There have been 24 USGA championships staged in Maryland.
The U.S. Golf Association is making a splash in the Old Line State.
There are five championships coming to Maryland, the USGA announced Tuesday morning, three for Woodmont Country Club and two more for Columbia Country Club.
The Adaptive Open, which debuted in 2022, is headed to Woodmont, located in Rockville, about 20 miles north of Washington, D.C., in 2025 and 2026. The private club was established in 1913 and moved to its current location in 1950. It will also host the 2028 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Columbia CC, in Chevy Chase, is about seven miles north of D.C. and will host two senior events, the 2027 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and the 2035 U.S. Senior Amateur.
The USGA last held an event in Maryland in 2021 and will now have five over an 11-year period.
“We are excited to return to Maryland, which is home not only to historic golf venues, but also supportive and engaged fans familiar with USGA championships,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “We know that Woodmont Country Club, Columbia Country Club and the surrounding communities will be thoroughly engaged in hosting these five championships.”
Rose Zhang won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont. It took her 38 holes to knock out Gabi Ruffels, making it the second-longest match in championship history.
The Adaptive Open is the USGA’s 15th national championship.
Columbia Country Club, which dates back to 1911, most recently hosted the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior, also won by Zhang, who became the eighth player to win both the Girls’ Junior and the Women’s Amateur titles. Zhang also became the only player to win the Women’s Amateur prior to winning the Girls’ Junior.
There have been 24 USGA championships staged in Maryland.
Rose Zhang defeated defending champion Gabriela Ruffels in 38 holes to win the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur.
ROCKVILLE, Md. – It was a match so good that even 36 holes weren’t enough.
The 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur final between defending champion Gabriela Ruffels and junior star Rose Zhang lived up to the hype.
And then some. And then some more. The match was tied for 18 holes, nobody led by more than two and a playoff was needed.
After a pair of pars on the opening playoff hole, next up was the par-4 9th, a hole that Ruffels had dominated entering the final round. In her previous five matches, the Australia native had made par and won the 9th hole in every previous match. Sunday morning was her first bogey and loss on No. 9 this week. Just hours later a second loss was coming in the most-brutal fashion. Ruffels had a three-footer for par to push the match to a 39th hole and lipped out, making Zhang the champion.
“I just expected her to make it,” Zhang said of the missed putt. “You know, actually the pin, where they placed it today, there’s a lot of break that I didn’t even read from this morning, so that putt was — it seemed easy, but to be honest, it actually wasn’t, especially under the pressure.”
“You can’t take any putt for granted out here. These greens are crazy fast, and that did have a little break to it,” said Ruffels of her final putt. “I was playing it outside of the hole. I actually hit it on my line, it’s just kind of a heartbreak seeing it horseshoe out.”
“Rose was one of the toughest opponents. She never let the door open,” she continued. “Like she was dead straight down the middle, hits greens. What a good player. Her wedge game is amazing, putting is amazing. She’s so solid. I can’t believe she’s only 17. All credit to her.”
Last year Zhang was watching Ruffels win the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Just a year later she defeated her to claim the title for herself. Funny enough, Zhang almost didn’t play this week due to a wrist injury.
“I was going to withdraw because my coach — my coach was actually really mad at me for coming here,” said Zhang with a smile. “And I was like, ‘No, it’s okay, I’ll just rest it,’ not play for 10 days before the tournament. And then, you know, here I am.”
Marathon match
Ruffels made her move early, jumping out to a 2-up lead after consecutive birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. Rose responded – foreshadowing for the later holes – winning Nos. 5 and 6 to get back to even.
The rest of the opening 18 were all-Zhang, with the Irvine, California native holding a 2-up lead of her own on holes 12-17. After Zhang, a 2021 Stanford commit, flagged her approach to a conceded birdie on No. 15, Ruffels made a huge putt from distance for birdie to avoid falling three down. Then for the first time since No. 3, Ruffels won a hole on the 18th to cut the match to 1 down at the lunch break.
