The USGA accepted a record number of entries for both championships in 2023.
The USGA announced Wednesday qualifying sites for the 124th U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Amateur, to be held at Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Aug. 5-11, and Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, from Aug. 12-18, respectively.
U.S. Amateur local qualifying will be held between June 4 and July 3, with final qualifying between July 15 and July 31. U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifying will be held between June 17 and July 18.
Online entry applications for both championships, as well as the full list of qualifying sites, are available at champ-admin.usga.org. U.S. Amateur entries will close Wednesday, May 29, at 5 p.m. EDT and U.S. Women’s Amateur entries will close Wednesday, June 12, at 5 p.m. EDT.
The USGA accepted a record number of entries for both championships last year. The 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club received 1,679 entries, beating the previous record set in 2021 with 1,650 entries. The 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club received 8,253 entries, breaking the previous mark set in 2022 with 7,749 entries.
The USGA announced significant modifications to its amateur championship qualifying model last year for the first time in more than 20 years. These changes will allow USGA championships to retain their openness while ensuring that high-caliber players are provided with ample opportunity to earn a spot in the field, and that qualifying can be conducted at the highest level among growing entries and field sizes.
The most significant revisions are to the U.S. Amateur, which will move from a one-stage, 36-hole qualifying format to a two-stage qualifying format with 45 18-hole local qualifying sites and 19 18-hole final qualifying sites. Other adjustments included modifications to exemptions.
These modifications will result in a net reduction of 94 qualifying sites, while providing more opportunities for players to earn a spot in a USGA championship through expanded exemptions, state/AGA amateur championships and traditional qualifying.
Here are the key events on the amateur schedule in 2024.
What a year it was for amateur golf in 2023.
The best female amateur of all-time, Rose Zhang, capped her career in as strong of fashion as possible, winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and her second straight NCAA Championship. Nick Dunlap won the U.S. Amateur and in the process accomplished something only Tiger Woods had ever done before him: win a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Junior.
Then there were the American men, which included Dunlap, winning a Walker Cup at St. Andrews and the World Amateur Team Championship in Abu Dhabi.
Amateur golf has never been stronger, and the schedule is looking great for another spectacular year in 2024.
Here are the key events on the amateur schedule in 2024.
Starting in 1895, it’s the third-oldest USGA championship, just behind the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. The top female amateurs in the world vie for the Robert Cox Trophy, which remains the oldest surviving trophy awarded for a USGA championship. It’s also the only USGA trophy donated by someone from another country, coming from Scotland’s Robert Cox.
Glenna Collett Vare won the Cox Trophy a record six times, which remains the record.
Here’s a look at future venues of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, including Southern Hills, Bandon Dunes, Oakland Hills and more.
LOS ANGELES — Billy Schofill is superstitious by trade. So it’s no surprise to hear Megan Schofill, his daughter, also is.
That’s why since it wasn’t broken, there was no point in trying to fix it.
Schofill, 22 from Monticello, Florida, was succeeding in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club, so Billy didn’t want to risk it and possibly jinx his daughter. So he resorted to staying at home and stressing while watching his daughter compete for her biggest title in her career on TV.
Only Billy knows what his reaction was like when she won.
Schofill was unflappable Sunday in the canyons of Bel-Air, topping fellow Floridian Latanna Stone 4 and 3 to win the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur. Schofill, who’s set to begin her fifth year at Auburn this coming week, took the lead for good in the 36-hole final on the 15th hole of the morning session during a stretch of three consecutive holes she won to hold a 3 up lead heading into the break.
“I’m definitely still in shock,” Schofill said on the 15th green, where moments earlier Stone missed a par putt to halve the hole. “What an honor. This golf course was unreal. If you would have asked me coming into this week that I was going to be the champion, I would have said I got a long way to go, but you know, it just shows all the hard work has paid off and I really need to be proud of myself and just build on this.”
Schofill and Stone, who’s set to begin her fifth year at LSU this fall, are good friends, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them chatting each other up during their walk Sunday up and down the hills of Bel-Air.
Not until the back nine did the conversations become quiet.
Schofill led 4 up with nine holes to play, and Stone had numerous opportunities to shrink the gap, but a cold putter in the afternoon session took away any chance to dig into the lead.
Stone missed short putts on the ninth hole and 11th hole. Opportunities were there for her to claw her way back closer, but nothing fell. Earlier in the week, Stone was 5 down thru seven before winning in 20 holes, so Schofill knew no lead was safe.
“We never allowed ourselves to think about winning,” Schofill’s caddie and boyfriend, C.J. Easley, said. “It was just one shot at a time, one hole at a time. Even when we got four up with 10 to go, I just asked her to give me 10 more good holes. Give me nine more good holes. Latanna is a really good player, and she’s going to make a run. We just have to do one shot at a time.
“I don’t even have the words to describe it. It’s just super cool from my perspective to see her accomplish this. I was glad to be along for the ride.”
