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4th Women's Open of Virginia

June 18, 2026

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Dates: Monday, June 22 - Wednesday, June 24

Format: 54 holes of stroke play, with the field cut to the low 25 players and ties for Wednesday's third and final round. A sudden-death playoff will be utilized should there be a tie after 54 holes.

Starting times: Beginning at 8:30 a.m. off holes #1 and #10 Monday and Tuesday; 8 a.m. start off No. 1 Wednesday.

Defending champion: Kennedy Swedick

Host site: Independence Golf Club

Social media: Virginia's State Opens have a dedicated home on Instagram. Follow here.

Live streaming: The VSGA and MAPGA are proud to partner with Championship Golf Network (CGN) to provide live streaming coverage of the third round of the Women's Open of Virginia. Kendall Lewis (play by play) and Kristine Clites (color commentary) bringing you the action.

 

Day 3: Kennedy MacCleery wins playoff to become youngest Women's Open of Virginia Champion

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(Kennedy MacCleery hoists the Robbye Unger trophy alongside Unger. Credit: Nate Wise/VSGA)

By: Hayden Hundley

MIDLOTHIAN – Kennedy MacCleery had no issue setting up her approach shot into the left rough on the 18th hole during the 4th Women’s Open of Virginia.

The 17-year-old verbal Virginia Tech commit did it during the first round, the second round, the third round and twice during the two-hole playoff between her and seasoned amateur Lauren Greenlief, before sinking roughly a 12-foot put to become the youngest champion to hoist the Robbye Unger trophy.

MacCleery also became the first Women’s Open Champion from Virginia to win on Wednesday.

“It means a lot,” MacCleery said. “Playing with Lauren [Greenlief] and Kiera [Bartholomew] who both went to school at the University of Virginia … it’s definitely special to have grown up here. I have played in the VSGA since I was young, so just being able to come out here and win is just, really special.”

Greenlief, who had a top five finish during the 3rd Women’s Open of Virginia, put the heat on MacCleery after recording consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. She was able to sink both of those putts from roughly 30 feet to pull ahead by one stroke heading into the 18th hole.

After the round MacCleery’s mother, Alison MacCleery, said she wasn’t nervous about her daughter closing out the title until Greenlief nailed her putt on the 17th hole. However, MacCleery attacked the 18th green from the left rough once again and birdied the hole for the first time this week to push Greenlief into the playoff at 5-under 211.

“I was looking at the leaderboard, so I knew what Kennedy [MacCleery] needed to do, and so I was really nervous for her,” Alison MacCleery said. “I just trusted her and trusted her game and she did it.”

MacCleery’s final round had an up-and-down start, as she traded bogeys and birdies for the first four holes before settling into her game. MacCleery said it was “stressful” playing with the lead.

“You try to just take breaths and ignore it but its always there in the back of your mind,” MacCleery said. “The first hole I bogeyed, and Lauren parred so I knew … we were all tied as well as Kiera. Again, I was just trying to keep my emotions in check. I knew the birdies would come.”

After the match, MacCleery wasn’t shy about how she’s always felt that she’s needed to play above her age. She mentioned how her older sister, Elsie MacCleery, has pushed her game to a higher level. After sinking the clinching putt, MacCleery was doused in water by a group of players who, MacCleery said, are all older than her.

“I just had to make sure that I was just as good as them,” MacCleery said. “That I can hit it just as far as them, and it gets to a point where golf is golf so if you’re playing the best that day, you’re playing the best that day.”

Day 2: Bartholomew and Kennedy MacCleery hold co-lead 

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By: Hayden Hundley

MIDLOTHIAN – All players during the second round of the 4th Women's Open preserved through persistent rain on Tuesday but it was Kiera Bartholomew and Kennedy MacCleery who are atop the leaderboard after today's sloppy conditions. 

Both Bartholomew and MacCleery shot even-par 72 to go into Wednesday's final round at 2-under 142. Bartholomew recorded a birdie on the 17th hole and avoided any bogeys on the back nine to stay in position, improving her finish from Monday, when she recorded back-to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes. Just trailing the leaders are Lauren Greenlief, Rhianna Gooneratne and Grace Windfelder at 1-under 143. Greenlief shot a 1-under 71 on Tuesday, recording birdies on holes 12, 13 and 15, to bring herself back into the championship picture. 

Mesha Levister and Jillian Drinkard both shot 2-under 70 to catapult themselves 18 spots up the leaderboard, as they are both in a seven-way way tie for seventh place. The leaders heading into the second round, Elsie MacCleery, Nicole Koong and Kathryn Ha, all slipped down the leaderboard with MacCleery and Ha are both tied for seventh place. MacCleery recorded consecutive double bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes and finished with a 4-over 76. Ha also recorded a double bogey on the 16th hole.

Make sure to tune into the Championship Golf Network's live coverage of Wednesday's final round. You can watch the broadcast here. 

