Global Golf Post, the digital publication whose weekly roundup of golf around the world arrives in your inbox each Monday for the low, low price of – well, actually, it’s free – put out its ambitious All-Amateur teams a couple of weeks ago.
In his introduction to GGP’s All-Amateur teams, Jim Nugent admits that the presentation is weighted to the West. Not that GGP ignores golf in Asia and Australia, it’s just tougher to access as much information about golf there as it is to golf in the Western Hemisphere.
But, as Nugent points out, many of the top players in that part of the world increasingly set out to make their names in other parts of the globe. It is, after all, a global game, as GGP’s name suggests, and great players can emerge from, quite literally, anywhere.
It is, as I mentioned, an ambitious undertaking by Nugent and GGP. It is such a daunting project that nobody else really even tries to do it.
Sure, the top youngsters who populate the Men’s and Women’s Amateur teams – there are first-team and honorable mention selections in each of six classifications – are recognizable to a lot of golf fans who follow the amateur and college scenes.
But GGP goes the extra mile in recognizing the top men’s and women’s mid-amateur and senior players.
When the All-Amateur teams arrive each November, I always scour the lists looking for anybody with any Philadelphia-area ties. There weren’t a lot of entries that fit that bill this year, but I’m going to start with the Women’s Senior Amateur selections.
Tara Joy-Connelly of Middleborough, Mass. doesn’t technically count as a local player in the Philly area, but I was on her bag for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall’s North Course late in the summer of 2023 and it was great to see her appear on the Women’s Senior Amateur first team.
A Massachusetts native who starred collegiately at Miami, Joy-Connelly does have some local ties.
Her husband J.P. Connelly is the head pro at The Kittansett Club on the Massachusetts cape along Buzzards Bay in Marion, Mass. J.P.’s dad is familiar to just about everybody in the Philadelphia area as Jack Connelly was the long-time head pro at Huntingdon Valley Country Club and is a past president of the PGA of America and the Philadelphia Section PGA.
Tara Joy-Connelly had just turned 50 when she showed up at Stonewall and survived a playoff to earn a spot in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am match-play bracket. It took her all of one practice round to figure out the speeds on the tricky North Course putting surfaces and I was impressed with her aggressiveness, particularly with her approaches when Joy-Connelly was usually taking dead aim at the flag.
A few weeks later, Joy-Connelly showed she was going to be a force to be reckoned with as a senior player when she reached the second round of match play at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. before falling to a rejuvenated Sarah Lebrun Ingram, a three-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion and the captain of winning U.S. Curtis Cup teams in 2021 and 2022, the latter in our backyard in Philly at the iconic East Course at Merion Golf Club.
A victory in the Spanish International Senior Ladies’ Championship at the Infinitum Golf Club’s Lakes Course outside of Barcelona in March probably vaulted Joy-Connelly onto the first team.
Joy-Connelly captured the title in the New England Women’s Amateur senior division and reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the Omni Homestead Resort’s Cascades Course in Hot Springs, Va., where she fell to the legendary Ellen Port of St. Louis, Mo., a winner of seven USGA titles.
Port appears on the Senior Women’s Amateur honorable mention list.
Joy-Connelly also teed it up in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif. after earning medalist honors in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered local qualifier at Gulph Mills Golf Club.
The winner of that U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at the Homestead Resort, Dawn Woodard of Greer, S.C., also appears on the Senior Women’s Amateur first team.
Woodard also captured the title in the AGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at The Club at Strawberry Creek in Kenosha, Wis. and earned a spot in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship’s match-play bracket at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Dunes Course on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Joy-Connelly was the runnerup to Woodard in the AGA Senior Women’s Amateur at The Club at Strawberry Creek.
Australian Sue Wooster’s runnerup finish to Woodard in the U.S. Senior Women’s Am at the Homestead Resort earned her a spot on the Senior Women’s Amateur first team. Wooster took Woodard to 20 holes before falling, the fourth time she has been the runnerup in an event for which she seems to save her best stuff.
Closer to home, Wooster captured the title in the Australian Women’s Senior Amateur Championship and was the runnerup in the Tasmanian Senior Amateur Championship.
Canada’s Shelly Stouffer and Nadene Gole, the Aussie who was the dominant senior player in the world in 2024, engaged in an epic battle of former champions in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Am at the Homestead Resort with Stouffer, the 2022 winner earning a 1-up victory over Gole, the 2024 winner, to reach the semifinals, where Stouffer fell to Woodard, the eventual champion.
Stouffer and Gole both appear on the Women’s Senior Amateur first team.
Stouffer also earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Monterey Peninsula.
Gore also won the title in the Scottish Senior Women’s Amateur Championship and made the cut in the U.S. Women’s Senior Open at San Diego Country Club.
Judith Kyrinis, the ageless Canadian, also appears on the Senior Women’s Amateur first team after she reached the round of 16 in both the U.S. Senior Women’s Am at the Homestead Resort and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at San Diego Country Club.
