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USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
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.
2 days ago
- Sport
Lyla Louderbaugh takes down No. 1 player and reaches semifinals of US Women's Amateur
BANDON, Ore. -- Kansas junior Lyla Louderbaugh reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur on Friday by losing a 2-up lead with two holes to play against top-ranked Kiara Romero and then keeping her composure to win in 20 holes at Bandon Dunes. Louderbaugh, a two-time Kansas Women's Amateur champion, advanced to face Brooke Biermann, a 3-and-2 winner over Arianna Lau of Hong Kong. Stanford senior Megha Ganne held off Eila Galitsky of Thailand, 2 and 1, and next has a semifinal match against Ella Scaysbrook of Australia, who had the shortest match of the quarterfinals with a 5-and-4 win over Taylor Kehoe of Canada. Louderbaugh seized control against Oregon junior Kiara Romero, the No. 1 amateur in women's golf, with a tee shot into 3 feet on the par-3 12th and a nifty pitch to tap-in range on the par-5 13th. She was 2 up when Romero missed a 30-inch par putt on the 16th. And then it all unraveled it a strong wind off the Pacific Coast, with gusts in the 30 mph range. Louderbaugh sent her approach to the 17th over the green and into the bushes, and Romero hit her shot into 3 feet. On the par-5 18th, after Romero hit driver off the fairway into the wind some 50 yards short of the green, Louderbaugh hit 7-iron from light rough, and the left-to-right wind sent her shot into the bushes again, effectively giving Romero the hole. 'I went to the bathroom and told myself, 'Leading up the last two holes you were doing great. You don't need to let the two misses affect you,'' Louderbaugh said. 'I told my caddie to let me think on my own, go through the shots in my head. That helped me think straight.' On No. 10, the first extra hole, Louderbaugh's 7-foot birdie putt hit the back of the cup and spun away. On the 20th hole, it was Romero who blinked. Her shot was off to the right, and the best she could do from there was pitch some 10 feet by the flag. Romero missed her 10-foot par putt, and Louderbaugh two-putted from 20 feet to win. 'I was confident I could come out and beat her today,' said Louderbaugh, No. 249 in the women's amateur ranking. Ganne had a 2-up lead early and was leading by one hole when she twice made 6-foot par putts to stay in the lead before Galitsky made one mistake too many. Biermann was trailing until winning three straight holes, starting with a fairway metal into 3 feet into the wind on No. 11. ___
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
With local on bag, Lyla Louderbaugh upsets No. 1 Kiara Romero in U.S. Women's Amateur quarters
BANDON, Ore. – Lyla Louderbaugh had just lost two straight holes to send her U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinal match with Kiara Romero to extra holes. But before heading back to Bandon Dunes' 10th tee on Friday evening, the rising Kansas junior retreated to the clubhouse restroom for a reset. 'I just needed to get off the golf course,' said Louderbaugh, who before walking back out the door looked into the mirror and said aloud to herself, 'You've got this.' Two holes later, she had toppled the world No. 1 amateur. Louderbaugh, a native of Buffalo, Missouri, will now play fellow Missourian Brooke Biermann, a Michigan State grad, in Saturday's first semifinal. The winner of that match will meet either Stanford's Megha Ganne or Aussie Ella Scaysbrook in Sunday's 36-hole final. Those are the four competitors left. As for local caddies, however, there is just one standing: Louderbaugh's looper, Robin Oliver. Oliver, 55, is a 10-year veteran at the famed resort, which claims roughly 600 caddies. Oliver started in an office before changing roles after only a year. 'I needed to come back to the grass,' said Oliver, whose caddie roots trace to his middle-school days looping at Maple Bluff in Madison, Wisconsin, home of Jerry Kelly. This is Oliver's third USGA championship, having also worked the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur. This is his first time, however, that his player won a match. 'These events are fun, they're stressful,' Oliver said. 'This is even more stressful than the other ones because we're making it pretty deep.' Before meeting Louderbaugh, Oliver did his research. What he found was a player who has broken out in recent months, starting with her closing 66 to finish fourth in the Jayhawks' regular-season finale in April. She then won the NCAA Columbus Regional by a whopping eight shots over eventual NCAA individual champion Maria Jose Marin, followed by another win this summer at the Kansas Women's Amateur. Oliver was surprised when he walked onto the range last weekend to discover that Louderbaugh, a former basketball player, is pushing 6 feet tall. After their first practice round together, he asked her, 'You're here to win, right?' Louderbaugh replied, 'Yeah.' To which Oliver responded: 'Well, let's do it.' Unless needed, Oliver mostly stays out of Louderbaugh's way, especially during her warmup. It's not uncommon for them to not chat until the first tee. 