99th VSGA Women's Amateur Championship

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Dates: Monday, July 22 - Wednesday, July 24

Format: One day of stroke-play qualifying with the top 16 players advancing to championship flight match play. Those outside the top 16 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: River Bend Club

Day 3: Greenlief wins third Women's Am, earns U.S. Women's Am exemption

(Lauren Greenlief celebrates her victory. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)

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GREAT FALLS -- Shortly after Lauren Greenlief had clinched her third Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship on Wednesday at River Bend Club, she noted that her bunker play had not been all that strong lately, and that she was set to take a bunker lesson on Saturday.

She could have fooled everyone watching the end of the championship match. Holding a 1-up lead on 17 tee, she hit her drive left into a fairway bunker. She then hit her approach into the left greenside bunker. She successfully navigated that shot, leaving it to eight feet, where she sank a par putt to clinch a 2 and 1 victory over 16-year-old Kanchana Duangsam in the 99th playing of the event.

Greenlief's victory earned her an exemption in the upcoming U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, slated for Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills GC in Tulsa, Okla. Greenlief, who has advanced as far as the quarterfinals in the U.S. Women's Am, will be making her ninth appearance in the event.

Greenlief advanced to the final with a 3-and-1 win over teenager Ayla Browning in the morning. Greenlief, 33, a past U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion, defeated four players who were either in high school or just graduated on her way to the title, a testament to the strength of the junior golf scene in Virginia. 

The championship match was a tight affair with few mistakes or fireworks. Duangsam played efficient, almost machine-like golf early in the match, hitting fairway after fairway and green after green. Greenlief made a couple of costly mistakes on the front nine, allowing Duangsam to grab an early 2-up lead. Greenlief three-putted No. 3, and a trip to the fairway bunker on 6 led to a bogey. 

Greenlief cut into the lead on No. 9, winning with par after Duangsam jammed a three-foot par put past the hole. Greenlief tied it on the par-3 10th with a par after Duangsam's par look lipped out. Duangsam burned at least four edges on the back nine, and she admitted afterward that it started to frustrate her.

The match remained tied until the par-4 16th. Both players missed the fairway with their drives, Greenlief to the right, Duangsam to the left. Greenlief hit her approach to the back of the green. Duangsam stepped up to her shot in the left rough, facing a low-hanging tree branch. She tried to hit a low stinger but flubbed the shot, which advanced about 20 yards and remained in the sticky rough. She was able to reach the green but couldn't save par. Greenlief sank a nervy 6-foot comebacker to save par and win the hole. On 17, Duangsam hit a tree with her drive, leaving her nearly 200 yards uphill into the green on the par-4 hole. She came up short and couldn't get up and down for par, setting the stage for Greenlief's winning putt.

NOTABLE

• Greenlief and Duangsam each birdied the first hole in the championship match. Neither player made another birdie after that.
• Greenlief reached the final match of the Women's Amateur for the first time since she won her second title in 2018.
• Greenlief had lost in the final match in her first three appearances before winning in 2017. She's undefeated in her last three finals appearances.
• Greenlief became the 10th player with at least three VSGA Women's Amateur victories.
• Duangsam lives in Qatar most of the year but returns to Virginia and lives in Haymarket in the summer so she can compete in both VSGA and AJGA events.
• Greenlief made two double bogeys in her first five holes in the semifinal against Browning to fall 3-down, but recovered to tie the match by the 13th hole. She closed the match with three straight birdies to seal the 3 and 1 win.
• Duangsam won her semifinal against Sydney Hackett in emphatic fashion. Tied going to the 18th tee, both players were in position to hit the green in regulation on the par-5 finishing hole. Hackett had an awkward lie and tried to choke down on a wedge but chunked her approach, leaving it well short of the green. Duangsam was next to hit, and flew a perfect 56-degree wedge shot to inside of a foot, meaning Hackett had to hole out to extend the match. Her chip went long, allowing Duangsam to advance to the final.
• This marked the fourth time in the last six years that a high-school student had advanced to the Women's Am final.
• The 100th VSGA Women's Amateur will be played next summer at Keswick Club outside of Charlottesville.
• Winners were crowned in four consolation flights:
   
  • First flight: Makayla Grubb def. Sydney Dinh, 4 and 3
  • Second flight: Caroline Gilreath def. Mckenzie Weddle, 3 and 2
  • Third flight: Katelynn Waclawski def. Kennedy MacCleery, 3 and 2
  • Fourth flight: Marlowe Boukis def. Kathleen Lubin, 4 and 3

QUOTABLE

• See the below video for comments from champion Lauren Greenlief.
• "At the turn, I was trying to stay calm and play how I was playing -- fairways and two-putts. Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake on hole 17 and it kind of cost me. But that's golf, you know? It's OK." -- Kanchana Duangsam
• "Honestly, yes. The first one, I said, OK, just let it go. Then the second one, I was like, 'C'mon now!' Then the third one, I was over it. It kind of got to me a little bit, but I just had to wash it off." -- Duangsam on the back-nine lip outs.
• "She's an amazing, incredible player and it was an honor to play with her. It was a really tight match, I was playing my game, she was playing her game. I'm happy for her." -- Duangsam