Kyrinis also captured the title in the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship for the fourth time.
Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore., a three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur winner, also reached the round of 16 at this year’s championship at the Homestead Resort before dropping a 2-up decision to 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Sarah Gallagher of Canton, Ga.
Tennant also appears on the Senior Women’s Amateur first team. Gallagher made the honorable mention list.
Like Kyrinis, Tennant also earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Monterey Peninsula before falling in the second round. Tennant also made the cut in the U.S. Women’s Senior Open at San Diego Country Club.
Tennant should have plenty of support when the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur comes to her hometown at the Portland Golf Club next year.
Kathy Hartwiger, the legendary amateur from Birmingham, Ala., parlayed a very successful trip across the pond into a spot on the Senior Women’s Amateur first team.
Hartwiger claimed a victory in the R&A’s Women’s Senior Amateur Championship at Walton Heath and was the runnerup to Gore in the Scottish Senior Women’s Amateur. Hartwiger also earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at the Homestead Resort.
Gemma Dooley fell to fellow Aussie Wooster in the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at the Homestead Resort and joined Wooster on the Senior Women’s Amateur first team. Dooley also won the Tasmanian Senior Amateur and the APGC Senior Amateur.
Rounding out the Senior Women’s Amateur first team was France’s Sylvie Von Molle, who claimed titles in the European Seniors’ Championship and the Belgian International Senior Championship and earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at the Homestead Resort.
In addition to the aforementioned Port and Gallagher on the honorable mention list, Suzi Spotleson, listing Scottsdale, Ariz. as her residence these days, represents the Philadelphia area among the honorable mentions.
Spotleson, who plays out of the RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve when she’s in the Philadelphia area, captured her third straight title in the senior division in the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Match Play Championship at Trenton Country Club.
Spotleson has been making regular appearances in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship and she reached the quarterfinals this year at the Homestead Resort before falling to Gallagher.
Also earning honorable mention was Canadian Stefani Markovich, who needed 21 holes to knock off Lisa McGill, another of the Philadelphia area’s top senior players out of Sunnybrook Golf Club, in the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Women’s Am at the Homestead Resort. Markovich was ousted in the quarterfinals by Woodard, the eventual champion.
Krystal Sunderman of McDonough, Ga. earned honorable mention on the strength of her run to the quarterfinals at the Homestead Resort, where she fell to Wooster.
Corey Weworski of Carlsbad, Calif., who has been a standout senior player for forever, survived the 36-hole cut and played the weekend in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at San Diego Country Club to earn honorable mention.
Rounding out the group receiving honorable mention were Susan Cohn of Palm Beach, Fla., the winner of the Florida Golf Association’s Women’s Senior Amateur crown; Amy Ellerton of Free Union, Va., the winner of the Women’s Southern Golf Association’s Senior Amateur Championship; Julie Streng of Greensboro, N.C., who survived the 36-hole cut and played the weekend in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at San Diego Country Club; Leigh Klasse of Cumberland, Wis., winner of the Minnesota Golf Association’s Senior Women’s Amateur Championship for a sixth time; Spain’s Macarena Campomanes Eguiguren; France’s Helene Malvy; and Argentina’s Maria Olivero, who earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Senior Women’s Am at the Homestead Resort.
Mike McCoy of West Des Moines, Iowa added a U.S. Senior Amateur Championship title to the U.S. Mid-Amateur crown he captured in 2013 as he headed GGP's Men’s Senior Amateur first team.
McCoy, a perennial contender in the U.S. Senior Am, finally got it done with a 3 and 2 victory over Greg Sanders of Anthem, Ariz. in the final at the Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Tex.
McCoy, the captain of a U.S. Walker Cup team that pulled out a hard-fought victory over Great Britain & Ireland in 2023 at the Old Course at St. Andrews, was also the runnerup in the Trans-Mississippi Senior Championship and was a semifinalist in the senior division of the Crump Cup at Pine Valley Golf Club.
Sanders’ run to the final in the U.S. Senior Am at Oak Hills landed him a spot on the Men’s Senior Amateur first team.
Sanders also won the title in the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame tournament at High Point Country Club’s Willow Creek Course in High Point, N.C. and captured the crown in the Alaska State Amateur.
It was a big year for Englishman John Kennedy as he won both the R&A’s Senior Amateur Championship at Walton Heath and the Scottish Senior Men’s Open and earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Oak Hills, all of which helped him end up with a spot on the Men’s Senior Amateur first team.
Bob Royak, the U.S. Senior Amateur champion in 2019 at Old Chatham Country Club in Durham, N.C., reached the quarterfinals at Oak Hills this year, helping to land him a spot on the Men’s Amateur first team. Royak also won the title in the Crump Cup Senior at Pine Valley and captured the crown in the Reynolds Senior Invitational at Great Waters.