'The more information you give out there, the more it can get in people's head,' Oliver said, before joking, 'I'm just trying to keep her low key and not make her mad at me.' Adds Louderbaugh: 'We're pretty used to each other. He understands when I want his help on the greens and when I don't want his help on the greens.' Their new relationship was tested down the stretch, as Louderbaugh, 2 up with two holes to play on Romero, hit shots into penalty areas on both holes, including at the par-5 18th hole, where the lefty's third shot from the rough came out well right of her intended line and extremely hot, flying the green and disappearing into a gorse bush. Oliver lamented a couple of mis-clubs during the match, though Louderbaugh was quick to take responsibility. She's thankful to have Oliver by her side, especially in 30 mph gusts. 'There's definitely a reason they have local caddies out here,' Louderbaugh said. 'There are so many shots you don't see if you don't have a local because there are a lot of areas that you don't see from some spots that are perfectly good angles to different pins.' Case in point: She pounded a drive well left on No. 10 in overtime to set up a deft pitch into the fan, though her 10-footer to win horseshoed out of the cup. Then on the par-4 11th, she was some 30 yards behind Romero off the tee but put the pressure on the Oregon junior by knocking a long-iron through the stiff breeze and right at the flag, her ball trundling about 40 feet past. Romero set up to attack the flag, but she left her approach right, short-siding herself. Louderbaugh lagged close before later rolling in the short clincher. Louderbaugh has trailed in each of her four matches so far this week – and for 25 of the 69 holes she's played (she's won 27 holes). In some ways, she relishes that position. 'I like being kind of like the underdog, and nobody knows my name,' Louderbaugh said, 'but I'm here to make a place for my name.' And Oliver wouldn't mind adding his name to the list of Bandon locals who have looped for USGA champions. Though Tyler Strafaci had his dad, Frank, on the bag at the 2020 U.S. Amateur, locals have caddied for the winners of the other three events – 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball and that U.S. Junior three years ago. 'There's that pressure on me from the shack,' Oliver said. 'I mean, there are 600 guys over there that are rooting for us. The old school caddies who have been here for 20-plus years, they're like, 'Bring it home.'' That's the goal.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Lyla Louderbaugh takes down No. 1 player and reaches semifinals of US Women's Amateur
BANDON, Ore. (AP) — Kansas junior Lyla Louderbaugh reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur on Friday by losing a 2-up lead with two holes to play against top-ranked Kiara Romero and then keeping her composure to win in 20 holes at Bandon Dunes. Louderbaugh, a two-time Kansas Women's Amateur champion, advanced to face Brooke Biermann, a 3-and-2 winner over Arianna Lau of Hong Kong. Stanford senior Megha Ganne held off Eila Galitsky of Thailand, 2 and 1, and next has a semifinal match against Ella Scaysbrook of Australia, who had the shortest match of the quarterfinals with a 5-and-4 win over Taylor Kehoe of Canada. Louderbaugh seized control against Oregon junior Kiara Romero, the No. 1 amateur in women's golf, with a tee shot into 3 feet on the par-3 12th and a nifty pitch to tap-in range on the par-5 13th. She was 2 up when Romero missed a 30-inch par putt on the 16th. And then it all unraveled it a strong wind off the Pacific Coast, with gusts in the 30 mph range. Louderbaugh sent her approach to the 17th over the green and into the bushes, and Romero hit her shot into 3 feet. On the par-5 18th, after Romero hit driver off the fairway into the wind some 50 yards short of the green, Louderbaugh hit 7-iron from light rough, and the left-to-right wind sent her shot into the bushes again, effectively giving Romero the hole. 'I went to the bathroom and told myself, 'Leading up the last two holes you were doing great. You don't need to let the two misses affect you,'' Louderbaugh said. 'I told my caddie to let me think on my own, go through the shots in my head. That helped me think straight.' On No. 10, the first extra hole, Louderbaugh's 7-foot birdie putt hit the back of the cup and spun away. On the 20th hole, it was Romero who blinked. Her shot was off to the right, and the best she could do from there was pitch some 10 feet by the flag. Romero missed her 10-foot par putt, and Louderbaugh two-putted from 20 feet to win. 'I was confident I could come out and beat her today,' said Louderbaugh, No. 249 in the women's amateur ranking. Ganne had a 2-up lead early and was leading by one hole when she twice made 6-foot par putts to stay in the lead before Galitsky made one mistake too many. Biermann was trailing until winning three straight holes, starting with a fairway metal into 3 feet into the wind on No. 11. ___ AP golf:
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