An hour later the players were back on No. 1 tee for the 19th hole, and just minutes after that Ruffels pushed the match back to even after a clutch birdie on the par-3 20th hole. Ruffels made birdie again on the 21st hole to briefly hold a 1-up lead before giving it up immediately on the next. For the rest of the match the finalists went shot-for-shot, neither relenting an inch.
On the 36th hole, Ruffels’ tee shot found the right rough with a good angle at the pin. Zhang was in trouble, behind two trees with only one play: through the narrow window. She tried to punch a 5-hybrid to the green but her ball got held up in the rough. From just inside 100 yards she stuck her approach to a few feet to get up-and-down. Ruffels’ putt for the win came up a few feet short, right on the line of gimme-status. Zhang surprisingly gave her the putt. She knew how far it was, it wasn’t a mistake. She didn’t want Ruffels to have any momentum in the playoff if she were to make it.
Talk about a bold strategy paying off.
Incredible par save by Rose Zhang to force extra holes!
“This is actually the first time I’ve ever defended a tournament that I’ve won,” said Ruffels. “So I wanted to see how I would deal with the pressure and expectations, and I feel like I really stayed mentally strong this week, and I feel like I can hold my head high with how I tried to go about my defense.”
The rising senior at USC leaves Sunday for the British Open, which will be her first time playing in Europe. The majors don’t stop there. After that it’s the ANA Inspiration, then the U.S. Women’s Open at the end of the year. Maybe a college golf season mixed in, pandemic depending.
For Zhang, things are a little different. She’ll be entering her senior year of high school, counting down the days until she can defend her title.
Defending champion Gabriela Ruffels to face one of the nation’s best juniors Rose Zhang in 36-hole U.S. Women’s Amateur final.
ROCKVILLE, Md. – In the world of amateur golf, Gabriela Ruffels is in a class of her own, and she proved it once again on Saturday afternoon.
Ruffels advanced to the finals of the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur, defeating the championship’s most-consistent player of the week, Michigan State’s rising star Valery Plata, 2 and 1. Entering their semifinal match, Plata, last season’s Big Ten golfer of the year, had led for 51 holes and trailed for just four.
“Every player at this point is going to be good. I knew that coming into the match and expected it, and she played great today,” said Ruffels of Plata, who was 1 over through 17 holes with the usual match-play concessions. “It was a great match again. Nothing is easy out here.”
Plata held a brief 1 up lead on the front nine, but like the rest of the week, the back nine was all Ruffels at Woodmont Country Club just outside the nation’s capital.
The Australia native took a 1 up lead on the 8th hole and never looked back, shooting 1 under over 17 holes. Her game wasn’t nearly as good in the semifinal match as it has been all week, but it was still good enough to avoid the 18th green.
“To win these long tournaments, you’re not going to have your best all the time,” said Ruffels. “I think my irons held up, and my putting definitely at the start was pretty good. I think we both shot about even or 1-under, and on this course it’s so tough out there. Such a tough course.”
The USC senior has a chance to be the fifth player since World War II to defend at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she would join the likes of Danielle Kang (2010-11), Kelli Kuehne (1995-96), Kay Cockerill (1986-87) and Juli Inkster (1980, 1981, 1982).
Much like last year at Old Waverly Golf Club, a Stanford Cardinal is standing in her way. Sort of.
Ruffels defeated Albane Valenzuela 1 up in last year’s final and will take on 2021 Stanford commit Rose Zhang in Sunday’s 36-hole final. Zhang, one of the world’s top junior golfers, defeated Ruffels’ USC teammate Alyaa Abdulghany, 2 and 1, shutting down the possibility of an all-Trojan final match.
“Kind of reminiscing from last year’s final, playing another Stanford girl,” said Ruffels of Sunday’s final. “Obviously she’s playing really good, and my teammate told me today how good she played. I think it’s going to be a great match. Can’t wait to get out there.”