Two other players who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Oak Hills, Bryan Hoops of Tempe, Ariz. and Jack Larkin Sr. of Atlanta, Ga. – Larkin lost in 19 holes to Royak in a tight match -- also landed on the Men’s Senior Amateur first team.
Hoops had wins in the Trans-Mississippi Senior at The Pfau Club at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. and in the Huddleston Cup at Maridoe Golf Club outside of Dallas, Texas.
Larkin captured titles in the John T. Lupton Memorial Senior and in the Georgia Senior Championship.
Howard Clendenin of Akron, Ohio earned a spot on the Men’s Senior Amateur first team on the strength of wins in the Senior Porter Cup at the Niagara Falls Country Club, the North & South Senior Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina and the Northeast Ohio Senior Amateur Championship.
Kevin VandenBerg of Naples, Fla., one of the three players who finished in a tie for second place behind Clendenin in the Senior Porter Cup, was also a Men’s Senior Amateur first-team selection.
VandenBerg captured the title in The Farrell Senior at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn. and was also a winner in the SOS Plantation Senior Invitational at the Plantation Golf & Country Club’s Bobcat Course in Venice, Fla.
Rounding out the Men’s Senior Amateur first team was Colombia’s Juan Angel, who reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Oak Hills. Angel also had wins in the I Parada Gira Nacional Senior and the II Parada Gira Nacional Senior.
Heading the group of players earning honorable mention was Gene Elliott, like McCoy a West Des Moines, Iowa guy. Elliott, the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur champion at the Country Club of Detroit, reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Oak Hills.
Elliott knocked off Chris Fieger, a scholastic standout at Nether Providence back in the day who resides in Denver, Lancaster County, 2 and 1 in the opening round of match play at Oak Hills.
Tony Wise of Georgetown, Ky. also reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Oak Hills and earned Men’s Senior Amateur honorable mention.
Trae Cassell of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. reached the second round of match play at Oak Hills and also appears on the Men’s Senior Amateur honorable mention list.
A couple of familiar names on the senior amateur circuit, Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga., the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur champion at the Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers, N.C., and Randy Haag of Orinda, Calif. also earned Men’s Senior Amateur honorable mention.
Rounding out the list of players receiving Men’s Senior Amateur honorable mention were a couple of Australians in Mark Allen and Graham Hourn, Miles McConnell of Tampa, Fla., Englishman Stephen Jensen, Ireland’s Edward McCormack, Jean-Charles Gouvernaire of France and Michael Flindt of Denmark.
Heading up the Men’s Amateur first team is Auburn junior Jackson Koivun of Chapel Hill, N.C. and the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Koivun held down that No.-1 ranking enough in 2025 to be awarded the McCormack Medal. He went 3-1 for the United State in its hard-fought 17-9 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup Match held at the Cypress Point Club, the iconic Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter design on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Koivun was knocked out in the second round of the U.S. Amateur in August at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. by Max Herendeen, a junior at Illinois from Bellevue, Wash. and No. 19 in the WAGR. Herendeen earned honorable mention in the Men’s Amateur division.
Koivun and the Tigers came up a little short in defense of the NCAA title they won in the spring of 2024 as Auburn was upset by Virginia in the quarterfinals of this year’s NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Some of Koivun’s best work in 2025 came on the PGA Tour as he finished in a tie for fifth place in the Wyndham Championship, a tie for sixth in the ISCO Championship and a tie for 12th in the John Deere Classic.
He has earned enough points in the PGA Tour University Accelerated program to join the PGA Tour in 2026, but it appears he plans to remain an amateur for most of the year.
Koivun accepted an invitation to play in a practice session for a rare second Walker Cup Match in consecutive years later this month at Seminole Golf Club, the Jupiter Hills Club and MacArthur Golf Club, all in the Jupiter, Fla. area. The Walker Cup Match will be held in September at Lahinch Golf Club, a popular destination in Ireland.
As I mentioned in my recent post on the group that was invited by the USGA’s Team Selection Committee to audition for the U.S. Walker Cup, I selfishly hope that Koivun will remain an amateur long enough to tee it up in the U.S. Amateur, which will be played in our backyard in the Philadelphia area at the historic East Course at Merion Golf Club in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township.
Might get a chance to see what looks like a future PGA Tour star in person.
Seven of Koivun’s teammates on the winning U.S. Walker Cup team at Cypress Point join him on GGP’s All-Amateur Men’s Amateur first team. The WAGR makes picking GGP’s Men’s Amateur first team fairly simple. Hey, the USGA leans pretty heavily on the WAGR when it comes to picking teams that will represent the United States in international competition.
Ben James, a senior at Virginia from Milford, Conn. and No. 2 in the WAGR, is another first-team selection.