Day 2: Semifinals set at River Bend

(Two-time champion Lauren Greenlief survived a 22-hole quarterfinal to advance. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)

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By Chris Lang

GREAT FALLS -- After a dramatic afternoon session on Tuesday at River Bend Club, the semifinals are set at the 99th Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship. Three of the four quarterfinal matches went at least to the 18th green, with two more going extra holes. Top-seeded Kanchana Duangsam, Western Kentucky University's Sydney Hackett, two-time champion Lauren Greenlief, and Christopher Newport-bound recent Loudoun County High School graduate Ayla Browning each advanced to Wednesday's final four.

A look at the semifinal matchups:

(1) Kanchana Duangsam vs. (13) Sydney Hackett

• Road to the semifinals: Duangsam def. (16) Sofia Dechant, 1 up (R16), and (9) Vynie Chen, 20 holes (QF). Hackett def. Jessica Spicer, 5 and 3 (R16), and (5) Katie Vu, 3 and 2 (QF).
• Takeaways: The 16-year-old Duangsam survived a pair of tight matches to advance. Dechant held a 2-up lead through seven in the round of 16 before Duangsam rattled off a pair of birdies to make the turn tied. The match remained close until the end. Duangsam made a par on 17 to win the hole and go 1-up, and clinched the match when both players made par on 18. In the quarterfinals, Duangsam outdueled Chen, who plays at High Point University. On the 19th hole, Chen pushed her approach on the par-5 1st right into thick rough short of the bunker. She was unable to get up and down for par from there, and Duangsam advanced after making a two-putt par. 
  
  Hackett trailed Spicer, the former Virginia Tech standout, by one heading to No. 3 tee in the round of 16. She set up at the 125-yard downhill par 3 and fired a choked-down three-quarters 9-iron to a front hole location. The ball hit the flagstick low and plopped into the hole for Hackett's second ace in a competitive round. "A hole-in-one is always exciting," Hackett said. "It gave me a little momentum, knowing obviously that my irons were on." Still, Spicer led 1-up heading to the turn before the situation dramatically changed. Hackett won the next six holes and clinched the match with a long birdie putt on 15. In the quarterfinals, made a similar back-nine charge. After three-putting 11 to lose a 1-up advantage against the long-hitting Vu, Hackett won four of the next five holes and closed the match out with a par on 16.
• Quoting: "I hit a really good shot on 10. I think I had five feet for birdie. Once I made that, then hit a really good tee shot on 11, it just kind of settled me. I was able to play a little freer." -- Hackett on the turnaround in her first match with Spicer.

(7) Lauren Greenlief vs. (11) Ayla Browning

• Road to the semifinals: Greenlief def. (10) Alina Ho, 5 and 3 (R16), and (2) Kathryn Ha, 22 holes (QF). Browning def. (6) Macy Johnson, 2 and 1 (R16), and (14) Ashika Vuradi, 1 up (QF)
• Takeaways: Greenlief is the lone past champion and lone mid-amateur remaining in the field. Her experience showed in the end as she got up-and-down for par on No. 4 to defeat 2024 VSGA Junior Girls' champion Kathryn Ha of Roanoke in 22 holes. Both players struggled with putting in the afternoon session. Greenlief led 2-up heading to the 17th tee, but Ha hit a brilliant approach on the par-4 hole and made birdie from 6 feet to cut the lead in half. She sank another birdie on 18 to extend the match to extra holes. The ball striking from both players was sublime. As Ha noted as they walked to the 12th green after both players had hit their approaches inside of 8 feet, "This is how this match has gone all day." The match took an unlikely turn on the final hole. Ha's drive found the fairway and Greenlief's drive went right into the rough and behind a tree, limiting her options for attacking the green. Greenlief made the smart play, taking an 8-iron and hitting a cut that left her just short of the green. Ha's approach drifted right into a deep greenside bunker. She was unable to get up and down for par, and after Greenlief had snugged her chip to 4 feet, she rolled it in for par to clinch the match. "I came up out of my drive," Greenlief said. "I had 153 yards, but I had a lot of tree in front of me, so I knew I probably couldn't get it on the green since I can't cut the ball that much. So I just tried to hit an 8-iron with a little cut up into that neck in front of the green, because I knew the pin was up so I'd have a pretty straightforward bump and run."
  