The always-smiling Abdulghany was 2 under over 17 holes, a great score at Woodmont, not to mention this late in the week. But early mistakes had the Newport Beach, California, native playing from behind on the first green. Zhang was impressive yet again, shooting 4 under over 17 holes. The two together would have been 8 under in a better-ball match (once again, with normal match-play concessions).
“To be honest I feel like it’s less pressure because I’m super satisfied with how far I’ve come since U.S. Women’s Amateur is such a prestigious event,” said Zhang. “Making it this far makes me feel accomplished as a golfer, so it made me feel assured that I can just keep playing my game and just keep striving to try to make birdies against my opponent.”
Wire to wire!
Rose Zhang won the first hole of her #USWomensAm semifinal against Alyaa Abdulghany and never looked back, earning a spot in Sunday's championship match with a 2-and-1 victory.
And why should she feel pressure? Zhang’s amateur career has featured appearances in a couple LPGA events, as well as a T-55 finish at last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. The 17-year-old now has the chance to put her name on the Robert Cox Trophy alongside some of women’s golf’s best, including Ruffels.
“Yeah, it’s honestly surreal because I actually watched her last year win this Women’s Amateur, and it just makes me feel so honored to play with her since she’s such an amazing player and an amazing person,” said Zhang. “I’m just going to go out there and have fun tomorrow and try my best.
Like Ruffels, Zhang was a tennis player early in her life. Her foray into golf was an unusual one.
“I was a very athletic kid where I liked to play a lot of sports, so my dad’s friend actually forced my dad to play golf by buying him shoes, golf balls on the range, clubs, etc., and my dad is like, ‘okay, fine, I’ll play with you,’” explained Zhang.
So, she picked up a club and started to swing. After making contact on her second try, she thought, “great, maybe I should try it out … So right off the bat I started practicing extremely hard, working on my game, and that’s how I got to today.”
She knew she had a future in the game when after a month or so, she went to a course and played with three boys who had been playing for a few years.
“So my coach decided to take me with them, and I beat them by like four strokes, and I shot 7 over,” said Zhang. “That was when I was like, ‘oh, this is fun, maybe try again.’”
She then won the first tournament she ever played. On Sunday, she’ll have the chance to win the biggest tournament of her life.
The star-studded quarterfinal match of Gabriela Ruffels-Emilia Migliaccio lived up to its billing on Saturday at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
ROCKVILLE, Md. — In every match play event there’s always one match on the bracket that arrives too soon in the competition.
At this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, it was the quarterfinal match between defending champion Gabriela Ruffels and Wake Forest’s Emilia Migliaccio.
The match had the feel and intensity of a final. Migliaccio, known for her match play prowess in the amateur golf world, was the better player on the front nine, holding a 2-up lead through the 8th hole.
Walking to the 9th tee, a testy 396-yard par-4, Migliaccio was entering Ruffel’s world. Woodmont Country Club should name the hole “Gabi” after what the USC senior has been able to accomplish this week. In all four matches, she’s won the 9th with a par (and made par in both stroke-play rounds, as well). Ruffels has trailed in all four match play rounds standing on the 9th tee and has gone on to win every match by cruising through the more-difficult back nine.
On Saturday morning Ruffels also won the 10th to tie the match, then went 1 down again on No. 15 after a clutch birdie from Migliaccio. Ruffels flagged her tee shot on the par-3 16th, making birdie to tie the match once again.
On the 18th green, Migliaccio almost produced some late heroics for the second day in a row. In Friday’s Round of 16 match, she made a 15-plus footer for birdie to force a playoff. On Saturday morning, from around 35 feet, her putt caught the lip and just missed.
Ruffels flagged her approach to around 10 feet, and in true champion fashion put the match to bed with a birdie. She now faces Michigan State’s Valery Plata in this afternoon’s semifinals, last season’s B1G Ten golfer of the year and this week’s most consistent player. In match play, Plata has led for 51 holes. She’s trailed for just four holes, all on the front nine of her quarterfinal win Saturday morning.
There’s a potential all-Trojan final on hand with Alyaa Abdulghany on the other side of the bracket squaring off against 2021 Stanford commit and the world’s No. 9-ranked amateur Rose Zhang.