Quotable: 

  • "It was tough out there today. The rain was pretty brutal on the back nine. I was able to make a putt on 15, coming down the stretch, it was the same exact yardage that I had on 11. So, I was able to trust that yardage and hit it to about 10 feet and finally made a put on that one." -- Kennedy MacCleery

  • "My goal today was just to hit the greens, especially coming down the stretch. The wind really picked up on 16 and 17, so I was just trying to keep the ball on the fairway and on the green." -- Kennedy MacCleery

  • "I've missed her [Elsie] in college. She's off doing amazing things at UVA, but I've missed being at tournaments with her. So, it's fun to do practice rounds, hang out with her and, of course, competing with her is always fun." -- Kennedy MacCleery

  • "I think the [course] definitely played tough. Some speeds on the greens probably changed a tiny bit with them holding more water, and I think you just need to be patient on there because you're on the greens with sideways rain." -- Kiera Bartholomew

  • "On 17 and 18 I had three putts, unfortunately yesterday, but today I did a good job with positioning, so I had a closer chance and actually made birdie on 17 today. I just forgot about yesterday and took it as a new day." -- Kiera Bartholomew

  • "We talked yesterday about hitting 18 greens, and I think I missed my first three greens today. So, I just take the opportunities when you can but also cutting your loses when you have to." -- Kiera Bartholomew

  • "Some of [the rain] allows you to go a little bit closer to some of these pins. I think these greens are very challenging because they have a lot of runoffs on the sides or off the back. So, knowing your numbers really well is really crucial to be getting in a good scoring range." -- Kiera Bartholomew

  • "It was a little bit of an up-and-down round. I started out having some trouble with speed on the greens and then I made a couple really good putts, and I felt like I was hovering around par the whole day and just tried to stay in it and make a couple birdies." -- Lauren Greenlief

  • "[The rain] made everything slow down and made me focus a little bit more. It got really rainy on the last couple holes, so you definitely have to think about what the rain is going to do to the golf ball." -- Lauren Greenlief

  • "[On 12] I hit 3-wood off the tee and had 90 yards, which is a good sand wedge number for me. I hit it to probably six feet and made the putt and that was the first putt I had made in a while on the course, which is a good feeling." -- Lauren Greenlief

  • "On 15, the rain was coming down pretty good at that point. I think I put my second rain glove on and then I had 122 yards and hit a pitching wedge to about eight feet." -- Lauren Greenlief

  • "[The course] felt a lot longer. Especially 17, I feel like yesterday we all pretty much were hitting it in two, and today it was like 300 plus out, so definitely played a lot longer and softer with the greens." -- Grace Windfelder


Day 1: Three players share lead after first round

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(Elsie MacCleery walks back to her cart after recording a par on the 17th hole. Credit: Hayden Hundley/VSGA)

By: Hayden Hundley

MIDLOTHIAN – No one was able to separate themselves from the field during the first day of the 4th Women’s Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club on Monday.

Nicole Koong, Kathryn Ha, and Elsie MacCleery are together at the top of the leaderboard with scores of 3-under 69. Ha, also held a share of the lead after the first round of the 3rd Women’s Open of Virginia last year. A four-person tie of Grace Windfelder, Sophia Martone, Kennedy MacCleery and Kiera Bartholomew with scores of 2-under 70 leaves also has the field wide open heading into tomorrow’s second round.

Bartholomew maintained a steady lead through her back-nine play before recording consecutive bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes to finish her round. Five players including Madison Rizzo, Caitlyn Baxter, Eric Whitehouse, Jennifer Osborne and Rhianna Gooneratne are also tied at 1-under 71.

Quotable: 

  • “These last few days … I have just been on a high and I’m just trying to use that to my benefit this week because my golf game feels as good as ever. However, mentally and socially I’m trying to bring myself down to earth a little bit.” -- Kathryn Ha
  • “On the par 3’s, you have to be me more than okay with just par. I would say the greens are more receptive and the wind is shifting some holes to play a lot shorter than normal.” - - Kathryn Ha
  • “If I could carry the fairway bunkers [on 16] I wanted to go for it and it landed right in front of the green. From there … I just had a 3-footer past the hole and I was really proud of that.” - - Kathryn Ha
  • “I definitely wanted to end on a birdie there [on 18] and I had an 8-footer for birdie, so it was nice to see that one go in.” – Nicole Koong
  • “The greens are really, really good and true, so I just had to trust all of my putts when I let them go.” – Nicole Koong
  • “At the halfway turn I had a couple “birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey” so my goal going into the back nine was just to hit the green and have a more steady back nine.” - - Elsie MacCleery.
  • “I think it [the wind] definitely made today difficult. Thankfully, I’m used to playing in a lot of windy weather at U.Va, so I’ve learned to flight the balls and pick numbers according to that." - - Kiera Bartholomew

Notable: 

  • Kathryn Ha, who plays collegiately at Vanderbilt, won the Donna Andrews Invitational just six days before the first round of the 4th Women’s Open of Virginia.
  • Ha recorded three birdies in a row on holes 15-17.
  • Kiera Bartholomew and Caitlyn Baxter both recorded eagles on the fourth hole.
  • Bartholomew sunk roughly a 48-foot putt to eagle the fourth hole.
  • Nicole Koong, who recently transferred from Cal Poly to the University of South Carolina, had never played at Independence Golf Club before Sunday’s practice round.

 

Pre-Event Coverage