He helped the Cavaliers capture the first Atlantic Coast Conference title in program history and reach the Final Match in the NCAA Championship at La Costa, where they fell to Oklahoma State.
James was also a member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team. It was the second time James contributed to a U.S. Walker Cup win as he was also wearing the Red, White & Blue at the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2023.
James was also a quarterfinalist in the Western Amateur Championship at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill.
Speaking of Oklahoma State, two members of the Cowboys’ national champions appear on the Men’s Amateur first team, Ethan Fang, a junior from Plano, Texas and No. 3 in the WAGR, and Preston Stout, a junior from Richardson, Texas and No. 4 in the WAGR.
Fang had quite a year in 2025. After helping Oklahoma State capture the program’s 12th national championship at La Costa, Fang took a little scouting trip across the pond and captured the title in the Royal & Ancient Amateur Championship at The Royal St. George’s Golf Club, the first American to wear that crown since Drew Weaver won it in 2007.
Fang was the runnerup in the Western Am at Skokie and then helped the U.S. retain the Walker Cup at Cypress Point.
Stout delivered the point that secured an outright victory at Cypress Point with a dagger to two feet on the 17th hole that closed out a 2 and 1 victory over Luke Poulter.
Stout finished third in the NCAA Championship’s individual chase before helping Oklahoma State capture the team crown.
Stout also captured the title in the Northeast Amateur Invitational, one of the stops on the Elite Amateur Golf Series played at Wannamoisett Country Club, the cozy Donald Ross design in Rumford, R.I.
Jase Summy, a senior at Oklahoma from Keller, Texas and No. 6 in the WAGR, defeated Fang in the final to capture the title in the Western Amateur at Skokie as he earned a spot on the Men’s Amateur first team.
Summy was also a key player for the U.S. in its Walker Cup victory at Cypress and finished in a tie for third place in the Southern Amateur at the Blessings Golf Club in Johnson, Ark.
Tommy Morrison, a senior at Texas from Dallas, Texas and No. 9 in the WAGR, is another U.S. Walker Cupper who landed on the Men’s Amateur first team.
Morrison finished in third place in qualifying for match play in the Western Amateur at Skokie and earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club.
Michael LaSasso, a senior at Mississippi from Raleigh, N.C. and No. 11 in the WAGR, captured the individual title in the NCAA Championship at La Costa and led the Rebels to a spot in the match-play bracket, earning a spot on the Men’s Amateur first team.
LaSasso was also a member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team at Cypress Point and made the cut in the 3M Open on the PGA Tour.
Jacob Modleski, a senior at Notre Dame from Noblesville, Ind. and No. 16 in the WAGR, appears on the Men’s Amateur first team on the strength of some solid showings in match play.
Modleski reached the semifinals of the Western Amateur at Skokie and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club, making him an easy choice to fill out the roster for the winning U.S. Walker Cup team at Cypress Point.
The last of the U.S. Walker Cuppers on the Men’s Amateur first team is Mason Howell, the precocious teen-ager from Thomasville, Ga.
Howell might not be in the top 100 in the WAGR – he’s 124th as of this writing -- but for a week at The Olympic Club, the kid was a beast as he rolled to the U.S. Amateur title, earning the spot on the U.S. Walker Cup team reserved for the owner of the Havemeyer Trophy, should he be an American.
Howell gave us a hint of things to come when he went off for a pair 9-under 63s in a U.S. Open Final qualifier at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, Ga. to share medalist honors and get himself a starting time for the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Rounding out the Men’s Amateur first team was another Walker Cupper, but Tyler Weaver, a junior at Florida State and No. 12 in the WAGR, is an Englishman and played on the GB&I team.
Weaver also reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club and was the runnerup to Notre Dame’s Modleski in the individual chase in the ACC Championship at the Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky.
In addition to the aforementioned Herendeen, a quality list of honorable mention selections is led by Morrison’s teammate at Texas, Christian Maas, a senior from South Africa and No. 5 in the WAGR.
Maas finished in a tie for third place in the individual chase in the Southeastern Conference Championship at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course on St. Simons Island, Ga. and helped the Longhorns earn a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at La Costa.
Eric Lee, a junior at Oklahoma State from Fullerton, Calif. and No. 27 in the WAGR, seemed impervious to the pressure as he accounted for the clinching point in the Cowboys’ hard-fought victory in the NCAA semifinals at La Costa over Ole Miss and again the next day in their win over Virginia in the Final Match.
Oh yeah, Lee reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club, too. Honorable mention indeed.
Koivun’s Auburn teammate, Josiah Gilbert, a junior from Millbrook, Ala. and No. 10 in the WAGR makes the grade among the Men’s Amateur honorable mentions.
Filip Jakubcik, a senior at Arizona from Czechia, is another player in the WAGR’s top 10 – he’s No. 7 – who had to settle for honorable mention.
