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Dates: Monday, July 14 - Wednesday, July 16
Format: 18 holes of stroke-play qualifying on Monday, with the top 16 players advancing to championship-flight match play. If necessary, a playoff will be utilized to determine the final championship-flight spots. All others within the top 56 will be placed in consolation flights. Round of 16 and quarterfinals scheduled for Tuesday, with the semifinals and 18-hole championship match scheduled for Wednesday.
Host site: Keswick Club
Day 3: Sload wins 100th VSGA Women's Amateur
(100th VSGA Women's Amateur Champion Sky Sload. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
Story by Chris Lang | Social/video by Erin Strickler
KESWICK -- If this summer is the last of Sky Sload's amateur golf career, she's making the most of it.
Sload, who started her career at nearby Virginia before finishing it last season at Wake Forest, capped a remarkable 100th Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship at Keswick Club with a dominating victory in Wednesday's championship match. She broke open a tied match with Sydney Hackett early and cruised to a 6-and-5 victory and her first win in a VSGA championship. After missing the first two fairways, she hit every one thereafter, stuck approach shots and generally made life difficult for Hackett, a rising senior at Western Kentucky University and member at 1757 Golf Club in Dulles.
Sload, a member at The Club at Glenmore who lives in Keswick, shot 4-under through 13 holes and never gave Hackett a chance to rally. The victory earns Sload a spot in the upcoming U.S. Women's Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes in Oregon. After that, she'll look to advance through LPGA Q School in hopes of earning at least Epson Tour status next season.
For now, though, she just wanted to relish Wednesday's victory.
"I had the privilege on Sunday to dine and interact with all of the past champions, and to be among them was a true treat," Sload said. "I learned a lot from them in regards to what it takes to be a champion. I'm glad I got to put it into practice, because I ended up on top this week."
Sload's road to the final wasn't easy. After beating Eastern Michigan's Riley Kim in the round of 16, she topped stroke-play medalist and defending champion Lauren Greenlief in the quarterfinals. On Wednesday morning, she rallied from an early deficit to top 2023 winner Makayla Grubb 3 and 1 and earn her spot in the afternoon's final match. Sloan handed Grubb her first loss in 10 matches at the VSGA Women's Amateur.
"I too have a very good match-play resume, collegiately and amateur wise, so I felt pretty confident in myself and my game," Sload said. "I had my brother (Gavin) on the bag to help keep that mojo going and keep me grounded, and to keep my head down and push me through any shot that didn't go my way, and to really take control of the round and the match when I had the opportunity. I think that's what happened this morning. I took an opportunity, I took hold of it, and I did not give it away."
In the final match, Sload and Hackett were tied after four holes after Sload's lone bogey of the match. Both were in the fairway on No. 5, but Hackett -- who defeated Radford's Macy Johnson in the semifinals -- went long and left on her approach, leaving her a difficult downhill chip to get up and down and save par. Sload was on the green in two-putt territory and did just that to make par. Hackett's par putt just missed, and Sload took a 1-up lead.
The floodgates opened after that. Sload won No. 6 with a birdie, No. 7 with a par, and No. 8 with a birdie. In the blink of an eye, Sload was 4-up, and it never got closer than that.
"Sydney and I are dear friends," Sload said. "We play a lot of golf together and I knew she was a great player. So I knew it was going to be an amazing battle between the two of us. She's very good with her short game and putting. I have the length advantage on my side. All I said was stay smart, stay patient, hit shots as close to the pins as I could, and I did. And I was able to convert. I'm really grateful for the opportunity, and I'm glad I got to play a round of golf today with a friend."
Hackett's wedge play carried her to the final, but she was a little off in Wednesday afternoon's match. Falling behind so decisively can change the mindset. Fairways and greens becomes "I need to be perfect," and when your opponent was as dialed in with her approach shots as Sload was, it makes an uphill climb even steeper.
"The wedges and approaches weren't quite flying like I wanted them to," Hackett said. "I didn't get up and down a few times, I was missing greens. But Sky was playing so good. It was amazing to watch. She was just sticking everything. It was really good. I loved watching it.
"After I made two bogeys in a row at one point, I started putting pressure on myself. I needed to make something happen. It just didn't click."
Sload closed the match on the par-4 13th when both players made par to tie the hole. She finished with five birdies and a bogey. Hackett made three bogeys and just one birdie.
