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2 days ago
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Holmdel golfer Megha Ganne wins U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
The incredible summer for Jersey Shore golf continued Sunday. Holmdel's Megha Ganne won the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship Sunday, defeating Brooke Biermann of Wildwood, Missouri, 4-and-3, in the 36-hole final at Bandon Dunes in Bend, Oregon. The 21-year-old Ganne, a rising senior at Stanford, built a 3-up advantage after the opening 18 holes, eventually closing out the match with a par on the par-3, 15th hole, the 33rd hole of the match, With the victory, she secures a spot on the 2026 U.S. Curtis Cup squad – Ganne was a member of the 2022 team – and is exempt for the 2026 U.S. Open. Ganne's heroics come on the heels of Little Silver's Chris Gotterup's victory at the Scottish Open last month, before the 26-year-old finished third at the British Open. Gotterup is in his second season on the PGA Tour. Ganne's win marked the first national championship for a local player since Marlboro's Sherry Herman won the U.S. Women's Senior Amateur in 2009. Toms River's Sukjin Lee-Wuesthoff won the 2003 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. 'I just tried to play the first 18 like I was playing the golf course,' said Ganne in a post-match television interview. 'I knew the match really wouldn't get started until the second round so just learning as much as I could about the course on the first go-round with these pin. I was able to take advantage and play some really solid golf. I can't believe I'm standing here right now. 'It's extremely difficult. I have been thinking about this trophy the entire day. It makes it really distracting to play golf.' She reached the semifinals of the Women's Amateur as a 15-year-old in 2019. As a junior at Holmdel High School in 2021, Ganne had a share of the first-round lead at the U.S. Women's Open, and was in the final group on Sunday. Entering the week ranked No. 11 in the Women's World Amateur Golf Rankings, Ganne made a strong opening statement in the final by carding two birdies in her first three holes to go 2-up. Biermann responded with a pair of birdies of her own on the next two holes to even the match. It was all square through 11 holes when Ganne won three straight tholes with pars, eventually reaching the midway point in the match 3-up. Biermann, a 2025 Michigan State graduate playing in her final amateur event before heading to LPGA Tour Qualifying School, cut Ganne's lead to 3-up with five to play with a birdie on No. 13, before losing the next hole with a three putt. Ganne closed out the victory with a two-putt par on No. 15. The victory was made possible by an incredible comeback performance in the semifinals when Ganne was 4-down with seven holes to play, eventually winning on the first extra hole. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Holmdel NJ golfer Megha Ganne wins U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
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2 days ago
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2025 U.S. Women's Amateur live leaderboard: Megha Ganne vs. Brooke Biermann scores, highlights
(Editor's note: Golfweek's Cameron Jourdan is following all the action from Bandon Dunes. Check out his updates from the semifinals here.) BANDON, Ore. — It's time for the championship match of the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur. Saturday was a historic semifinal, with both matches going to extra holes for only the third time in the championship's 125-year history. After holding a 3-up lead with three holes to play, 22-year-old Brooke Biermann held on to win in 19 holes. Meanwhile, Megha Ganne was 4 down with seven holes to play but fought back to win in 19 holes herself. Now, one of them will hoist the Robert Cox Trophy come Sunday night at Bandon Dunes. Follow the championship match at the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur on Sunday for live updates, highlights, leaderboard, scores and more. U.S. Women's Amateur live leaderboard Click here to follow scores from the U.S. Women's Amateur. U.S. Women's Amateur championship match tee time All times ET 12:45 p.m.: No. 41 Brooke Biermann vs. No. 11 Megha Ganne U.S. Women's Amateur how to watch, TV information All times ET Sunday, Aug. 10: Championship Match (Afternoon 18), 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (Golf Channel) U.S. Women's Amateur tickets Fans do not need a ticket to attend the U.S. Women's Amateur. What the winner of U.S. Women's Amateur receives A gold medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year Exemption from qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Women's Open at The Riviera Country Club, in Pacific Palisades, California Exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Women's Amateurs, if eligible Invitation to the 2026 Augusta National Women's Amateur Likely exemptions into the Chevron Championship, AIG Women's Open and Amundi Evian Championship Name engraved on 2025 USGA Champions' plaque that will reside in the USGA Museum's Hall of Champions in Liberty Corner, New Jersey This article originally appeared on Golfweek: US Women's Amateur 2025: Megha Ganne, Brooke Biermann scores, updates
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3 days ago
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2025 U.S. Women's Amateur live leaderboard: Semifinals updates, highlights, scores
AMATEUR2025 U.S. Women's Amateur highlights: World's top-ranked amateur goes downCameron JourdanGolfweek(Editor's note: Golfweek's Cameron Jourdan is following all the action from Bandon Dunes. Check out his updates from the quarterfinals here.) BANDON, Ore. — It's time for the semifinals of the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur. Only four players are left from the starting field of 156 golfers at Bandon Dunes, and there's plenty on the line Saturday. A spot in the 36-hole championship match on Sunday. Exemptions into the U.S. Women's Open, too. Oh, and the chance to hoist the Robert Cox Trophy come Sunday evening. Missourians Brooke Biermann and Lyla Louderbaugh will battle in the first semifinal while Australian Ella Scaysbrook will take on world No. 11 Megha Ganne in the second. Another windy day is on tap on the Pacific coast of Oregon, so who's going to come out on top? Follow the semifinals at the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur on Saturday for live updates, highlights, leaderboard, scores and more. U.S. Women's Amateur live leaderboard Click here to follow scores from the U.S. Women's Amateur. U.S. Women's Amateur 2025 quarterfinal matchups All times ET 1:40 p.m.: No. 41 Brooke Biermann vs. No. 4 Lyla Louderbaugh 2 p.m.: No. 63 Ella Scaysbrook vs. No. 11 Megha Ganne U.S. Women's Amateur how to watch, TV information All times ET Saturday, Aug. 9: Semifinals, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel) Sunday, Aug. 10: Championship Match (Afternoon 18), 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (Golf Channel) U.S. Women's Amateur tickets Fans do not need a ticket to attend the U.S. Women's Amateur. What the winner of U.S. Women's Amateur receives A gold medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year Exemption from qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Women's Open at The Riviera Country Club, in Pacific Palisades, California Exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Women's Amateurs, if eligible Invitation to the 2026 Augusta National Women's Amateur Likely exemptions into the Chevron Championship, AIG Women's Open and Amundi Evian Championship Name engraved on 2025 USGA Champions' plaque that will reside in the USGA Museum's Hall of Champions in Liberty Corner, New Jersey This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Women's Amateur 2025: Semifinal scores, results, highlights
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4 days ago
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Highlights: 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur, Round of 16
Watch the best shots and highlights from the Round of 16 at the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon.
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4 days ago
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How U.S. Women's Amateur semifinalist Lyla Louderbaugh became one of the world's best amateurs
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. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Women's Amateur 2025: Lyla Louderbaugh exudes confidence