The semifinals begin at 12:45 p.m. ET, with live coverage on Golf Channel from 1-4 p.m. ET.
Emilia Migliaccio is known for her match play prowess, and she showed it off with some clutch putts Friday at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
ROCKVILLE, Md. – Emilia Migliaccio was born for match play.
All tied on the 18th hole in the Round of 16 at the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club outside of Washington, D.C., both Migliaccio and opponent Megan Schofill were in the fairway, with Schofill first to play. The rising sophomore at Auburn almost ended the match on the spot, flagging her approach to just inches after her ball took a 360-degree spin around the cup. The birdie was conceded, leaving Migliaccio outside of 15 feet to extend the match.
“Yeah, I heard her reaction, but I saw the ball. I knew it wasn’t in the hole. I knew it was probably two inches, and I was going to give it to her,” said Migliaccio. “I just hit a great 7-iron. It didn’t go like at the pin, but it was really good … So I was just trying to focus on the present as much as I could on exactly what I needed to do without trying to force anything.”
Migliaccio, a rising senior at Wake Forest, let out a “YEAH!” so loud it could be heard on Capitol Hill. She buried the putt as if it was a tap-in, pushing the match to a playoff.
The match went 22 holes, ending on the fourth, a testy 338-yard par 4 that requires accuracy off the tee and precision to the green. Migliaccio lipped out for the win from five feet on the previous hole, and wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
“On this hole I was in the same spot this afternoon against Megan, and I three-putted because I hit it four feet short,” remembered Migliaccio. “So I was like, ‘OK, you know it’s not that fast,’ and I actually thought I hit it too high, but then it rolled in on the very back, so that was nice, especially after I thought I made that putt (on the previous hole).”
“I was just trying not to focus on, ‘Oh, that was my chance to win on the last hole.'”
Migliaccio’s mother, Ricki, a former All-American at Arizona and teammate of Annika Sorenstam, was the one to let out a yell this time after her daughter’s win. The two have a very close relationship. Ricki is at every college event, walking step-by-step with her daughter. This week she’s on the bag as her caddie.
“It’s just really special,” said Emilia of her mother, who also caddied for her when she won the gold medal at last year’s Pan-Am Games. “She knows what to say. She knows my golf game. She has a really good golf IQ, so I know I can just rely on her to tell me what the slope is and what number I need to play, which is good when you’re kind of just in the moment and you need someone else to kind of help you out.”
“So yeah, she’s incredible. I’m so lucky to have a mom like her.”
How will she prepare for her quarterfinal match against defending champion Gabriela Ruffels? Schoolwork, obviously. Emilia has a final project due for a sports business summer class she’s taking online. The life of a student-athlete doesn’t take a break for a USGA championship.
In the opening two matches of the Round of 16, two surprise losses shook up the bracket. Top-seed Rachel Heck, an incoming freshman at Stanford, lost to 2021 Stanford commit Rose Zhang, marking the 29th consecutive year the No. 1 seed won’t win the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The only other match to go to a playoff came in the middle of the round where Virginia’s Riley Smyth took down Notre Dame’s Lauren Beaudreau in 21 holes. All three of Smythe’s matches have gone to at least the 18th hole. With potentially 36 holes to play tomorrow, the Cary, North Carolina, native (which Migliaccio also calls home) has played 57 holes of match play the past two days (93 in the past five days counting stroke play).
Ole Miss’ Kennedy Swann defeated Oklahoma State’s Isabella Fierro, 2 and 1, leading to a special moment with her father just off the 17th green. Swann had her dad on the bag for the two rounds of stroke play, but switched to her assistant coach Zack Byrd for match play. Seeing tears in her dad’s eyes, Swann said with a laugh, “Don’t cry! We still have three matches to go.”
Quarterfinal matches
Rose Zhang vs. Kaleigh Telfer, 7 a.m. ET
Alyaa Abdulghany vs. Riley Smyth, 7:10 a.m. ET
Valery Plata vs. Kennedy Swann, 7:20 a.m. ET
Emilia Migliaccio vs. Gabriela Ruffels, 7:30 a.m. ET
There weren’t many upsets during the U.S. Women’s Amateur’s first round of match play.