On Saturday night, Schofill admitted she was antsy. When her and Easley’s food didn’t arrive at 7:20 p.m. and instead came 20 minutes later, it set her off. Not as much as when Easley’s alarm went off at 4 a.m.
“I was like, ‘I’m not going back to sleep now,’” Schofill said.
A sunny day turned cloudy and cool as the players marched down the back nine. Schofill’s worst shot of the championship came on the par-5 14th, when her tee shot sailed right and landed on mulch covering the side of the canyon. She found the ball, but with an awkward stance could only manage to get it to the rough. She ended up losing the hole.
On the next hole, the clinching one, she wasn’t going to let the tee shot go right, but she smashed a drive up the left side. Then she capitalized, hitting her iron to about 5 feet. Stone left her second short and in the rough. After Stone’s pitch shot ran past the hole, Schofill barely missed her birdie chance, but Stone was unable to knock in the par and conceded the match.
Megan Schofill kisses the Robert Cox Trophy on the iconic hole ten bridge after winning the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. (James Gilbert/USGA)
“The disappointments you have in the game make you want to feel those big moments that much more,” Auburn women’s golf coach Melissa Luellen said. “She’s had a couple of SEC Championships where she has been runner-up twice. For someone that has worked so hard and so talented, she hadn’t won that big tournament yet.
“This is huge. This is a game changer for someone who wins the U.S. Women’s Amateur.”
Luellen was at Bel-Air earlier in the week and told her players if they advanced to the championship match, she would be back. After a late flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Saturday, she was back to support Schofill for every hole Sunday.
However, being as superstitious as she is, Schofill said if she had a poor start, Luellen would have to leave. Instead, Luellen watched her team leader become the first Auburn Tiger to win a U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Schofill was emotional during the trophy ceremony, thanking her parents and Easley for their support. Earlier in the week, she said how well Easley and her worked together and how the comfortable partnership pushed her.
Megan Schofill hugs her boyfriend and caddie CJ Easley after winning the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. (James Gilbert/USGA)
“I just felt like with him on the bag, I really don’t think without him any of this would have happened this week,” Schofill said.
It all came to fruition on the 15th green, when she hoisted the Robert Cox Trophy toward the overcast skies as tears streamed from her face. Schofill was the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, and she finally had that elusive big title.
LOS ANGELES — Latanna Stone and Megan Schofill are good friends.
The two have competed against each other for four years in the Southeastern Conference, Stone playing for LSU and Schofill for Auburn. The Tigers, though from different litters, will battle for supremacy Sunday in the canyons of Bel-Air.
Stone and Schofill will play for the Robert Cox Trophy on Sunday, as the duo advanced to the championship match of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur on Saturday at Bel-Air Country Club. What has been a stellar week in LA comes to a close with 36 holes Sunday, but one of the fifth-year golfers hailing from Florida will be a United States Golf Association champion by day’s end.
A caddie can be an under-appreciated aspect of how well a golfer plays. In the case of Schofill, she has someone who helps keep her relaxed when tensions are high and makes strolling the rolling hills of Bel-Air a bit easier.
“I feel like it’s really hard to get a caddie you absolutely love,” Schofill said. “For me, if I have a bad hole we can talk about something else. We don’t have to harp on the bad shots. He does a great job of staying calm, which is super helpful because I can be an anxious person and he’s even keel in all aspects of his life.”
Megan Schofill watches from the hole 17 green with her caddie during the quarterfinals of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (James Gilbert/USGA)
Schofill will take on Michigan fifth-year Hailey Borja at 1:50 p.m. ET (10:50 a.m. local) in the second semifinal, the winner advancing to take on the winner between Rachel Heck, a senior at Stanford, and Latanna Stone, a fifth-year at LSU.
Borja has her mom on the bag this week. Heck has her dad. The homely connections are paying off in Los Angeles.
Schofill said Easley’s best moment this week came when she completely misread a putt, but he stepped in and corrected the aim point, and she drilled it. There have also been some silly moments, like bumping into each other on the green and Schofill blaming him on her poor shots.
But there’s no one else she’s rather have by her side as she tees off starting the biggest match of her life Saturday morning.
“It has been great to have him on the bag and have my best friend with me this week,” Schofill said.
Here’s everything you need to know from the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
LOS ANGELES — When the name Stephen Ames comes up, it usually resonates with a not-so-good memory.
Tiger Woods beat Ames 9 and 8 in match play back in 2006, one of the biggest margins of victory in the game’s history. The term has been used when someone has a big victory in match play since.
And, well, there was a Stephen Ames situation Friday at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club.
Quarterfinal matches teed off Friday afternoon, and among them was a dominant victory and a handful of tight matches. Among the semifinalists remains plenty of star power, including a past NCAA champion.
LOS ANGELES — After a grueling Thursday at Bel-Air Country Club, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur is down to eight vying for the Robert Cox Trophy.
