University of Southern California.

For nearly the entire championship, Fruhwirth had been calm. And she remained so for the majority of the championship match.

Then came the final putt.

She had roughly three feet remaining to win the title on the 32nd hole of the match, and suddenly the player who had spent the week escaping bunkers and making clutch birdies felt something she hadn't felt all week.

“I was shaking,” she said, admitting to her inability to read the putt. 

Fruhwirth aimed for the center of the cup and knocked it in.

“I just looked up and it wasn't like I jumped in the air but I couldn't believe it,” she said. “It was amazing.”

The 1991 U.S. Women’s Amateur was hers and only required 107 match play holes, the fourth fewest ever needed by a champion.

From Amateur Champion To The LPGA

After winning, Fruhwirth was allowed to take the U.S. Women’s Amateur trophy home. She displayed it at the Phoenician for a year before returning it to the USGA for the next championship.

She had one more year of success as an amateur golfer before heading to Q-School in the fall of 1992.

“I was playing with a lot of confidence in my game,” she said. “I knew that if I played my best that I could make it on tour.”

She did.

Fruhwirth began her LPGA Tour career in 1993 and remained on Tour through 2004. Along the way, she won the 1997 JCPenney Classic with Clarence Rose and, in 1998, captured the Friendly's Classic for an individual LPGA Tour victory.

Today, Fruhwirth can look back at a career which includes an NCAA championship, a Curtis Cup appearance, a Public Links championship, an LPGA Tour victory and a professional team title.

But when asked which accomplishment means the most, there is no hesitation.

“You become part of the USGA family with that,” she said. “Looking back on my career now, this was 100% the highlight. USGA champion.”