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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR FOUR-BALL

2019 Runners-Up Among Semifinalists at Maridoe

By Amy Morton, USGA

| Apr 27, 2021 | Carrollton, Texas

2019 runners-up Casey Weidenfeld (left) and Jillian Bourdage are now two victories away from the title. (Darren Carroll/USGA)

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What Happened

For the third consecutive time in the championship, three single-digit seeds advanced to the semifinal round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on Tuesday at Maridoe Golf Club.

Jillian Bourdage, 19, of Tamarac, Fla., and partner Casey Weidenfeld, 18, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., the runners-up in the 2019 championship in their home state and the No. 4 seeds this week, posted a pair of impressive victories on Tuesday, a 5-and-4 quarterfinal victory over Anna Davis of Spring Valley, Calif., and Lucy Yuan of San Diego, Calif., that was preceded by a 4-and-3 win over Meghan Royal, of Carlsbad, Calif., and Anika Varma, of India.

“On hole No. 10, I put an 8-iron to 2 feet, and I was really happy,” said Bourdage, whose birdie capped a run of three consecutive winning holes that helped the Floridians assume a 4-up advantage in their quarterfinal win over Davis and Yuan. “I figured out my irons by that time in the round. I struggled a little bit in the beginning, but that's why you have teammates.”

Those twin victories set up a semifinal battle at 7 a.m. CDT on Wednesday with No. 1-seeded Paris Hilinski, 17, of Palm Beach, Fla., and Alexa Pano, 16, of Lake Worth, Fla. The pair notched a pair of 3-and-2 victories on Tuesday, eliminating No. 24 Taylor Ledwein and Megan Welch in the afternoon after ousting Melena Barrientos and Rylie Heflin in the morning.

No. 3-seeded Gianna Clemente, 13, of Warren, Ohio, and partner Avery Zweig, 14, of McKinney, Texas – the youngest side in the 64-team field that started the week – was extended to the 18th hole on Tuesday evening, but prevailed, 1 up, over the No. 27 seeds, Loralie Cowart and Ava Merrill. Clemente, who recorded her second career hole-in-one during stroke play on Sunday, and her partner ousted Sarah Beqaj and Britta Snyder, 3 and 2, in the morning.

Zweig is not the only Texan still competing – Savannah Barber of Fort Worth and her partner Alexa Saldana, of Mexico, earned a pair of 4-and-3 wins on Tuesday to set up a 7:15 a.m. CDT semifinal matchup with Clemente and Zweig on Wednesday. The No. 26 seeds defeated Kentucky teammates Jensen Castle and Marissa Wenzler in the afternoon after ousting Vanessa Ho and Karen Tsuru in the Round of 16.  

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Alexa Pano (right) is back in the semis for a second consecutive U.S. Women's Am Four-Ball, this time with partner Paris Hilinski. (Darren Carroll/USGA)

What's Next


Tuesday’s quarterfinal winners will compete in the semifinals on Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. CDT. The 18-hole final will take place in the afternoon.

Notable

  • The morning Round of 16 started disastrously for Ashley Chow and Katie James, who had their golf clubs stolen from their car on Monday night. James borrowed clubs from teammates and Chow used a backup set of clubs that were in her dorm room at Southern Methodist. The Maridoe pro shop also loaned Chow a demo driver.

  • All quarterfinalists receive an exemption into the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, which will be played April 30-May 4 at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. This is a new exemption added this year by the USGA. Previously, only the semifinalists and finalists earned exemptions. The semifinalists and runners-up receive two-year and three-year exemptions, respectively, while the champions earn a 10-year exemption.

  • Jensen Castle and Marissa Wenzler suffered a loss-of-hole penalty at the outset of their quarterfinal match when both players were late for their 2 p.m. starting time. Rule 5.3a provides that a player must be ready to play at the starting point at the starting time. The side lost the first hole and the match started on hole 2 with opponents Savannah Barber and Alexa Saldana 1 up. Barber and Saldana prevailed, 4 and 3. 
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Alexa Saldana (right) and partner Savannah Barber had plenty of reason to celebrate on Tuesday at Maridoe G.C. (Darren Carroll/USGA)

Quotable

Sydney Bryan on her most memorable moment from her first USGA championship, which ended with a 1-up loss when their Round-of-16 opponents matched the birdie on the 18th hole by Bryan and partner Grace Summerhays: “For me it was right after they made the birdie on top of us. It doesn't sound like a good moment, but just getting to experience all of this and knowing you did everything you can and doing that together was pretty special.”

Megan Welch on the exemption into next year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball that she earned with partner and Bradley University teammate Taylor Ledwein: “We didn't know that we were exempt until we won this morning and her dad said, ‘Hey, looks like we're going to Puerto Rico.’ It's super exciting. It means that even though she's not at college with me anymore we still get to spend time together.”

Ashley Chow on her favorite moment from the week with partner Katie James: “Our first hole [on Monday] – that's got to be the best moment for me. I came up short of the green, chipped it on, bad chip, it was 40 feet away, Katie’s shot was sitting for birdie at 35 feet and it was a similar line, so I thought, I guess I'll show her the line. My putt drops and then Katie hits her putt and her putt drops, just an incredible way to start match play.”

Casey Weidenfeld on her birdie on No. 12, the toughest hole for the week, during the Round of 16: “I hit driver off the tee; my driver had been flaky on the front nine, but I managed to hit that one really good. I then hit a knockdown 8-iron in. It turned out exactly how I wanted it,  3 feet away from the pin.”

Amy Morton is an assistant manager of communications for the USGA. Email her at amorton@usga.org.

The Social Scene





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