Anything can happen in match play.
That’s what makes the next few days of the U.S. Women’s Amateur so exciting.
Early on Thursday during the Round of 64, it was all chalk at Woodmont Country Club. Top seed Rachel Heck got off to a hot start winning the first four holes before No. 64 Therese Warner fought back over the next 13 to send the match to the 18th hole. Heck made birdie to claim a 2-up win.
“I just got off to a hot start. But then I fully expected (Warner) to make a lot of birdies, make a run at it and come back, which of course she did,” said Heck of the match. “She’s such a great player. We both had a lot of fun out there. It was a crazy match.”
Eleven of the next 12 matches followed suit with the higher-ranked seeds winning, including a pair of 6-and-5 wins (No. 17 Maria Bohorquez def. No. 38 Sofia Garcia, No. 24 Kaleigh Telfer def. No. 41 Talia Campbell).
But seeding doesn’t tell the full story. Garcia was a second-team All-American last season for Texas Tech, and in theory should have advanced. Same with No. 33 Allisen Corpez, a first-team All-American for USC who lost to No. 32 Cecilie Finne-Ipsen.
Anything can happen in match play.
The lone upset (by seeding) from the morning wave came down to the 18th green where No. 56 Emily Mahar took down No. 9 Michaela Williams, 1 up.
“It was very, very up and down. To begin with, we were both squaring with birdies and towards the end we were both squaring with bogeys,” said Mahar after the match. “I guess it kind of came down to who didn’t screw up on the last couple holes.”
The big win of the day came early in the afternoon when No. 31 Zoe Antoinette Campos defeated No. 34 Pimnipa Panthong, 7 and 5. It was the Round of 64’s largest victory, with Campos winning five holes with par.
Four matches went to extra holes, including the back-and-forth slugfest between No. 26 Gina Kim and No. 39 Isabella Fierro. The match was tied for 10 of the 18 holes, with Fierro coming away victorious with a birdie on the 19th hole.
Defending champion Gabriela Ruffels, the six seed, was losing for most of the front nine in her match against the resilient No. 59 Kajal Mistry. The USC senior won five of the last eight holes to earn a 3-and-2 victory.
“I’m trying to make it feel like a regular golf tournament, but obviously there’s a little bit more pressure and expectation, but that’s what I thought it would be coming into it,” said Ruffels. “Honestly it’s just a bunch of fun. I’m just having fun out there, and whatever happens, happens.”
After play was washed out on Tuesday, the schedule for the rest of the week was forced to change. Both the Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be contested on Friday, as scheduled, beginning with the first match at 7 a.m. ET. The quarterfinals and semifinals now both fall on Saturday before Sunday’s 36-hole final.
Matches to watch
Here are the matches we’ll have circled for the Round of 32:
Rachel Heck vs. Cecilie Finne-Ipsen
The top seed may be on upset alert after Charlotte player Finne-Ipsen proved she belongs in match play by taking down Allisen Corpuz.
Gabriela Ruffels vs. Lei Ye
The defending champion is always must-see TV, especially against Ye, a Stanford commit and top-30 player according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Emilia Migliaccio vs. Amari Avery
Migliaccio is making her debut at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, but don’t let that fool you. The Wake Forest senior is ranked fourth according to WAGR and is a force to be reckoned with in match play.
Rachel Kuehn vs. Brooke Matthews
Kuehn entered this week on a two-event win streak and remained in form in stroke play and the first round of match play. She’ll have a strong test against Matthews, the Arkansas junior who’s as consistent as they come.
Valery Plata vs. Zoe Antoinette Campos
Campos earned a massive win against second team All-American Pimnipa Panthong to advance, while Plata defeated her Michigan State teammate Haylin Harris in the Round of 64.
Kajal Mistry went from T-124 to qualifying for match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur after surviving 16-for-5 playoff.