Connor Williams, a junior at Arizona State from Escondido, Calif. and No. 23 in the WAGR, helped the Sun Devils earn the top seed in qualifying for match play in the NCAA Championship at La Costa by finishing in a tie for seventh place in the individual standings and received honorable mention in the Men’s Amateur division.
Connor Williams was the runnerup in the individual chase in Arizona State’s first appearance in the Big 12 Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., leading the Sun Devils to a runnerup finish in the team standings behind eventual national champion Oklahoma State.
Connor Williams isn’t the only Williams on the honorable mention list. He’s joined there by Wells Williams, a senior at Vanderbilt from West Point, Miss. and No. 13 in the WAGR.
A couple of other SEC standouts, Jack Turner, a junior at Florida from Orlando, Fla. and No. 15 in the WAGR, and Tennessee’s Lance Simpson, a redshirt senior home boy from Knoxville, Tenn. and No. 24 in the WAGR also received honorable mention.
Turner helped the Gators capture the team title in the SEC Championship at Sea Island and reach the NCAA Championship semifinals at La Costa, where they fell to Virginia.
Simpson earned a starting time in the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
Howell isn’t the only teen-ager who made noise in amateur circles in 2025 and two more talented teens, Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. and No. 14 in the WAGR, and Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala. and No. 29 in the WAGR, earned honorable mention in the Men’s Amateur division.
Russell, who turned 17 last month and plans to join the Florida State program in the summer of 2027, reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in August. That should exempt him to next year’s U.S. Amateur at Merion.
Watts, who plans to join the program at Tennessee in the SEC, beat the best amateur players in the country when he captured the title in the Sunnehanna Amateur at Sunnehanna Country Club, an A.W. Tillinghast gem in Johnstown.
Rounding out the honorable mention list was Niall Sheils Donegan, a native of Scotland who has lived most of his life in Mill Valley, Calif. and is No. 43 in the WAGR.
Donegan had a huge fan club from northern California rooting him on as he made an inspired run to the U.S. Amateur semifinals at The Olympic Club, where he finally fell to Jackson Herrington of Dickson, Tenn.
Donegan was also a member of the GB&I team that fell to the United States at Cypress Point. Pretty good couple of weeks at a couple of iconic northern California courses for a guy who has come to call that region home.
Of the five women who teed it up for Stanford in its last tournament of the fall portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 season, a runaway victory for the Cardinal in the Nanea Invitational at the Nanea Golf Club in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, four of them appear on GGP’s Women’s Amateur first team.
Leading that group is Meghan Ganne, a senior from Holmdel, N.J. and No. 4 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Ganne captured the title in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Bandon Dunes Resort on the rugged Oregon coastline, almost making it look inevitable as the week wore on. Ganne also made the cut and played the weekend in the FM Championship, a stop on the LPGA Tour at TPC Boston.
It looked like a national title for Stanford was going to be the inevitable outcome of the NCAA Championship in May at La Costa until Northwestern stunned the mighty Cardinal in the Final Match.
Still, a deep run in the NCAA Championship is just business as usual for Stanford and the Cardinal look like they’ll be the favorites again next spring.
Ganne also teamed with fellow Women’s Amateur first-team selection Farah O’Keefe, a junior home girl from Austin, Texas and No. 8 in the Women’s WAGR, and Catherine Park, a senior at Southern California from Irvine, Calif. and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR, to give the United States the team title in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at Tenah Merah Country Club in Singapore in October. Park earned honorable mention in the Women’s Amateur division.
The U.S. hoisted the Espirito Santo Trophy in Singapore in a tiebreaker after it finished in a tie for first place with Spain and South Korea.
Two of the members of the team from Spain were Ganne’s Stanford teammates, Paula Martin Sampedro, a junior and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, and Andrea Revuelta Goicoechea, a sophomore and No. 3 in the Women’s WAGR. Martin Sampedro and Revuelta Goicoechea joined Ganne on the Women’s Amateur first team.
After finishing in fourth place in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship at La Costa Martin Sampedro had a huge summer, capturing titles in the R&A’s Women’s Amateur Championship at The Nairn Golf Club in England and in the European Women’s Amateur Championship at Frankfurter Golf Club in Frankfurt, Germany before earning low-amateur honors in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales.
Revuelta Goicoechea captured the individual crown in Stanford’s first appearance in the ACC Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. Earlier in the spring, she finished in fourth place in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.
Revuelta Goicoechea finished in third place behind her fellow Cardinal Martin Sampedro in the European Women’s Amateur at Frankfurter.
The fourth Cardinal on the Women’s Amateur first team was Meja Ortengten, a sophomore from Sweden and No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR.
Ortengren was also in the hunt in the Women’s WATC in Singapore, finishing in a tie for fifth place in the individual standings and helping Sweden finish sixth.
Ortengren’s summer at home in Sweden included a victory over pros in the Ladies European Tour’s Hills Open at the Hills Golf & Sports Club.
