8/2/25
(Bandon, OR) This week, the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship heads to the Oregon coast and Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. The Bandon Dunes course, designed by David McLay Kidd, will be playing at approximately 6,310 yards. Monday and Tuesday will be stroke play to trim the field of 156 players to 64 for match play. The Round of 64 will take place on Wednesday, Thursday will be the Round of 32, and the Round of 16. Friday will be the Quarterfinals, Saturday the Semifinals, and Sunday will be the 36-hole championship match. Golf Channel will have coverage for three hours, Wednesday through Sunday. Bandon Dunes will host the 2032 and 2041 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, among other future USGA Championships.
Last year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Rianne Malixi defeated Asterisk Talley 3 & 2. Malixi became just the fourth female player to win two USGA championships in the same year, as she also defeated Talley in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Malixi is ranked ninth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), while Talley is 14th. Talley finished second at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur by just one shot and has made the cut in three straight professional tournaments, including the U.S. Women’s Open. Both players will be some of the favorites to make deep runs at the championship once again.
Only one player from Washington will be at the championship. Grace Lee from Bellevue won the Washington Women’s Amateur Championship in June to secure her spot. Lee will begin her senior year at Gonzaga with the Montana State Invitational next month.
Kiara Romero, the #1 player in the WAGR, is one of the favorites this week. The University of Oregon star finished T-45 at the U.S. Women’s Open, including shooting the lowest round of the final round with a dazzling five-under round of 67. Romero finished eighth in the Individual National Championship this spring and helped lead Oregon to the semifinals of the Team National Championship, where the Ducks fell to eventual champs Northwestern, led by Seattle’s Lauryn Nguyen. Kiara’s sister, Kaleyia, is in the field as they are the only set of sisters playing this week.
Maria Jose Marin is another name to keep an eye on, as she made it to the semifinals of last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, finished T-55 at the U.S. Women’s Open, and won the NCAA Division I Women’s Individual National Championship this May. She’s ranked fourth in the WAGR and is coming off making the cut at the Evian Championship last month.
Canada’s Aphrodite Deng won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship two weeks ago and will look to add to her successful year. Deng is 22nd in the WAGR, finished fifth at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, and won the Mizuho Americas Open. She also played in the USA vs Canada Team Match and the Wyndham Cup, both are team match-play events.
The field is incredibly talented while young. The field’s average age is just 19.9, and 151 of the 156 players in the field are 25 years old or younger. There are 35 states and 17 countries represented at this year’s championship. 12 players have won USGA events, including the duo of Gianna Clemente and Avery Zwieg, who won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at The Home Course in DuPont.
www.elisportsnetwork.com
