Tag: US Women’s Amateur

3 LSU golfers to begin qualifying at US Women’s Amateur on Monday

Aine Donegan, Latanna Stone and Taylor Riley will represent the Tigers in Los Angeles this week.

Three LSU golfers will open qualifying at the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles on Monday.

[autotag]Aine Donegan[/autotag], [autotag]Latanna Stone[/autotag] and [autotag]Taylor Riley[/autotag] are all among the 156-golfer field and look to be among the 64 golfers who advance beyond the two 18-hole rounds of qualifying and on to match play, which begins on Wednesday.

Stone, who will be a graduate student this fall, advanced to match play at the British Women’s Amateur earlier this summer. Donegan, a junior, was one of four amateurs to make the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach earlier this summer.

Riley, a sophomore and California native, reached the semifinal in the California State Women’s Amateur earlier this year.

Match play in Los Angeles begins on Wednesday and will be televised beginning at 5 p.m. CT on the Golf Channel.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=698013452]

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Rose Zhang’s late-summer hot streak results in WAGR bump, Mark H. McCormack Medal

Rose Zhang has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked female amateur.

Rose Zhang, a 17-year-old amateur, finished 11th in last month’s ANA Inspiration, an LPGA major. That performance, coupled with her recent victory in the U.S. Women’s Amateur plus the AJGA Rolex Girls Junior Championship, bumped Zhang to the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

As a result of that, Zhang has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked female amateur.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship was her first victory of the season and she followed it with a win at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship only two weeks later. She set the course record, 64, at Dalhousie Golf Club at the Rolex tournament. These wins helped her ranking tremendously, and helped her move past Yu-Chiang Hou to take the top spot in the rankings.

“To win the McCormack Medal and join a list of such prestigious winners is such an incredible accomplishment and blessing,” said Zhang. “Over the past couple months, I’ve really persevered to better myself in all aspects of my golf game and physical condition. Receiving this award is continued validation that hard work pays off and it motivates me to continue this journey. It reignites my passion and love for this amazing sport.”

She becomes the third consecutive American winner of the women’s McCormack Medal following Jennifer Kupcho (2018) and Andrea Lee (2019).

Zhang started playing golf at the age of 9 when a set of clubs made its way into the Zhang family household. Within the first couple of swings, her family knew that there was something special on the horizon. She started to get lessons and a few months later she had won her first junior tournament. 

Prior to the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Zhang was dealing with a wrist injury from overuse, and her coach, George Pinnel, advised her to withdraw from the event. Putting aside her coaches orders, she chose to play anyway, leaving with some hardware. She started working with Pinnel at the age of 11 and has been with him ever since.  

Zhang’s finish at the ANA Inspiration tournament also left her as the low amateur. Her final score of 280 was the lowest 72-hole score ever posted by an amateur, lower than the previous best of 281 by Caroline Keggi in 1988 and Michelle Wie in 2004.

Zhang is a senior in high school and has committed to continue her academic and athletic career at Stanford.

[lawrence-related id=778065715,778062645,778060034]