After Thursday morning’s Round of 32, winners were back on the course in the afternoon battling in the Round of 16, and eight golfers punched their ticket into the quarterfinals, which begin Friday.
Although the top-five finishers from stroke play were gone by Thursday afternoon, there was no shortage of stars battling it out in Los Angeles, and a few of them advanced to the quarterfinals. Among those include a past United States Golf Association champion, an Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner and an NCAA individual champ.
However, there are numerous others looking for their breakout performance just down the road from Hollywood.
LOS ANGELES — Coming into the Round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, four of the top five seeds were still alive. After the latest round of match play, that number is down to zero.
There was carnage Thursday morning at Bel-Air Country Club, coming in the tune of the top seeds going down. It started with medalist Briana Chacon, who fell 4 and 2 to Catie Craig, a rising junior at Western Kentucky. Third-seed Gianna Clemente, who won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball earlier this year, advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior and won last week’s Junior PGA Championship, lost 4 and 3 to Anne Chen, a senior at Duke.
Fourth-seeded Katie Cranston also lost 2 down against 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior winner Yana Wilson. UCLA’s own Caroline Canales, the fifth seed, fell 4 and 3 to incoming LSU freshman Taylor Riley.
Here’s the swing of Catie Craig, a rising junior at Western Kentucky who leads top-seeded Briana Chacon 2 up at the turn. #USWomensAmpic.twitter.com/FzIxgpROej
No. 8 Nikki Oh (1 up over Laney Frye) and No. 9 Rachel Heck (4 and 2 over Rin Yoshida) were among the low seeds who avoided going down and will face off in the Round of 16, which begins Thursday afternoon.
The highest seed remaining is No. 6 Megan Schofill, a grad student at Auburn. She was 3 down after 4 but fought back to win 3 and 2. Also moving on is No. 7 Hailey Borja, who won 1 up over Sara Im.
LSU’s Latanna Stone knocked off Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn, 2 and 1. Kuehn is seventh in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the second-highest ranked player in the field behind No. 5 Anna Davis, who won 3 and 2 in the Round of 32 to advance and will face Chen.
After Thursday’s Round of 16, the quarterfinals will be set for Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals. The semifinals will be Saturday with the 36-hole final set for Sunday.
Best matchups in Round of 16
No. 8 Nikki Oh vs. No. 9 Rachel Heck, 4:10 p.m. ET
No. 29 Yana Wilson vs. No. 45 Latanna Stone, 4:20 p.m. ET
LOS ANGELES — There’s the 12th at Augusta National. The 17th at TPC Sawgrass. The seventh at Pebble Beach.
All iconic par 3s for a variety of reasons. There’s plenty of other famous short holes across the United States.
Yet, the par-3 10th at Bel-Air Country Club is making a name for itself this week at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The hole measures 205 yards. That doesn’t tell the whole story. It plays about 15 yards uphill. And the tee shot goes from next to the clubhouse, over a canyon to a green nestled between hills that make it seem like an amphitheater. There’s also the famous swinging bridge on the left that takes players from the tee box to the green.
“It’s really unique,” Gianna Clemente, the third seed who advanced to the Round of 32, said. “We don’t get many par 3s that are 210-215 and uphill.”
The hole has been widely talked about all week during the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and for good reason. For the first two days of stroke play, golfers faced the daunting shot one of the days as their opening shot. From the tee box, the target looks tiny compared to the canyon below and bridge on the left.
The hole almost didn’t even happen. It came about when Bel-Air lost some land to neighboring UCLA, and the canyon crossing allowed the course to use some neighboring land to build its back nine. There’s an elevator to get players to the tee box, and the bridge helps players get across to the green.
In the first two rounds, the hole averaged 3.31 and 3.38 strokes. Neither day was it the hardest hole at Bel-Air, even if it’s the most visually intimidating.
“I think people are probably a little overwhelmed when they step on the tee,” said Caroline Canales, who plays collegiately at UCLA and has played the hole roughly 100 times. “I’ve missed the green way more than I’ve hit the green. It’s just a daunting hole.”
Megan Meng hits her tee shot on hole ten during stroke play playoffs at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. (James Gilbert/USGA)
Although the terrain around the green all slopes toward the putting surface, thick rough is there to hold balls up before coming down the hill. That can lead to tricky chip shots and an easy opportunity to make a bogey.
On Wednesday morning, there was a 10-for-9 playoff for the final match play spots, and golfers played the par-3 10th to begin. Eight of the 10 made par or better, including one birdie. There were also two bogeys.
Come Sunday, it’s likely the 10th hole will be pivotal down the stretch. Par is a good score, but even that may be enough to gain a shot on your opponent. There’s a good chance players who can conquer the difficult hole will find a way to be victorious the remainder of the week.
“It’s a good hole,” said medalist and top-seed Briana Chacon. “It’s hard to make birdies, but I’m happy if I’m walking away with a par.”
