Sherry Zhong wins 2026 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur at Portland Golf Club

Xiaolong "Sherry" Zhong finished the week the way she started it. The stroke-play medalist and No. 1 seed beat France's Amandine Vincent, 1 up, in Thursday's championship match at Portland Golf Club to win the 64th U.S. Senior Women's Amateur in her first try. Zhong, who grew up in China and lives in Northern California, is the championship's first winner from the People's Republic of China and the first from an Asian country.

"I feel like it's not real. It's like a dream," Zhong said.

How the final unfolded

Vincent, playing Portland Golf Club for the eighth time in six days, opened birdie-par to go 2 up through two holes. Zhong answered by winning four straight holes from Nos. 4 through 7, with two birdies in the run, to flip the match to 2 up. She went 3 up with a win at the par-5 10th.

Vincent didn't go away. She won the 11th with a par, then took the 15th after Zhong four-putted, even though Vincent had hit her drive into the trees and had to punch out. A Vincent birdie on 16 squared the match with two holes to play.

The winning shot came at the 124-yard, par-3 17th. Zhong had hit 9-iron there all week but went up to an 8-iron because of the wind, stuck it to 15 feet and made the birdie putt to go 1 up. Both players parred the 18th to close it out.

A dominant week

Zhong opened with a 78, then shot a bogey-free 67 on Sunday, tying the lowest round in championship history and earning medalist honors by a stroke. In match play she beat Alejandra Partearroyo-Hillman (3 and 2), Kelly Wilson (6 and 5) and Gemma Dooley (3 and 2), then took down two former champions in Wednesday's doubleheader: 2024 winner Nadene Gole and three-time champion Lara Tennant, both 1 up with birdies on the 18th.

Zhong turned 50 in March and was playing just her second USGA senior championship, after finishing low amateur at the U.S. Senior Women's Open in August. Her husband and youngest daughter were with her in Portland. Her older daughter, Monica, plays golf at Boston University.

Vincent, who arrived with four wins in 2026 including the Internationaux de France Seniors Dames, was also making her championship debut. Her runner-up finish earns her exemptions into the next three U.S. Senior Women's Amateurs, and she said she plans to be back.

Notable

Zhong is the first No. 1 seed and the first medalist to win the championship since Tennant in 2021.

She is the eighth international champion in U.S. Senior Women's Amateur history and the sixth USGA champion from the People's Republic of China, joining Fumie Jo (2014 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links), Lei Ye (2019 U.S. Girls' Junior), Wenyi Ding (2022 U.S. Junior Amateur), and Aaron Du and Sampson Zheng (2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball).

It was the ninth 1-up final in championship history and the first since 2023.

What Zhong earns: a gold medal, a year's custody of the trophy, a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, spots in the 2027 U.S. Women's Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2 and the 2028 U.S. Women's Amateur at Brae Burn C.C., and two-year exemptions into the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women's Open (2027 and 2028).

Up next: The 2027 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur heads to Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.

There will be a first-time champion at Portland Golf Club. Medalist Xiaolong Zhong (No. 1 seed) and France's Amandine Vincent (No. 2) will meet in Thursday's 18-hole championship match after a Wednesday in which all three former champions left in the quarterfinals were knocked out. It's the first time in championship history the top two seeds have met for the title, and both players are making their U.S. Senior Women's Amateur debuts.

Zhong beats two champions on the 18th hole

Zhong needed the final hole twice. In the morning quarterfinal she was 2 up for much of the match against 2024 champion Nadene Gole of Australia, lost the 16th to fall back to all square, then birdied No. 18 to win, 1 up.

That set up a semifinal against hometown favorite Lara Tennant, who had beaten Lynne Cowan, 2 and 1, in the morning. Tennant birdied the first and fourth holes and led 3 up through 12, but Zhong won Nos. 13, 14 and 15 to square the match. On the 451-yard 18th she reached the green, chipped close and made birdie to end Tennant's week, 1 up. "Both matches were very tough," Zhong said.

Tennant, a three-time champion, went 5-1 on the week and is now 31-6 all-time in U.S. Senior Women's Amateur match play.

Vincent wins two more on the last

Vincent also needed the 18th hole twice. Phoenix's Anjeanette Brown, who had ousted defending champion Dawn Woodard on Tuesday, erased an early 3-down deficit to square their quarterfinal on No. 14. After three halved holes, Brown bogeyed the 18th and Vincent advanced, 1 up.

In the afternoon, Vincent trailed Argentina's Maria Olivero, who had eliminated 2022 champion Shelly Stouffer in the quarterfinals, 1 down at the turn. Vincent won Nos. 12 and 14, Olivero squared it with a birdie on 16, and Vincent closed out a 1-up win with a par on 18.

Notable

All four semifinal and quarterfinal matches involving the finalists were decided on the 18th hole.

Zhong is the first medalist to reach the final since Stouffer in 2024. A win would make her the first medalist champion since Tennant in 2021 and the first champion from the People's Republic of China.

A Vincent win would make her the first French champion of this event and France's third USGA champion, joining Catherine Lacoste (1967, 1969) and Sandrine Mendiburu (1990).