  Browning, a 17-year-old who finished sixth at last fall's Virginia High School League Class 4 Championship, won her first match against Radford University's Johnson despite not making a birdie in the entire round. Vuradi, a 14-year-old who recently won the Bobby Bowers Memorial at Springfield G&CC, held a 2-up lead through 11 on Browning in the quarterfinals. Browning finally broke the birdie seal on 12 and made another on 15 to take a 2-up lead and claimed the victory when both players made par on 18.
• Quoting: "I really like playing with Kathryn. She has a really solid game with a lot of mental toughness. I was playing great, shot 3-under on the front nine and got her 3-down on 14 tee. Then she birdied 14, 17, and 18. She looked really composed for a junior, knew what she had to do and executed. I have a lot of respect for her game." -- Greenlief on Kathryn Ha

Day 1: Ha, Duangsam share medalist honors

(Kathryn Ha, left, and Kanchana Duangsam. Credit: Chris Lang/VSGA)

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By Chris Lang

GREAT FALLS -- Kathryn Ha and Kanchana Duangsam both participated in the U.S. Girls' Junior last week in California. That's not the only thing they have in common. They each posted 1-over-par rounds of 72 on Monday at River Bend Club to share stroke-play qualifying medalist honors at the 99th Virginia State Golf Association Women's Amateur Championship.

Duangsam, a 16-year-old from Haymarket, will be the top seed in the 16-player championship flight match-play bracket. Seeding for tied players was determined by blind draw. Ha, a 17-year-old from Roanoke, will be the No. 2 seed. Duangsam will open against another 16-year-old, Sofia Dechant of Aldie. Ha will face 15-year-old Mikaila Lamas of Vienna.

The Duangsam-Dechant match will go out first on Tuesday, beginning at 7:30 a.m., with the ensuing seven first-round matches going off in nine-minute intervals afterward. The quarterfinals begin at 12:30 p.m.

Three players tied for second in qualifying after returning rounds of 2-over 73: Jessica Spicer, Grace Saunders, and Katie Vu.

Makayla Grubb, the 2023 champion, posted a 7-over 78 on Monday and did not qualify for the championship flight. All players outside of the top 16 were seeded into consolation flights.

NOTABLE

• Ha closed her round with a birdie after receiving some good fortune in the fairway. She chunked a 3-wood toward the creek that runs about 150 yards short of the green. The ball went in with enough pace that it bounced through it and out the other side. She then got up-and-down for the closing birdie.
• Ha won the VSGA Junior Girls' Championship earlier this month and reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Girls' Junior. 
• Two-time champion Lauren Greenlief is the lone past champion remaining in the field. She'll be seeded seventh and meet teenager Alina Ho in the first round. The winner faces the winner of the Ha-Lamas match in the afternoon.
• Eleven of the 16 players who advanced to the championship flight are teenagers, including 14-year-old Ashika Vuradi. Only three mid-amateurs advanced: Greenlief (33), Rachel Lee (28), and Jessica Spicer (26).
• The spiciest matchup of the first round might be Spicer vs. Sydney Hackett in the 4 vs. 13 match at 7:48 a.m. Spicer won the inaugural VSGA Women's Mid-Amateur last year and was stroke-play tri-medalist at last year's U.S. Women's Mid-Am. Hackett, who plays at Western Kentucky, teamed with Melanie Walker to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball earlier this year.
• River Bend proved to be a difficult test. It played 7.51 strokes over par for the entire field, and four different holes yielded just one birdie: Nos. 2, 5, 6, and 11.
• Players battled through rain showers for much of the round on a cooler than normal but muggy day.

QUOTABLE

• "Aside from the weather conditions, it was just a tough layout. For me, it was more difficult to read the greens. Whenever I missed greens, I found myself barely making par or failing and making bogey. There was a lot of scrambling. For me, just coming from coast to coast (after last week's Girls' Junior in California), it was just a whole different mindset with how I played this golf course." -- Kathryn Ha
• "I gained a lot of confidence from last week. Just competing with the top girls prepared me for this. It prepared me mentally to handle some of the adversity on the course. But I feel really good about my game right now. Everyone always has some complaints. For me, it's tidying it up around the greens. But I'm ready for match play." -- Ha
• "The weather had a huge effect out there, and the greens were really tough to read as well." -- Kanchana Duangsam on what made the course play tough on Monday.
• "Last week I was at the USGA Girls and I was working on my swing with my coach, Martin Steele, and we were just working on shortening my backswing and having a smooth follow through. I was working on that before coming here, and I applied it to today and it worked out really good." -- Duangsam
• "I'm not going to lie. I'm a bit nervous because I haven't done match play in a long time. But I'm also very excited for it. It's a lot of pressure, so we'll see how it goes." -- Duangsam
• "It sets up great for my game. It's a ball striker's golf course. I hit the ball great but my speed on the greens wasn't very good. If you can play from the fairway, you can hit some good shots in there. But the rough is pretty sticky, so if you get into some sticky spots it's hard to get on the greens." -- Lauren Greenlief
• "I think just having that experience of playing in a lot of matches, knowing how to play with a lead, knowing how to play from behind, and not getting too nervous, that will help me in match play." -- Greenlief