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Walla Walla, Wash. - Grace Lee (Bellevue, Wash.) shot rounds of 69-71-69 to win the 33rd Washington Women’s Amateur, while Tina Papatolis (Issaquah, Wash.) shot rounds of 72-75-80 to win the 17th Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur. Both players successfully completed their title defenses from the respective 2025 championships.
The championships were conducted concurrently at Walla Walla (Wash.) Country Club on June 16-18 over 54 holes of stroke play, and featured the top women players of any age and mid-amateur women players aged 25 and over, across Washington and Northern Idaho.
Temperatures in the third round were moderately hot, hovering around the mid-80s, with moderate winds.
Championship Links:
In the Women’s Amateur, Lee entered the final round with a five-shot lead and would only continue the high level of play that had defined her week. She had three birdies through her first seven holes, but followed them with a bogey and double bogey, the latter her first of the week. Regrouping on the back side, a stellar approach shot on hole 16 ignited a three-birdie stretch to finish, eliciting applause from the groups of players and spectators that had gathered around the 18th green by the end of it.
“I didn’t really have any expectations going into the championship,” said Lee, who had just finished her senior season at Gonzaga University. “I just wanted to go out there, have fun and enjoy it. With that being my main goal, there was nothing to lose.”
With her win, Lee earned an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur, to be held from August 4-9 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.
Said Lee, of what will be her fourth start in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, “I’d say every year I feel like I gain more experience. There’s a lot of really good competition out there.”
Lee was named WA Golf Women’s Player of the Year in 2025. Now finished playing at the collegiate level, Lee intends to play in a series of amateur tournaments in the fall before attempting qualifying school at the professional level.
Darae Chung (Eugene, Ore.) was runner-up of the Women’s Amateur, and her final round of 71 was the only under-par round of any player other than Lee. Chung, originally from New Zealand, recently finished her junior season at the University of Oregon.
In the Women’s Mid-Amateur, Papatolis entered the final round needing only to maintain her six-shot lead that she had built over 36 holes. The course proved a challenging test on the final day, as Papatolis made her second double bogey of the championship at her third hole. Making the turn in 38, her back nine was no easier, as she shot 6-over on holes 11-17. But scoring was similar for her playing partners, Brooke Henderson and Desirae Clarke, who were 4 and 8-over respectively on that stretch.
All three players parred the 18th, though, leaving Papatolis, Henderson and Clarke with their rounds of 80, 79 and 85, respectively. At 11-over, Papatolis finished five strokes clear of Henderson, and 15 of Clarke.
Papatolis’ win marks her third in the Women’s Mid-Amateur, and second straight. She first won the championship in 2019.
“The first one’s important because you break the seal, the second is important because you prove you belong, and the third one is even more special because I am coming off a winter where I was injured,” she said, referring to a back injury she had sustained and spent five months rehabbing. “To be out here and feel like I can compete, and my back held up under pressure, it means a lot. It’s pretty special.”
Papatolis’ win continues her strong start to 2026. She narrowly finished second in a playoff at the Washington Senior Women’s Champion of Champions in April but won the Washington Women’s Four-Ball a few weeks later.
“I love, love being out here,” she said of recapturing her form after her injury. “I love the challenge, I love the camaraderie, the competition. I’ve always been somebody who loves to practice. I played three beautiful rounds with two incredible women.”
Papatolis was grouped with Henderson and Clarke for each of the three rounds.
Yeon hee Kim (Tacoma, Wash.) was the Net Mid-Amateur champion, with a net score of 4-under par.
The Washington Women’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur championship are two of 14 held annually by Washington Golf.
About Washington Golf
Founded in 1922, WA Golf is a 501c4 non-profit amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers that has grown into one of the largest golf associations in the United States, providing a multitude of member benefits and services to more than 103,000 golfers, 520 member clubs, and 260 golf facilities throughout Washington and Northern Idaho. WA Golf also serves as the statewide representative of the United States Golf Association and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game. Visit wagolf.org for more information.
