United States Women's Amateur Championship at Portland, Oregon

Top seeds  beaten in first round but Bronte Law  wins

PORTLAND, Oregon. – In a day of upsets, both stroke-play medalists were eliminated during Wednesday’s Round of 64 in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,360-yard, par-72 Portland Golf Club. 

Justine Dreher, who survived a 16-for-10 playoff to earn the 64th seed in the match-play bracket, took a 5-and-4 win over No. 1 seed Angel Yin, while Vanessa Ha, another playoff survivor, rolled to a 4-and-3 victory over No. 2 seed Jennifer Hahn.

Dreher, a native of France who at age 23 is the oldest player remaining in the championship, won the par-4 second hole for a 1-up lead and never looked back. She built a 5-up lead through nine holes, an insurmountable advantage over Yin, 15, of Arcadia, Calif.

“I putted really, really well,” said Dreher, who completed her eligibility at the University of South Carolina in May. “I didn't miss any 10-footer or less besides hole No. 3, and I had a lot of them.”

Dreher arrived in Portland less than 12 hours before her Monday tee time after competing in Stage I of the LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. After two days of admitted struggles during stroke play after having never seen the course, as well as the disappointment of not advancing to Stage II, Dreher knew she needed to turn things around, especially mentally.

“The last 48 hours [were] really tough for me, since Q School, so I knew going into today, I have nothing to lose,” said Dreher, who pointed to countrywoman and caddie Shannon Aubert as a calming presence. “I had to force myself to let it go, so I think it was really good for me to play against the No. 1 seed.”

Ha, 19, of Plano, Texas, took a commanding 4-up lead over Hahn, 21, of Henderson, Nev., after winning holes 4-7 with three birdies. As with Dreher, Ha pointed to a reinvigorated mental game – and a hot hand with her putter – as a key aspect of her Wednesday success.

“I was focusing mostly on my mental game, and that's the biggest indicator for my putting,” said Ha, a sophomore at the University of San Francisco. “The key was that I wasn't focusing on trying to make the birdies. They just went in.”
In yet another upset, Lydia Choi, 18, of Beverly Hills, Calif., earned a 1-up victory over No. 3 seed Nelly Korda, 17, of Bradenton, Fla. Choi, a sophomore at UCLA, pointed to her win on the par-5 15th that squared the match as the thing that turned momentum in her favor.
“That was the turning point of when I started hitting my drives well,” said Choi, who won the par-3 17th for the final 1-up advantage. “She hit her drive to the right, so I think it just gave me a little bit more comfort.”
Korda’s older sister, Jessica, an LPGA Tour star and the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up, was in the gallery, as the LPGA Tour is in Portland this week for the Cambia Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Eun Jeong Seong, who two weeks ago captured the 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship over Yin, trailed early and needed all 18 holes for a hard-fought 1-up win over Duke University standout Celine Boutier, the British women's open amateur champion from Paris.

 Seong, 15, of the Republic of Korea, will face a familiar opponent in Thursday’s Round of 32 – 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion Alice Jo, who beat Seong in that final match. Jo, 16, of Clermont, Fla., advanced with a 2-and-1 win over Muni He.

Hannah O’Sullivan, a 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinalist, notched Wednesday’s fastest victory, taking a 7-and-6 win over Haley Mills. She will meet Dreher in Thursday’s Round of 32.

Bronte Law, pictured at the top of the article, at No. 2 the championship’s highest-ranked player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™, eliminated Canadian National Team member Maddie Szeryk, 3 and 2. Her next opponent will be University of Arkansas senior Gaby Lopez, who earned a 5-and-3 win over Samantha Wagner.

Mariah Stackhouse, a member of the 2014 USA Curtis Cup Team, three-putted the 18th green and fell by a 1-up margin to Elizabeth Wang.

Other notables to reach Thursday’s Round of 32 include 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kristen Gillman (2 up over Kelly Su); local favorite Caroline Inglis, an Oregon native and a senior at the University of Oregon (1 up over Alice Chen); 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball co-champion Mika Liu (19 holes over Lauren Kim); and 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur medalist Bethany Wu (2 and 1 over Emilie Alonso).

PORTLAND, Ore. – Results from the first round of match play a the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,360-yard, par-72 Portland Golf Club:

Upper Bracket
Justine Dreher, France (148) def. Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif. (138), 5 and 4
Hannah O'Sullivan, Chandler, Ariz. (145) def. Haley Mills, Tyler, Texas (146), 7 and 6
Haley Moore, Escondido, Calif. (143) def. Kelly Grassel, Chesterton, Ind. (147), 1 up
Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster, Colo. (147) def. Aliea Clark, Carlsbad, Calif. (143), 4 and 3
Caroline Inglis, Eugene, Ore. (141) def. Alice Chen, Princeton, N.J. (148), 1 up
Annie Dulman, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (146) def. Hannah Wood, Highlands Ranch, Colo. (145), 3 and 2
Kristen Gillman, Austin, Texas (142) def. Kelly Su, Scottsdale, Ariz. (148), 2 up
Lindsey McCurdy, Liberty Hill, Texas (147) def. Binny Lee, Frisco, Texas (145), 2 and 1
Hannah Green, Australia (139) def. Brigitte Dunne, Camarillo, Calif. (148), 3 and 2
Bailey Tardy, Peachtree Corners, Ga. (145) def. Dylan Kim, Plano, Texas (146), 1 up
Anna Newell, Tampa, Fla. (147) def. Cathleen Santoso, Australia (142), 5 and 4
Lucia Gutierrez Ballon, Peru (143) def. Cheyenne Knight, Aledo, Texas (147), 2 and 1
Kenzie Neisen, New Prague, Minn. (148) def. Maria Fassi, Mexico (140), 20 holes
Mathilda Cappeliez, France (145) def. Soo Jin Lee, Australia (146), 1 up
Wanasa Zhou, Australia (142) def. Molly Skapik, Miamisburg, Ohio (147), 6 and 4
Elizabeth Wang, San Marino, Calif. (147) def. Mariah Stackhouse, Riverdale, Ga. (143), 1 up

Lower Bracket
Vanessa Ha, Plano, Texas (148) def. Jennifer Hahn, Henderson, Nev. (138), 4 and 3
Maddie McCrary, Wylie, Texas (145) def. Andrea Lee, Hermosa Beach, Calif. (146), 4 and 3
Hailee Cooper, Montgomery, Texas (147) def. Taylor Totland, Tinton Falls, N.J. (143), 20 holes
Sierra Brooks, Sorrento, Fla. (143) def. Ana Paula Valdes, Mexico (147), 2 and 1
Gaby Lopez, Mexico (148) def. Samantha Wagner, Orlando, Fla. (141), 5 and 3
Bronte Law, England (146) def. Maddie Szeryk, Canada (145), 3 and 2
Alice Jo, Clermont, Fla. (148) def. Muni He, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (142), 2 and 1
Eun Jeong Seong, Republic of Korea (144) def. Celine Boutier, France (147), 1 up
Lydia Choi, Beverly Hills, Calif. (148) def. Nelly Korda, Bradenton, Fla. (139), 1 up
Malia Nam, Kailua, Hawaii (145) def. Rong Ji, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (146), 2 up
Bethany Wu, Diamond Bar, Calif. (142) def. Emilie Alonso, France (147), 2 and 1
Laura Restrepo, Panama (147) def. Waverly Whiston, San Diego, Calif. (143), 5 and 3
Mariel Galdiano, Pearl City, Hawaii (140) def. Kimberly Mitchell, Woodbridge, Va. (148), 7 and 5
Mika Liu, Beverly Hills, Calif. (145) def. Lauren Kim, Los Altos, Calif. (146), 19 holes
Cindy Ha, Demarest, N.J. (142) def. Aneka Seumanutafa, Frederick, Md. (147), 1 up
Elizabeth Tong, Canada (144) def. Magdalena Simmermacher, Argentina (147), 6 and 4

PORTLAND, Ore. – Pairings for Thursday morning’s second round of match play at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,360-yard, par-72 Portland Golf Club (all times PDT):

Upper Bracket
7 a.m. – Justine Dreher, France (148) vs. Hannah O'Sullivan, Chandler, Ariz. (145)
7:10 a.m. – Haley Moore, Escondido, Calif. (143) vs. Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster, Colo. (147)
7:20 a.m. – Caroline Inglis, Eugene, Ore. (141) vs. Annie Dulman, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (146)
7:30 a.m. – Kristen Gillman, Austin, Texas (142) vs. Lindsey McCurdy, Liberty Hill, Texas (147)
7:40 a.m. – Hannah Green, Australia (139) vs. Bailey Tardy, Peachtree Corners, Ga. (145)
7:50 a.m. – Anna Newell, Tampa, Fla. (147) vs. Lucia Gutierrez Ballon, Peru (143)
8 a.m. – Kenzie Neisen, New Prague, Minn. (148) vs. Mathilda Cappeliez, France (145)
8:10 a.m. – Wanasa Zhou, Australia (142) vs. Elizabeth Wang, San Marino, Calif. (147)

Lower Bracket
8:20 a.m. – Vanessa Ha, Plano, Texas (148) vs. Maddie McCrary, Wylie, Texas (145)
8:30 a.m. – Hailee Cooper, Montgomery, Texas (147) vs. Sierra Brooks, Sorrento, Fla. (143)
8:40 a.m. – Gaby Lopez, Mexico (148) vs. Bronte Law, England (146)
8:50 a.m. – Alice Jo, Clermont, Fla. vs. Eun Jeong Seong, Republic of Korea (144)
9 a.m. – Lydia Choi, Beverly Hills, Calif. (148) vs. Malia Nam, Kailua, Hawaii (145)
9:10 a.m. – Bethany Wu, Diamond Bar, Calif. (142) vs. Laura Restrepo, Panama (147)
9:20 a.m. – Mariel Galdiano, Pearl City, Hawaii (140) vs. Mika Liu, Beverly Hills, Calif. (145)
9:30 a.m. – Cindy Ha, Demarest, N.J. (142) vs. Elizabeth Tong, Canada (144)

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