ROCKVILLE, Md. — After the first round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Kajal Mistry was T-124 thanks to a 9-over 81.
Two three-putts and a five-putt will do that to you.
“I really wasn’t hitting the ball bad (in the first round). I hit a lot of fairways but once or twice I’d miss in the wrong place, and you really can’t get it up-and-down from the wrong place here.”
Mistry is right. If you miss a shot at Woodmont Country Club, chances are you’re going to pay for it, especially with its thick, uncut rough after Hurricane Isais dumped more than two inches of rain on the property Monday night to Tuesday.
A member of the Razorbacks women’s golf team, Mistry knows a thing or two about tough courses. Arkansas’ home track, Blessings Golf Club, isn’t for the faint of heart. Neither is Woodmont, especially in USGA championship condition.
In the car leaving the course on Monday, the Arkansas sophomore went over her round and realized she didn’t have much to work on. Just her focus, if anything. After the rain washed out Tuesday’s play, she took the day off. Instead of going to the range, she watched The Office and relaxed.
Who knew the comedic styling of Steve Carell was so powerful? The South African bounced back during Wednesday’s second round with a 3-under 69, matching the day’s low round alongside last-minute qualifier Marissa Wenzler and Natasha Andrea Oon.
Mistry’s 69 was nice enough to land her in a playoff to qualify for match play. Sixteen players were competing for the final five spots. Only one made birdie on the first playoff hole.
“I birdied (No. 8, the first playoff hole) early this morning, but I had a really good feeling because I was really striking the ball well today, so I felt comfortable,” explained Mistry.
“All the things that didn’t go my way with the 81 went my way today.”
Joining Mistry as playoff winners are Haylin Harris, Gurleen Kaur, Therese Warner, Auston Kim and Katherine Zhu. Incoming Stanford freshman Rachel Heck claimed medalist honors with rounds of 69-71, taking the No. 1 seed for match play at 4 under.
Thursday’s match play Round of 64 begins at 9:50 a.m. ET.
At this week’s 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur, Paris Hilinski and Alexa Pano are two of the youngest players in the field at Woodmont CC.
Alexa Pano and Paris Hilinksi are best friends with big dreams. As the youngest competitors in last year’s U.S. Women’s Open, it’s hard to pick who has the more remarkable story. Hilinski qualified to compete at the Country Club of Charleston after playing golf for only 2 ½ years.
By the time Hilinski took her first golf lesson at age 13, Pano had already starred in “The Short Game” documentary on Netflix, hoisted a trophy at Augusta National and made history as the youngest player to tee it up on the Japan LPGA.
She was so good so fast, it was somewhat surprising that it took her until age 14 to get to her first Women’s Open.
Now the two fast-tracking friends are traveling the country together, trying to stay safe and keeping their circle tight during a global pandemic. At this week’s 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur, where their families are sharing a house, they’re once again two of the youngest players in the field at Woodmont Country Club.
Alexa Pano, 14, qualifies for her first U.S. Women’s Open.
Pano, 15, makes a stunning fifth Women’s Amateur appearance this week in what is her 10th USGA championship. She was runner-up to Yealimi Noh at the 2018 U.S. Girls’ Junior and lost to Andrea Lee in 23 holes in the Round of 16 at last year’s Women’s Amateur. Both Noh and Lee are now rookies on the LPGA.
“I felt like last year I put myself in a great position and I got beat,” said Pano. “This year I kind of want to avenge that, if anything.”
And should Pano and Hilinski meet in match play at this year’s contest?
“I think if we played against each other I would win, of course,” said Hilinski.
It’s that way with everything with these two. Even a card game, said Hilinski, can feel like the Super Bowl.
“Paris always wants to be taller,” said Pano. “I always want to be shorter. Everyone has to convince me that I’m 5’11.”
Hilinski, 16, hits it about 270 yards off the tee and says she checks in at 5 feet 10 inches (and a half). The gym is one area that Pano readily concedes to Hilinski. Both work in Jupiter, Florida, with Joey Diovisalvi, or “Joey D,” golf’s trainer to the stars (think Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Lexi Thompson), though Hilinski has been at it much longer. Hilinski’s background in basketball and soccer training also adds to her natural strength.
