ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Joan Higgins went out Thursday morning looking for pars. She found enough to become the oldest winner in U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur history.

The 52-year-old Higgins, from Glendora, Calif., didn't birdie a single hole, but 13 pars were enough to give her a 1-up victory over Lynn Simmons in the 18-hole final at Barton Hills Country Club.

“I was trying to make birdies, but I wasn't going to be too aggressive and put myself in trouble,” she said. “I knew that I'd be in good shape if I kept making pars.”

Higgins became the first player over 50 to win the event since it began in 1987. Carol Semple Thompson was 48 when she won her second Mid-Am in 1997. The tournament is open to amateurs 25 or older, eliminating the college players who normally dominate the U.S. Women's Amateur.

“I'd rather be the youngest winner than the oldest, but this is a special day,” she said. “It's great to know I'm the U.S. Women's Mid-Am champion.”

Higgins took a quick lead by winning the first hole with a par, and the pair split the next four holes – two with pars and two with bogeys.

“Winning that first hole was great, because it gave me the room to give one back if I made a mistake – like I did on six,” Higgins said.

Simmons pulled even when Higgins conceded the par-4 sixth when two bad bunker lies meant she still hadn't reached the green in five shots. Both players bogeyed the seventh and parred the next three.

Higgins, though, regained the advantage on the 11th, when her par 3 was enough to take the hole. Simmons leveled the match again by winning the 14th with a par, but fell right back behind when she bogeyed the 15th.

That was all Higgins needed, as she ground out pars on the final three holes to claim the championship, one year after losing in the quarterfinals.

On 18, Higgins lagged a birdie putt to a foot, then watched Simmons miss a 20-footer that would have forced extra holes.

“I told myself that she was going to make it, because you have to think that way,” Higgins said. “Then the putt didn't go in, and suddenly I was the champion.”

Two-time defending champion Meghan Bolger was eliminated in the second round of match play.