How U.S. Women's Amateur semifinalist Lyla Louderbaugh became one of the world's best amateurs

USA Today

4 days ago

BANDON, Ore. — The tears welted quickly, slowly crawling down Lyla Louderbaugh's face.
She stood inside the Bandon Dunes clubhouse, flanked by reporters after her 4.5 hours battle in the bright sun and dastardly winds attacking off the Pacific Ocean. Louderbaugh, a rising junior at Kansas and one of the hottest players in amateur golf, was recapping her stellar performance Friday. She knocked off the world's top-ranked amateur, Kiara Romero, in 20 holes, advancing to the semifinals of the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur in the process.
But one of the most pivotal shots of her afternoon wasn't the short par putt she made on the 20th hole to win her quarterfinals match late Friday afternoon. It came on the 13th hole and two years in the making.
When Louderbaugh enrolled at Kansas, coach Lindsay paired her with incoming junior transfer Lily Hurst. The two lived in the same apartment together. They roomed together on the road. They practiced together. Hurst, from England, was pivotal in shaping Louderbaugh's college experience and also one important part of her game.
"She's so good," Louderbaugh said, "and she was one of my best friends at college. She just graduated, but she taught me a lot of the shots around the greens and how to approach those shots."
From Buffalo, Missouri, Louderbaugh's experience on links golf courses, like Bandon Dunes, is minimal. Hurst, however, grew up playing links golf often. She spent plenty of time with Louderbaugh around the greens, and taught her mentee about the best practices for hitting off tight lies and using slopes to your advantage.
On the par-5 13th, playing downhill and downwind in the 30 mph gusts, Louderbaugh's approach shot flew long, and she short sided herself to the front pin location. In that moment, and as she has done throughout the week on Oregon's Pacific coast, she recalled the countless lessons she and Hurst did back in Lawrence, Kansas.
She paced off how many yards she had between the front of the green and the flag stick. She knew exactly how many yards she needed to carry her shot. A backstop was there to help if she went long, but that wasn't an issue.
Louderbaugh nipped her pitch shot and it took a couple bounces before screeching to a halt about a foot from the flag. The result was a concession, and Romero couldn't match. Louderbaugh had won her fourth hole in the last five, and the confidence grew.
"I was able to pop it perfectly," she said.
But Romero wasn't going down without a fight. She struck a beautiful approach shot on the 17th hole within a couple feet after going 2 down with two to play to get the match to the 18th. Then with Romero short of the green in two after taking driver off the deck, Louderbaugh's third shot went into a penalty area, and another saucy chip led to a bogey, but a two-putt par from Romero sent the match to the 10th tee for extra holes.
After going to the tee box with her caddie, Louderbaugh retreated inside the Bandon Dunes clubhouse and went to the restroom.
"I just needed to reset, like I just needed to get off the golf course, reset and just go out and play again," Louderbaugh said. "I just looked at myself in the mirror, and I was like, 'You've got this.'"
That confidence, Kuhle says, wasn't there six months ago. Louderbaugh had the talent, sure, but the mental fortitude needed to success in high-level amateur golf had yet to catch up.
But that was then, and this was for a spot in the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur.
On the 19th hole, Louderbaugh hit a wedge to about 10 feet, ripping it back below the hole. Her putt was aggressive and smashed the left side of the cut before violently lipping out, but her head remained high. She marched to he 11th tee, hit a driver down the left side of the fairway and then flighted an iron to the back portion of the green. Romero, who hit her tee shot 25 yards further, missed the green right, and her chip shot rolled about 10 feet past the pin.
Louderbaugh comfortably hit her approach shot up to a couple feet, and when Romero missed her par putt, Louderbaugh knocked hers in. The match was over, and she was into the semifinals.
The result may be surprising to some, but Louderbaugh has been one of the best amateurs in the world the last few months, and it dates to a round at Arizona State's home tournament in late March. Louderbaugh shot 6-under 66 in the final round when everything click. In May, she won the NCAA Columbus Regional by eight shots. Last month, she captured the Kansas Women's Amateur, for the second straight year, by the same margin.
Could Louderbaugh have done this six months ago? Kuhle says no.
So, what changed?
"I really want to help my players get more confidence and become more independent," Kuhle said, "and that's exactly what she's done in the last year. She's a more confident player and independent. It's maturity but also experience. The positivity growth over the last year has been amazing."
Louderbaugh's biggest growth in the last year, however, is mentally. Before every shot, she closes her eyes and visualizes what shot she wants to hit, similar to Jason Day. She also does breathing work. She has done mental training sessions with Vision54. Even with the increases in her skill, the mental aspect of it is what has set her apart in recent months.
Louderbaugh's caddie this week is Robin Oliver, a local caddie at Bandon Dunes Resort. Of the nine USGA championships staged at the resort since it has opened, eight of the nine winners have used local caddies. It's a fact Oliver knows well and doesn't want to talk about, though the other caddies supporting him this week give him constant reminders of.
Before the U.S. Women's Amateur, he did some research on Louderbaugh to get to know her better. He wasn't prepared for how tall she was (Louderbaugh is nearly 6 feet in height), but Oliver has one question for Louderbaugh after their first practice round together.
"I said, 'you're here to win, right,'" Oliver recalls. "She's like, 'Yeah.'
"I said, 'Let's do it.' That was it. That was our game plan.
In the Round of 64, Louderbaugh won three of the final four holes to win 1 up. Thursday's marathon had a pair of convincing victories, setting up the biggest test of her life against Romero, the recently-crowned world No. 1 amateur and past USGA champion, winning the U.S. Girls' Junior in 2023.
With Romero 1 up thru eight holes, Louderbaugh went on her run of four wins in five holes, the nippy pitch shot on the 13th giving her a 2-up advantage. Then, she took advantage of a Romero three-putt on 16 to go 2 up with two to play.
Even as Louderbaugh stumbled, she didn't crumble. She allowed her positivity to take over. Her mentality stayed strong. When she closed her eyes, she envisioned herself winning the match. And she did.
"Robin is a huge confidence builder for her," Kuhle said. "They talked about how they're going to win this thing. They're not afraid about talking about it and visualizing success and believing. She's the most confident player. She believe's she's in control."
Louderbaugh hometown in Missouri has about 3,000 residents, and she will face off against fellow Missourian Brooke Biermann in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket will be Australia's Ella Scaysbrook and Megha Ganne, who took town world No. 6 Eila Galitsky on Friday.
Louderbaugh is not the biggest or most well-known name in the semifinals, nor has she ever been the standout recruit or prospect, and she's fine with that. "I like being the underdog. Nobody knows my name, but I'm here to make a place for mine."
And the only person standing in her way is the one in the mirror.