Stackhouse, Powers get exemptions to play in Marathon

Stackhouse, Powers

Mariah Stackhouse has made a lot of golf history in a short time and she will bring one of the nation’s best amateur games to compete against the pros next month in the Marathon Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club.

The LPGA tournament announced Tuesday that Stackhouse, a rising junior at Stanford University, has received one of the two sponsor exemptions into the Marathon Classic field. The other is going to 23-year-old Bowling Green native Caroline Powers for the second straight year.

Powers, a 2013 graduate of Michigan State University, where she had the most decorated career in Spartan women’s history, is playing on the LPGA’s developmental Symetra Tour. On Thursday, she will tee off in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 2.

Stackhouse, 20, recently became the first African-American golfer to compete in the Curtis Cup matches, which span more than eight decades. She won three points in the matches to lead the United States to a lopsided victory over Great Britain-Ireland in the premier women’s international amateur golf team event.

“Mariah is one of the best amateurs in the country with impeccable credentials on and off the course,” said Marathon Classic director Judd Silverman. “She has all the ability to become a great LPGA professional someday.”

Stackhouse, a North Carolina native who grew up near Atlanta, won four college tournaments in her first two years at Stanford, including one as a freshman in which she set the NCAA women’s scoring record with a round of 61. She was named All-Pac 12 first team this past season as a sophomore.

“We are delighted to have Mariah and Caroline in this year’s Marathon Classic field,” Silverman said. “I think people are really going to enjoy watching these talented young ladies as they compete against the greatest women golfers in the world.”

The Marathon Classic is scheduled for July 17-20.

Contact Blade sports columnist Dave Hackenberg at: dhack@theblade.com or 419-724-6398.