As winds picked up, the flushers balled out at Bandon
BANDON, Ore. – For the first three days at Bandon Dunes, benign conditions had seemingly reduced the coastal David McLay Kidd design to a pitch and putt. But on Thursday, the winds returned in a flurry – sustained in the high teens with up to 30 mph gusts – and the flushers took advantage. Or, as the kids say, balled out. That included World No. 1 Kiara Romero, the uber-athletic Oregon junior, who didn't even reach Bandon's iconic par-4 16th hole in either of her matches on this marathon day. Her 4-and-3 victory over Duke's Andie Smith in the Round of 16 moved Romero through to her first U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinals. 'My game was kind of rolling all day,' said Romero, who shot 4 under with just two bogeys in 28 holes. Oregon head coach Derek Radley, on Romero's bag this week, would agree. 'Dude, this wind, it really doesn't matter when you hit it as pure as she does,' Radley said. 'Her ball flight just holds so tight. It's just so different.' Romero shut things down after an exhausting stretch of golf that included the final group at the Augusta National Women's Amateur (she slipped to T-7), an impressive postseason that included wins at conference and regionals, and then a record-setting week at the U.S. Women's Open (she fired 67 in the final round at Erin Hills). She traveled to Lake Tahoe with her family this summer before inviting good pal Anna Davis to Eugene last week for some practice. Romero's trek down to Bandon last Friday was the first time she'd ever set foot on property, which is located less than three hours from campus. Even with the driver taken out of her hands at times, Romero has quickly taken to the resort layout. So, too, has her quarterfinal opponent, Lyla Louderbaugh, a rising junior at Kansas, who has some athlete in her as tall, former basketball player. Louderbaugh is ranked No. 249 in the world, well behind Romero, whom she played with in stroke play at the 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior (Romero won that week), but higher than she was before last spring, when she enjoyed a breakout final round at Arizona State's event. Since that closing 66 at Papago, her first bogey-free round in college, Louderbaugh has won an NCAA regional, finished third in the Missouri Women's Amateur and won the Kansas Women's Amateur. 'She's just been in this zone ever since ASU and has this sense of confidence about her,' Kansas head coach Lindsay Kuhle said. 'I don't think she's paying much attention to who she's going up against tomorrow. She's focused on her own game.' Added Louderbaugh, who beat both 2027 standout Asia Young and Cal State Amateur champion Katelyn Kong on Thursday: 'I've really been able to control my game in a way that I'm really liking when I'm on the golf course.' Romero and Louderbaugh tee off at 1:50 p.m. Pacific, with the winner getting the victor of incoming Northwestern freshman Arianna Lau and Michigan State grad Brooke Biermann. All Lau has done is taken down medalist and defending champ Rianne Malixi and Wake grads Emilia Doran and Carolina Chacarra. Biermann played 41 holes on Thursday as both her matches went to extras. On the other side of the bracket is a player with equal firepower to Romero. South Carolina sophomore Eila Galitsky might be the longest women's amateur in the world as she can top 105 mph swing and over 270 yards of carry. Ranked sixth in the world, Galitsky won her second career college event this past spring in a playoff over Lottie Woad, whom she also beat in singles at the Patsy Hankins Trophy this year. Galitsky, who lost her first two holes to Texas A&M freshman Natalie Yen on Thursday afternoon, joked that she loves Bandon because of its '90-yard-wide fairways.' She's OK with the wind, too; like Romero, it takes a lot to affect her ball. 'I think it would be super boring if everybody just, you know, fairway, green, made the putt for birdie,' Galitsky said. 'This one is like, OK, you hit the fairway. You are got to flight down your second shot. It's 100 yards. You're playing in almost like 140 yards. 'It's a lot more thinking, and it's a lot more fun.' Speaking of fun, it might not get more entertaining than Galitsky versus Stanford senior Megha Ganne on Friday. Ganne, a two-time first-team All-American, arguably had the toughest batch of opponents on Thursday in Auburn's Anna Davis and Ohio State's Kary Hollenbaugh. This is Ganne's first quarterfinal appearance since she advanced to the semifinals at the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur. 'I think one thing I remember from being in the semifinals is like as soon as you knock down this first round of 64, feels like I can just do that again and again and again,' Ganne said. 'That's a feeling that I had when I was on a run there, I was so trying to recreate that and remember that feeling I had.' Count Ganne among those hoping for the wind to come. She'll be especially pleased with Friday' forecast, which might see even tougher conditions. 'I thrive a little bit more in those conditions compared to normal conditions,' Ganne said. 'So hopefully keeps up for me.'