Hackett will return to WKU for her senior year and too hopes that turn pro after college. She won't put a lot of expectations on herself -- it's just not her style.
"Obviously, I want to play well, but I just want to have fun," she said. "You only get your senior year once. Just go out there, enjoy it and see what happens."
Sload didn't start playing competitive golf until she was 14. She said she's drawn some inspiration from another UVA player who didn't find a lot of success until later in her career -- Keswick ambassador and two-time VSGA Women's Amateur winner Lauren Coughlin, who won twice on the LPGA Tour well after turning 30.
"It's been a dream of mine," Sload said. "I have such a burning fire in my stomach for this game, and this desire to be successful, and to be like the women who are on tour right now who I look up to so much. ... Hopefully I can follow in (Coughlin's) footsteps. We're both late bloomers, and look at the success she's having on tour now. I hope to follow in her footsteps and pave my own way."
Day 2: Sload ousts medalist and defending champion Greenlief in quarterfinals
(Sky Sload and brother Gavin celebrate a par save on 6 in Sload's first match on Tuesday. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
Story by Chris Lang | Social/video by Erin Strickler
KESWICK -- Keswick's Sky Sload, who began her college career at nearby UVA before playing at Missouri and Wake Forest, was one of four players to advance to the semifinals of the 100th Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship on Tuesday at Keswick Club.
Sload, knocked off defending champion Lauren Greenlief in the quarterfinals and will have to defeat another past event winner in Wednesday's semifinals if she wants an opportunity to win her first VSGA championship on Wednesday. She'll face 2023 winner Makayla Grubb in the first semifinal on Wednesday. The other features 2024 semifinalist Sydney Hackett and Radford University's Macy Johnson. The championship flight semifinals will begin at 9:40 a.m., with the 18-hole championship match slated to start in the afternoon.
A quick look at the four players remaining and their road to Wednesday's semifinals follows.
Sky Sload
- Seed: 8 | Road to the quarterfinals: def. #9 Riley Kim, 2 and 1; def. #1 Lauren Greenlief, 2 and 1
- Takeaways: Sload is making her first Women's Amateur appearance since reaching the quarterfinals in 2022 at Meadowbrook. She dispatched Eastern Michigan's Riley Kim in the morning, with the match turning on the par-5 12th when Sload made birdie to tie. She won 15 with a par and closed Kim out with a birdie on 17. She knew the task would be tougher in the afternoon, as Greenlief is a non-resident Keswick member coming off a 6-under 66 in stroke play. Sload was the steadier player on a sunny, muggy afternoon. Greenlief missed seven fairways, and Sload took advantage. Sload went 2-up early but Greenlief scrapped back to a 1-up lead with a birdie on 10. Both players made a mess of the par-5 12th, but Sload was able to tie the match with a bogey there. Sload won 14, 15, and 17 with pars to clinch the match.
- Quoting: "Lauren and I are friends and have played a lot of golf together. It was fun to be opponents but still also be very friendly and sportsmanlike out there. I feel like I played pretty consistent golf, similar to my stroke-play round and my morning match. ... I was able to flip the match on the back side, kept my foot down and my head down and tried to get in as fast as I could."
Makayla Grubb
- Seed: 4 | Road to the quarterfinals: def. #13 Alina Ho, 3 and 1; def. #12 Grace Anne Haggerty, 5 and 4
- Takeaways: After Monday's qualifying round, Grubb knocked on wood after being asked about being undefeated in match play at the VSGA Women's Amateur. Superstition is understandable, but she's been a match-play wizard in her three years of competing in this event. Her two wins on Tuesday moved her to 9-0 -- four wins on her way to the 2023 title, three wins in her consolation flight last year, and two wins this year. She defeated good friend Alina Ho in the first round, using birdies on 14 and 17 to break open a close match. Against Haggerty, she was 4-up through eight holes, didn't lose a hole, and clinched the victory with a par on 14. Grubb, who won the VSGA's Military Scholarship in June, will head to High Point to begin her college career later this summer.
