Five teams (or sides) from the Pacific Northwest are in the field at the 8th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, to be held May 13-17 at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash.
This is the fourth USGA national championship conducted at The Home Course, which is cooperatively owned and operated by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association and Washington Golf. Set up at 6,487 yards, The Home Course will be played as the longest course in the history of this national championship.
Click here for complete information, including live scoring, about the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.
Sides to watch for:
Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Wash. & Alice Zhao of Irvine, Calif.
Last summer, Zhang became the youngest player, at age 13, to win the Washington Women’s Amateur. She also won the 2022 WJGA State Championship, and was named the WJGA Player of the Year, earning more points than any player in WJGA history. She was also named the 2022 WA Golf Junior Girls’ Player of the Year. Last month, Zhang set the women’s course record at The Home Course, firing a 7-under 65 in the first round of the Washington Women’s Champion of Champions, on her way to winning that championship by 11 strokes. Earlier this week, Zhang won the second hole of a playoff to qualify for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open. In 2019, Zhang won the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals in the Girls’ ages 7-9 division. Zhang and Zhao were medalists in qualifying for this championship, with that qualifier held at The Home Course. Zhao was co-medalist at the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur, held at Chambers Bay. Zhang and Zhao, at 14, are among this national championship’s youngest competitors, with Zhang just turning 14 on May 5.
Grace Lee of Bellevue, Wash., & Taylor Mularski of Spokane, Wash.
The side just completed their freshman year at Gonzaga University. Lee, the West Coast Conference’s Freshman of the Year, helped the Bulldogs to a third-place finish in the WCC Championship at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., finishing solo fifth individually. This will be her second USGA championship after qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior. She also won the 2019 Pacific Northwest Junior PGA at The Home Course, which earned her a berth in the Girls’ Junior PGA Championship in Kentucky. Mularski, who is competing in her first USGA championship, qualified for seven of nine events this past season at Gonzaga. She won the 2021 Spokane Area High School title and was named the Greater Spokane League MVP.
Amanda Jacobs of Portland, Ore. & Gretchen Johnson of Portland, Ore.
Lifelong friends and fellow competitors, Jacobs and Johnson have taken turns over the past decade being named PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Players of the Year, with Jacobs taking the honors four times and Johnson twice. Three times they have faced each other in the final match of the Pacific Northwest Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, with Jacobs winning twice and Johnson once. Both players competed in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Jacobs and Johnson, at ages 35 and 36 respectively, are among the oldest competitors in this year’s field.
Kyra Ly of Portland, Ore. & Emily Song of Portland, Ore.
Ly, a freshman on the Oregon State University women’s golf team, won the individual title last year in the Oregon High School championship, shooting a championship record 14-under over two days. While in high school Ly was named Oregon Junior Golfer of the Year three times. Song is a freshman at Weber State University. She was named to Team Oregon in the Girls’ Junior America’s Cup and qualified for the 2021 Junior World Championship. Ly and Song competed in last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, missing the cut, and Ly competed in last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior.
Anna Davis of Spring Valley, Calif., & Kiara Romero of San Jose, Calif.
Davis, a left-hander, came out of nowhere to win the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which granted her invitations to play in three women’s professional majors, including the U.S. Women’s Open, and four other LPGA Tour events. Davis spends her summers in Chewelah, Wash. and has won several Washington Junior Golf Association titles, including the state championship in 2020. In 2021, she captured the Girls Junior PGA Championship. Romero, who is headed to the University of Oregon this fall, defeated medalist Saki Baba in the Round of 32 of the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Baba would win the U.S. Women’s Amateur a few weeks later at Chambers Bay.
Anna Huang of Vancouver, B.C. & Leigh Chien of Irvine, Calif.
At age 14, Huang is one of the youngest competitors in this year’s field. Her notable results include a T4 finish at the Canadian Junior, a T22 finish at the Canadian Women’s Amateur, a victory at the Toyota Tour Cup and a T3 finish a the NextGen Selection Camp. She was selected to play on Team Canada in the 2022 World Junior Girls’ Championship.
Euna Han of Coquitlam, B.C. & Abbey Schutte of Goodyear, Ariz.
Han was selected for Team Canada in two World Junior Girls’ Championships. She was medalist at a U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier in 2017. She also was selected to play in the ANA Junior Inspiration, a prelude to qualify for the LPGA Tour’s ANA Inspiration. She set a women’s course record 8-under 64 at the 2019 Canadian Junior Girls’ Championship.
Michelle Liu of Vancouver, B.C. & Angela Liu of Irvine, Calif.
Liu, who qualified for her second CP Women’s Open in 2022, made it to match play at the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship, finished 7th at the Texas Women’s Open (playing against professionals), and was the winner of Golf Canada’s recent NextGen Selection Camp. In 2022 she was selected for Team Canada in the World Junior Girls’ Championship.
Championship play gets underway on Saturday, May 13 at 7:00am local time. Admission to the championship is free and spectators are encouraged. Come on out and watch some great golf!