Kiara Romero, a junior at Oregon from San Jose, Calif., inherited the No.-1 spot in the Women’s WAGR when England’s Lottie Woad turned pro and held onto it to earn the McCormack Medal and land on the Women’s Amateur first team.
Romero captured the individual title and led the Ducks to the team title in their first appearance in the Big Ten Championship at the Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.
She then led Oregon to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at La Costa, where the Ducks fell to eventual national champion Northwestern.
Romero made the cut and played the weekend in the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes.
Woad was an amateur long enough to earn a spot on the Women’s Amateur first team.
In her final appearance with Florida State, Woad led the Seminoles to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at La Costa, where they fell to Stanford. Ganne went 20 holes to edge Woad in an epic match in that semifinal.
Woad was the low amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills before joining the LPGA Tour via the Elite Amateur Pathway. Woad proceeded to capture the title in the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at the Dundonald Links in her professional debut.
In addition to helping the United States capture the team title in the Women’s WATC in Singapore, O’Keefe was really good throughout 2025.
She helped the Longhorns earn a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at La Costa, where they fell to Oregon.
After making the cut and playing the weekend in the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills, O’Keefe headed across the pond and reached the final of the Women’s Amateur Championship, falling to Stanford’s Martin Sampedro at Nairn.
O’Keefe was the co-medalist in qualifying for match play in the Women’s Western Amateur at Red Run Golf Club in Royal Oak, Mich.
Maria Jose Marin, a junior at Arkansas from Colombia and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, captured the individual crown in the NCAA Championship at La Costa to earn a spot on the Women’s Amateur first team.
Marin helped the Razorbacks earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa, where they fell in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Northwestern.
Marin also made the cut and played the weekend in a pair of women’s professional major championships, the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills and the Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club in the Swiss Alps.
Eila Galitsky, a sophomore at South Carolina from Thailand and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR, arrived in the middle of the wraparound 2024-’25 season and helped the Gamecocks capture the team crown in the SEC Championship at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.
That helped earn Galitsky a spot on the Women’s Amateur first team.
Galitsky beat pros in capturing the title in the SAT Thai LPGA Ladies Open in her native Thailand and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes before falling to Ganne, the eventual champion.
Galitsky opened South Carolina’s fall campaign in September by earning co-medalist honors in the Annika Invitational at the Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn.
Rounding out the Women’s Amateur first-team selections was teen phenom Asterisk Talley of Chowchilla, Calif. and No. 11 in the Women’s WAGR.
Talley, who plans to join the program at Stanford in the summer of 2027, was the runnerup in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship and was a co-medalist in qualifying for match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes.
Talley also made the cut in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, the annual stop on the LPGA Tour at Seaview’s Bay Course across the bay from Atlantic City, N.J.
Joining Park on an honorable mention list brimming with talent was her Southern California teammate Jasmine Koo, a sophomore from Cerritos, Calif. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR.
Carla Bernat Escuder of Spain was playing at Kansas State when she surprised everyone but herself by capturing the title in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, earning honorable mention in the Women’s Amateur division. Bernat Escuder turned pro at the end of the summer.
The third member of Team Spain, along with Stanford’s Martin Sampedro and Revuelta Goicoechea, at the Women’s WATC in Singapore was Carolina Lopez-Chacarra Cato, who appears on the honorable mention list. Looks like Lopez-Chacarra Cato wrapped up her career at Wake Forest in the spring, but is still No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR.
Anna Davis, a junior at Auburn from Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR, is another talented player who received honorable mention.
Davis fell to Ganne, the eventual champion, in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes and closed out the Tigers’ fall campaign with a pair of individual wins. Look out for the left-hander in the NCAA postseason in the spring.
Kary Hollenbaugh, a senior at Ohio State from New Albany, Ohio and No. 19 in the Women’s WAGR, made honorable mention as she competed at the highest levels of amateur golf throughout the year.
Hollenbaugh gave Ganne all she wanted before dropping a 2 and 1 decision in the round of 16 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes. Hollenbaugh finished in a tie for second place in the Big Ten Championship at Bulle Rock.
Rianne Malixi, a freshman at Duke from the Philippines and No. 16 in the Women’s WAGR, couldn’t quite match her 2024 when she captured the titles in both the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur, but she was certainly deserving of honorable mention.
Malixi finished in a tie for second place in the individual standings in the Women’s WATC in Singapore to lead the Philippines to a tie for seventh place in the team standings.
Another player in the tie for second place in the Women’s WATC along with Malixi and Stanford’s Martin Sampedro was South Korea’s Soomin Oh as she earned a spot on the Women’s Amateur honorable mention list.
Oh helped South Korea finish in a tie for first place with the United States and Spain, but they lost out for the Espirito Santo Trophy to the U.S. in a tiebreaker.
The individual medalist in the WATC was Ying Xu, a teen phenom who led China to a tie for fourth place in the team standings, and that earned her honorable mention. The 16-year-old Xu also reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes.