- Quoting: "I use everything as fuel. I'm not going to get into it because it's my game plan. But if she does something, I use that as fuel for myself to play better." -- Grubb on her match-play mentality
Sydney Hackett
- Seed: 2 | Road to the quarterfinals: def. #15 Madison Lehr, 5 and 4; def. #7 Hannah Lydic, 2 and 1
- Takeaways: Hackett's strength right now is her wedge game, and it was on full display on Tuesday. After tying the first five holes against Lehr in the opening match, she won three straight to take control. She didn't lose a hole in winning 5 and 4. Hackett, who plays at Western Kentucky, had a tougher time against Lydic, who plays at Richmond. Hackett led 3-up at the turn but Lydic won 10 and 13 with birdies to close the gap. A par on 15 gave Hackett a 2-up lead, and she closed the match on 17 when both players made birdie. Hackett reached last year's semifinals and lost on the final hole. She'll surely be looking to get over the hump on Wednesday.
- Quoting: "Similar to yesterday, I just put myself into good positions on the fairway. My wedges are just hot right now. Putts are rolling in after really good approaches. ... I feel like the fairways are generous, so it definitely eases me up off the tee. It's playing kind of short, and wedges I feel are my strong suit. So just being confident over the approach, it's really helpful."
Macy Johnson
- Seed: 11 | Road to the quarterfinals: def. #6 Emily Mathews, 1 up; def. #3 Keya Naik, 4 and 2
- Takeaways: Johnson, who plays at Radford, survived a New River Valley matchup with Virginia Tech's Mathews in the opening round. Fifteen holes were tied. Johnson won two holes -- No. 6 with a par and No. 15 with a birdie -- and that was enough to grind out a close victory. In the second match, Naik (Clemson signee) won the opening hole before Johnson rattled off four straight hole wins to grab a commanding 3-up lead. Naik got no closer than 2-down, and Johnson closed the win with a birdie on the par-3 16th. Johnson is making her first semifinal appearance.
- Quoting: "Once you reach this level, it's hard to win holes unless you make birdies. Luckily, this course has some gettable holes. It's all about patience. It's easy to hit a lot of good shots and feel like I'm not scoring as well as I wanted to. But with patience, putts start to drop, and eventually you start to get an edge."
Day 1: Defending champion Greenlief earns medalist honors
(Lauren Greenlief tees off on No. 6 on Monday at Keswick Club. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)
Story by Chris Lang | Social/video by Erin Strickler
KESWICK -- Defending champion Lauren Greenlief felt right at home at Keswick Club on Monday, firing a 6-under-par 66 to earn the Pollard trophy as stroke-play qualifying medalist at the 100th Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship.
Greenlief, a member at International Country Club who also holds a non-resident membership at Keswick, finished with eight birdies and two bogeys and ended the round a stroke clear of Sydney Hackett, who plays at Western Kentucky and is a member at 1757 GC. Hackett opened and closed her round with bogeys, but she made seven birdies and nine pars in her other 16 holes. Dominion Valley CC member Keya Naik, retuned a 3-under 69 to finish third.
Greenlief will be the top seed for championship flight match play, which begins on Wednesday morning. Hackett was a semifinalist last year at River Bend Club. Also earning spots in the championship flight were 2023 Makayla Grubb and 2023 finalist Melanie Walker. Grubb posted a 1-under 71 and Walker returned an even-par 72.
After both players returned rounds of 2-over 74, Chloe Schiavone bested Mckenzie Weddle on the first playoff hole to earn the final spot in the championship flight and the right to face Greenlief in Tuesday morning's round of 16.
NOTABLE
- Greenlief earned medalist honors for the third time. She won in 2018 and was finalist in 2015 when finishing as stroke-play medalist.
- Greenlief's 66 was the lowest qualifying score since Becca DiNunzio shot 65 at Evergreen CC in 2021. DiNunzio won the title that year.
- Greenlief was the last player to win back-to-back titles, doing so in 2017 and 2018.
- Naik has signed with Clemson University and will start there later this summer.
- Grubb missed championship flight match play but won her consolation flight, leaving her undefeated in match play at the VSGA Women's Amateur.
- Greenlief (34), Sky Sload (25), and Schiavone (23) were the only mid-amateurs to reach the championship flight. The rest of the flight is comprised of college players (Riley Kim, Eastern Michigan; Alina Ho, Virginia Tech; Hackett, Western Kentucky; Madison Lehr, Longwood; Hannah Lydic, Richmond; Melanie Walker, Missouri; Emily Mathews, Virginia Tech; and Macy Johnson, Radford) and juniors (Grubb, Naik, Carter Bransford, Grace Anne Haggerty, and Caitlyn Baxter). Grubb, Naik and Haggerty are completing their junior careers this summer.