“I’m pushing myself to get to her level,” said Pano, “which I will.”
They’re both vegan and have taken online classes for years. During the first six weeks of the pandemic, Pano completed an entire semester’s worth of schoolwork. Both train and study year-round and are set to graduate in 2022.
When golf courses shut down in Palm Beach County, Pano and her father drove 90 minutes each way to Port St. Lucie just to find an open driving range.
Ask them for a summer highlight from 2020 and both will point to an 18-hour car ride home from Arkansas, where the two teens traveled with their dads to compete in a Women’s All-Pro Tour event. Pano finished second there to LPGA pro Maria Fassi, who jokingly told the new vegan where she could grab a good plate of ribs.
By all accounts, it was 18 hours of belly laughs all the way back to South Florida.
“I must have accidentally drunk a gallon of sugar,” said Hilinski.
Paris Hilinski (left) and Alexa Pano (courtesy of Paris Hilinski)
In the beginning of her playing career, Hilinski worked with Bryan Lebedevitch, Cristie Kerr’s longtime coach, at the PGA West Golf Academy in La Quinta, California. Now she’s with Claude Harmon III at the Floridian in Palm City. During the break from competition this spring, she spent time practicing with Koepka.
“Most of the stuff that I found really beneficial was how he mentally thinks about things,” said Hilinski, “how he thinks about bad shots when he doesn’t hit it great. Most of the time you’re not going to hit it perfect.”
Here’s everything you need to know – including a few more players to watch – for the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Eleven months ago, Rachel Kuehn was riding the bench as the Wake Forest women’s golf team made its 2019-20 debut. The freshman from Asheville, North Carolina, didn’t qualify for the event.
“She came into my office and asked ‘What do I need to do, coach?’” said head coach Kim Lewellen. “I said, ‘You’ve got to make it where I can’t not take you.’”
Kuehn did just that, winning her college debut wire-to-wire at the 2019 ANNIKA Intercollegiate – arguably the most competitive regular-season tournament in women’s college golf – and has since made a name for herself as one of the nation’s best amateur players.
“It showed me I can compete on a national stage and that I can compete with the best players in the country. It was more of a confidence thing than anything,” said Kuehn of her debut victory. “Now that I’ve been able to put myself in that situation a couple times in the past year, it’s done wonders for my confidence and game.”
This week, just outside the Washington, D.C., she’ll have a chance to officially claim the title of nation’s best as Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland, plays host to the U.S. Women’s Amateur Aug. 3-9, with Kuehn and defending champion Gabi Ruffels highlighting the loaded field. Kuehn enters the week in impressive form, winning her last two events: the prestigious North & South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst and the Ladies National Golf Association Amateur.
Kuehn’s pandemic-shortened freshman campaign featured the win at the ANNIKA and two more top-10s in just five events. She didn’t finish worse than 17th and led the Demon Deacons with a 71.23 scoring average.
“We have a really competitive team. Any five of us can travel on any day and we can have a chance to compete for a win,” said Kuehn. “So it’s definitely motivating to know I have to be able to go out there and play my best just to even qualify, let alone play well in the tournaments.”
On the bag this week will be her older brother, Corrie, who played golf at Rhodes College in Memphis and previously caddied for his sister at the U.S. Girls’ Junior three years ago.
“He keeps me really loose on the course,” said Rachel. “He keeps my mind off golf when I’m walking between shots and when I get to my ball he’s like, ‘Alright time to buckle down and focus.’ And he is really good at helping that transition and keeping me loose and not so nervous.”
“Goofy 1 and Goofy 2 when they’re together,” chimed in their mother, Brenda, an All-American golfer and five-time winner as a senior for the Demon Deacons in the 1980s.