As I posted when Aphrodite Deng, a native of Canda who lives in Short Hills, N.J., won the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship at the Moorestown Field Club in 2023 by a whopping 12 shots as a 13-year-old, it seems the next phenom is always right around the corner.
In 2025, Deng, who has risen to No. 15 in the Women’s WAGR, was the runaway winner of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and then backed that up by capturing the title in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside Course in Johns Creek, Ga. She was an easy choice to make honorable mention.
The American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Player of the Year, it seems the sky’s the limit for Deng, who turns 16 in Feburary.
Rounding out the list of honorable mention selections was Pinky Chaisilprungruang, a sophomore at Charlotte from Thailand.
Chaisilprungruang was the co-medalist in qualifying for match play in both the Women’s Western Amateur at Red Run and in the North & South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst. From what I could gather from a couple of stories I found on Chaisilprungruang, the kid, in addition to being talented, spreads the joy of the game wherever she goes. Yes, it can be serious business at its highest levels, but it’s still a game and it should be fun and Chaisilprungruang seems to understand that as few do.
Hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since I got a chance to watch Stewart Hagestad, then a “rookie” mid-amateur, capture the first of his three U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship titles, rallying from 4-down with five holes to play, to take the crown on the 37th hole at Stonewall.
There was some grumbling when Hagestad, a West Palm Beach, Fla., resident and No. 45 in the WAGR, was chosen to represent the United States in the Walker Cup Match for a fifth time.
But Hagestad ran his Walker Cup singles record to 7-1 and holed a 20-foot birdie putt that assured that the U.S. would retain the Cup with a hard-fought 17-9 victory at Cypress Point.
Hagestad also reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. and earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the Western Amateur after 72 holes of stroke play at Skokie.
It was Christian Cavaliere of Katonah, N.Y. who halted Hagestad’s U.S. Mid-Am bid at Troon on his way to the semifinals. That helped Cavaliere join Hagestad on the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Cavaliere also captured the title in the Azalea Invitational at the Country Club of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. and claimed the crown in the New York State Open.
Brandon Holtz, a reinstated amateur from Bloomington, Ill., captured the title in the U.S. Mid-Am and that usually guarantees you a spot on the GGP Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Evan Beck of Virginia Beach, Va. and No. 37 in the WAGR reached the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Am at Troon in defense of the title he won in 2024 at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va. as he earned a spot on the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Bobby Massa of Dallas, Texas, who fell to Beck in the final at Kinloch in 2024, reached the quarterfinals this year at Troon and also appears on the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Massa also claimed the title in the mid-am division of the Huddleston Cup at Maridoe and was the runnerup in the Crump Cup at Pine Valley.
Stuart Grehan of Ireland and No. 56 in the WAGR parlayed wins in the Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship and the Irish Men’s Amateur Close Championship into a spot on the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Nate Smith of Tetonia, Idaho reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club and earned a spot on the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Smith also captured the title in The Snedeker Memorial at The Lakewood Club in Point Clear, Ala. in March and bested the field in the Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 field.
Andrew Bailey of Cleveland, Ohio and Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Ariz. both reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Troon, each earning a spot on the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Bailey, who fell to Hagestad in the second round at Troon, also reached the second round of match play in the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club and captured the title in the inaugural playing of The Giles Invitational at Kinloch.
In addition to his solid showing in the U.S. Mid-Am, Kittleson captured the title in the George C. Thomas Invitational at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course.
Rounding out the Men’s Mid-Amateur first team was Bobby Wyatt of Mobile, Ala. as he captured the title in the Crump Cup at Pine Valley and was the runnerup to Smith in The Snedeker Memorial at The Lakewood Club.
Jeg Coughlin III of Dublin, Ohio, the runnerup to Hontz in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Troon, headlined the group of players receiving honorable mention in the Men’s Mid-Amateur division.
Garrett Rank of Canada, who balances his life as an NHL official and a high-level amateur golfer, appears on the Men’s Mid-Amateur honorable mention list.
Rank is joined among those receiving honorable mention by fellow Canadian Charles Fitzsimmons and there are several other international players on the list, including Christian Kogl of Austria, Segundo Oliva Pinto of Argentina, a collegiate standout at Arkansas, and Caolin Rafferty of Ireland.
Rounding out the group receiving honorable mention in the Men’s Mid-Amateur division were Christian Brand of Charleston, W.Va., Sean O’Donnell of Glendale, Ariz., Colin Prater of Colorado Springs, Colo., Andrew Price of Lake Bluff, Ill. and Scott Turner of Stuart, Fla.
It was pretty rewarding for Ina Kim-Schaad when she won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur title in 2019 at the Forest Highlands Golf Club’s Meadows Course in Flagstaff, Ariz.