- The VSGA hosted a special dinner on Sunday night commemorating the 100th anniversary of this championship. Eighteen past champions were in attendance, and four past champions spoke about their experiences in the event -- Robbye King Unger, Kandi Comer, Carol Robertson, and Lauren Greenlief. See the video reel below for more on the night.
QUOTABLE
- "The greens were soft and some of the pin locations were gettable. So I just tried to be smart but take advantage of the conditions and fire at pins all day, and I had a ton of birdie looks." -- Lauren Greenlief
- "I just try to take the mentality of shooting the best number I can shoot and just stay cool, calm and collected to the best extent possible. I've always treated this tournament as more of a marathon than a sprint, but with the field being this deep and there only being 16 spots (in the championship flight), you have to post a good number. I got off to a really good start, and I never looked back." -- Greenlief
- "I probably play two to three months in season here, so I know the course really well. I like the sightlines off the tee, so I'm comfortable with all the tee shots. I know where to hit it with my irons and the lines you need to be on, and I'm comfortable with the greens. I've always played this golf course well, and I typically play from a little farther back than we did today, so it was nice to have some shorter irons into the greens." -- Greenlief
- "Every player in the top 16 is a great player. Being the 1 seed, the 5 seed, the 10 seed ... I've probably made the finals from all of those seeds. Every match is different. You have to take it one hole at a time, play it with the context that you have, and make some key putts." -- Greenlief
- "I just had a lot of wedges in hand. I just committed to the shots and ended up hitting them good. It was just one of those days where everything fell into place." -- Sydney Hackett
- "I feel like the past few months, I've really been trusting myself, knowing the birdies will come. So a bogey doesn't really matter. I just kind of relied on on that. You don't like to bogey the first hole, but I knew that the birdies were going to come eventually." -- Hackett
- "After yesterday's practice round, I was thinking, oh my gosh, the cut is going to be low this year. I feel like it's scoreable. If you're in good position off the tee, you can really take advantage of the course. I knew anything under par was going to be safe. So I thought, when you're in position, go try to get another birdie." -- Hackett
- "It's always fun. I love seeing all my friends. It's the most fun event. Today's round was the most fun round I've had in a while. We're just out here to have fun and see what happens." -- Hackett
- "It was hard for me last year. I had so much pressure. I felt like everybody thought so much of me (because of winning in 2023). I put an expectation on myself that really was unnecessary. I think a lot of times in these 18-hole qualifiers, you think you need to shoot a lot lower than you do. So I was pressing a lot to shoot low, when in reality last year +3 made it (to the championship flight). This year, there's a little bit less pressure. I still thought the scores were going to be a lot lower than they ended up being. I work with a mental coach now, and that's really helped me get over bad shots and know that I make what whatever shot I want happen. This year, there just wasn't as much pressure on me as there was last year." -- Makayla Grubb
- "I do like match play a lot. So far, I haven't lost (in this event), knock on wood. But I do like it a lot. I feel like I can be a lot more aggressive and I can really go for things. I get over bad holes really easily because ... it's just a hole, it's 18 individual tournaments to me. If I play against Lauren Greenlief, she makes a birdies, so that will be tough. But I do like match play. It seems to suit my game and give me a lot of confidence." -- Grubb
- "I love the coach. After I got off the phone with them, the first call that we had, I cried, because I really wanted to go to High Point. It's beautiful. There's a lot of things that feed into it. I like their morals and what they stand for. I'm God, family, country, very religious. It just had everything I wanted." -- Grubb on her decision to play golf at High Point University.
- "Coming into this, I was feeling really good. My putting, more than anything, has improved a lot. I feel like the putter has been hot recently, so it's been good. And the iron striking has been good." -- Keya Naik
- "The biggest thing is that I made most of my putts inside of 15 feet. I had a good par save from around 9 feet. And on 17 and 18, I made 10- to 12-foot putts." -- Naik
- "Going to match play, my goal is just to have as long of a week as possible. Definitely, I want to stay present, have fun, and have a good time." -- Naik