The Siblings Kuehn will have their work cut out for them this week. Here’s everything you need to know – including a few more players to watch – for the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Marissa Wenzler is about to tee it up for the fourth consecutive week. The Kentucky sophomore’s past month was dotted with close calls and finally, at last week’s Ladies National Golf Association Amateur, a breakthrough.
It all started with the North & South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst. Wenzler played all the way to the Round of 16. It was the same story the next week at the Women’s Western Amateur.
There was extra incentive to make a deep run at those events this year, considering the USGA reserved spots in the Women’s Amateur for the top two finishers. By the time the LNGA Amateur rolled around, she had forgotten that exemption even existed. A friend reminded her by text.
“You might be in it,” she said, “you might be in contention.”
Indeed, Wenzler rose from outside the top 10 after 36 holes to a tie for second, earning one of the final two spots in the championship along with Kennedy Pedigo.
In her freshman season at Kentucky, Wenzler had three top-20 finishes in six starts. The Wildcats won two of their first three events. I
Wenzler attributes part of her recent success, however, to the late-spring quarantine period that followed. Among other things, older brother Ryan Wenzler – who has played on the Mackenzie and Latinoamerica tours – gave her a putting tip that helped her putt more freely. Ryan will be on the bag for her at Woodmont.
The recent success is more mental than physical, Marissa Wenzler says, but the physical counts for something too.
“I already kind of know what the ball is doing,” she said. “I know what needed work, I know what’s going well. That’s been a huge advantage. I feel like the more I play, the better I get.”
U.S. captain Ellen Port with Mariah Stackhouse (right) and Emma Talley during the morning four-ball match of the 2014 Curtis Cup.
A legend returns
A USGA amateur championship field can be sorted in many ways. Ellen Port’s name falls into a number of categories: oldest competitors, Curtis Cup participants (or in her case, captain), most U.S. Women’s Amateur appearances and perhaps most impressively, past USGA champions. Port has won seven of these things – three U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs and four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs and she keeps showing up.
Port, who captained the U.S. Curtis Cup team to victory in her native St. Louis in 2014, earned an exemption into this week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur courtesy of her 2016 U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur win. It will be her 23rd start in the event, and while that sounds like record-breaking stuff, the 58-year-old would have a long way to go to catch legends like Carole Semple Thompson with 41 appearances and Anne Sandor with 37.
But Port’s name is worth watching because she very likely could make it past the stroke-play threshold on Tuesday and show up on the match-play bracket. She did in 2018 at the Golf Club of Tennessee, becoming the oldest player to make match play at the Women’s Amateur since Sandor did it in 1994. Port was only 22 days younger than Sandor was when she made the bracket.
She lost in the first round that year to Dylan Kim.
The average age of the field at Woodmont Country Club is 20.5 years old. Port is one of two players, along with four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Meghan Stasi, over 40.
Gabriela Ruffels with her caddie, Justin Silverstein, during the final round at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur. (Photo: USGA/Steven Gibbons)
The field
In total, there are 132 players in this year’s field.
Average age: 20.5
States represented: 30
California (19), Texas (14), Florida (8) and North Carolina (7) lead the way.
Countries represented: 20
Unites States (92); Spain (4); Canada, Paraguay and Thailand (3); Australia, Columbia, Denmark, Germany, Guatemala, Mexico, People’s Republic of China and South Africa (2); Argentina, Finland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Norway and the Philippines each have one.
Top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking: 20
Emilia Migliaccio (3), Rose Zhang (8), Gabriela Ruffels (9), Kaitlyn Papp (12), Sofia Garcia (15), Auston Kim (20), Siyun Liu (22), Kiira Riihijarvi (23), Allisen Corpuz (24), Alexa Pano (27), Pimnipa Panthong (28), Megan Schofill (29), Lei Ye (30), Gina Kim (33), Alyaa Abdulghany (34), Aneka Seumanutafa (35), Amanda Sambach (45), Carla Tejedo (47), Kaleigh Telfer (48), Lauren Hartlage (49).
Colleges with most active players: Duke (6); USC (6); Stanford (5); Arkansas and Wake Forest (4); Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Michigan State and Texas (3).