After starring at Northwestern, Kim-Schaad had put the sticks away – at least competitively – for a decade while navigating the world of high finance on Wall Street.
But it was even a little more special when Kim-Schaad, now 42 and living in Jupiter, Fla., captured the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am title for a second time in October at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Kim-Schaad’s victory at Monterey Peninsula landed her a spot on GGP’s Women’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Kim-Schaad also captured the title in the Women’s MET Amateur and reached the semifinals of The Farrell at The Stanwich Club.
Hanley Long of Clarksville, Tenn. lost to Kim-Schaad in the final at Monterey Peninsula and joined Kim-Schaad on the Women’s Mid-Amateur first team. Long played college golf at Middle Tennessee State.
Kelsey Chugg of Salt Lake City, Utah, who captured the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am crown in 2017 at Champions Golf Club’s Cypress Creek Course in Houston, Texas and has lost in the final two other times since then, also appears on the Women’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Got a chance to watch Chugg in her semifinal win over former Pennsbury and Penn State standout Jackie Rogowicz and in her loss to Kimberly Dinh of Midland, Mich. in the final when the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am was played at Stonewall’s North Course. Chugg is a tenacious match-play competitor.
She earned a spot in the match-play bracket this year at Monterey Peninsula, claimed the title in the AGA Women’s Amateur at The Club at Strawberry Creek and was a semifinalist in the Utah Women’s State Amateur.
She was Emilia Migliaccio when she helped Wake Forest capture the national championship as a sixth-year senior in 2023 and Emilia Doran when she made her debut in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am in October.
Doran had made the decision to remain an amateur and pursue a career in broadcasting. Every time I hear her on The Golf Channel, she’s a little bit better than the last time.
Doran is still talented enough to reach the second round of match play in the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes.
Doran saw her run in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am halted in the quarterfinals by Katherine Zhu, another mid-am “rookie” who starred at California and was a co-medalist in qualifying at Monterey Peninsula. Doran and Zhu both landed spots on the Women’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Doran also claimed the title in the Donna Andrews Invitational at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Va. Even with a busy schedule on TV, Doran is going to be one tough mid-am for years to come.
It’s been 10 years since Lauren Greenlief of Ashburn, Va. captured the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am title, but she made the match-play bracket in October at Monterey Peninsula and landed a spot on the Women’s Mid-Amateur first team.
Greenlief claimed the crown in The Farrell at Stanwich and finished in fifth place in the Women’s Open of Virginia.
Jessica Ross of Northern Ireland made the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am and appears on the Women’s Mid-Am first team.
Ross captured the title in the European Mid-Amateur Ladies’ Championship in Portugal and was the runnerup in the Woodbrook Women’s Scratch Cup.
Another European player, Celine Manche of Belgium, earned a spot on the Women’s Mid-Amateur first team as she claimed the crown in the Belgian International Amateur, made the cut in the LET Hulencourt Women’s Open at Hulencourt Golf Club outside of Brussels, and finished in third place in the Omnium Class of Belgium.
Rounding out the Women’s Mid-Amateur first team was Anika Veintemilla of Ecuador, who earned a spot in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Monterey Peninsula. Veintemilla also captured the title in the Abierto del Guayaquil Country Club tournament.
French woman Justine Fournand, who played on some pretty good teams at South Carolina, headed the list of Women’s Mid-Amateur players who received honorable mention.
Fournand reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am at Monterey Peninsula before falling to Long, the eventual runnerup.
Jennifer Wang of Menlo Park, Calif., a mid-am “rookie” who was a collegiate standout at Columbia, reached the quarterfinals at Monterey Peninsula and landed on the honorable mention list. Wang fell to Kim-Schaad, the eventual champion, in her quarterfinal match.
Shannon Fish-Martin of Montgomery, Texas and Jasmeen Samrock of Carver, Minn. met in the quarterfinals at Monterey Peninsula, earning both a spot among those receiving honorable mention in the Women’s Mid-Amateur division.
Fish-Martin, who played college golf at Texas, pulled out a 1-up decision over Samrock, who turned pro after playing college golf at Montana and is a reinstated amateur, to reach the semifinals, where she fell to Long.
Julia Potter-Bobb of Indianapolis, Ind., a two-time winner of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am, also received honorable mention in the Women’s Mid-Amateur division.
Jessica Spicer of Williamsburg, Va. shared medalist honors with Zhu in qualifying for match play at Monterey Beach and received honorable mention in the Women’s Mid-Amateur division.
Spicer, a collegiate standout at Virginia Tech, was also a co-medalist in qualifying for match play when the U.S. Mid-Am was staged at Stonewall’s North Course in 2023.
Rounding out the group receiving honorable mention in the Women’s Mid-Amateur division were five international players, Europeans Lucy Jamieson of England, Jennifer Saxton of Scotland, Annabelle Sapper of Germany and Pauline Stein of France and Lauren Grinberg of Brazil.
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