All eight quarterfinalists earned exemptions into the 2027 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.

What's next: The 18-hole championship match begins at 9 a.m. PT Thursday. Admission is free. The champion and runner-up earn spots in the 2027 U.S. Senior Women's Open.

Lara Tennant's homecoming isn't over yet. The 59-year-old Portland native and three-time champion outlasted 2023 runner-up Brenda Kuehn in 23 holes Monday. It was the marquee match of the Round of 64 at Portland Golf Club.

Tennant fell 2 down early before winning three straight holes on Nos. 8-10. Kuehn answered with wins on 14 and 16 to square the match, and Tennant needed an up-and-down on 18 to force extra holes. On the fifth extra hole, the par-5 fifth, Tennant made birdie to end it. "I had to make a birdie on the fifth extra hole, and, you know, luckily, the putt went in," Tennant said. "Brenda is a tremendous competitor. She is a grinder."

That sets up a Tuesday Round-of-32 match between Tennant and Ellen Port, who have combined for six U.S. Senior Women's Amateur titles. Port needed 19 holes to get past Michigan State head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll in a match where neither player led by more than 1 up. Slobodnik-Stoll won the 17th to square it, but Port made a routine par on the first extra hole to advance. "We're dear, dear friends, and we both want each other to play well," Tennant said of the matchup.

Tara Joy-Connelly needed just 13 holes to beat Sarah Ingram, 6 and 5. Her day turned on the 108-yard, par-3 fourth, where she holed a wedge for the championship's second ace of the week. It sparked a run of six straight winning holes. It was Joy-Connelly's second hole-in-one in USGA competition, and she is playing in her 44th USGA championship.

Notable

Medalist Xiaolong Zhong advanced with a 3-and-2 win over Alejandra Partearroyo-Hillman, who had claimed the final spot in the bracket through Monday morning's playoff.

Eunice Cho's 9-and-8 win over Leigh Klasse is the largest margin of victory in championship history, topping the previous record of 8 and 7.

Seven of the eight former champions advanced: Port, Tennant, Sarah Gallagher, Nadene Gole, Judith Kyrinis, Shelly Stouffer and defending champion Dawn Woodard. The only former champion eliminated was 2015 winner Karen Garcia, who fell to Kim Keyer-Scott, 2 and 1.

What's next: The Round of 32 is Tuesday morning. Match play concludes with Thursday morning's 18-hole championship match.

Xiaolong Zhong turned stroke play on its head Sunday at Portland Golf Club. After opening with a 6-over 78, the Northern California resident fired a bogey-free 5-under 67, an 11-stroke improvement, to earn medalist honors at 1-over 145. Her 67 ties the lowest round in U.S. Senior Women's Amateur history, matching Betty Probasco (1991) and Toni Wiesner (1998), and was four strokes better than any other score posted over the two days.

Zhong birdied Nos. 2 and 3, added another at the 290-yard, par-4 sixth to turn at 3 under, then picked up two more birdies on the back nine. "My putting was the strongest part of my game," she said. "But really, everything." Playing in her third USGA championship of the year, Zhong has won six NCGA titles in 2026 and was low amateur at the U.S. Senior Women's Open.

Co-first-round leaders Amandine Vincent and Tina Papatolis both slipped back. Vincent shot 75 to finish second at 2-over 146, while Papatolis posted an 80 to finish eighth. The top five, Zhong, Vincent, Daphne Mulder, Judith Kyrinis and Kristine Franklin, represent five different countries.

Notable

The match-play cut fell at 20-over 164, with eight players returning Monday morning for an 8-for-7 playoff for the final spots in the bracket.

All eight past champions in the field advanced to match play: Sarah Gallagher, Karen Garcia, Nadene Gole, Judith Kyrinis, Ellen Port, Shelly Stouffer, Lara Tennant and defending champion Dawn Woodard.

Three-time champion Lara Tennant rebounded from her opening 79 with a 75 and is the only Oregonian in the match-play field.

Brenda Kuehn made match play for the sixth straight year and has now reached match play in USGA championships in six different decades, dating to the 1979 U.S. Girls' Junior.

What's next: The playoff begins at 7:45 a.m. PT Monday on No. 10, with Round-of-64 matches scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Match play continues through Thursday morning's 18-hole championship match.

The leaderboard has turned over atop the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur at Portland Golf Club. France's Amandine Vincent has moved into the outright lead at even par through seven holes of her second round, jumping ahead of co-overnight leader Tina Papatolis, who has slipped to solo third at 3-over through eight. Xiaolong Zhong, already in the clubhouse, sits second at 1-over.

Judith Kyrinis and Daphne Mulder share fourth at +4. Defending champion Dawn Woodard holds steady in a tie for sixth at +5 alongside Kristine Franklin, squarely in position as the field plays toward the low-64 cut for match play. Several groups remain on course as second-round scores continue to post.

Portland Golf Club provided a demanding opening test at the 64th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, with Amandine Vincent of France and Tina Papatolis of Canada the only players in the 132-player field to break par. The course, a past USGA championship venue that also hosted the 1947 Ryder Cup, played to a first-round scoring average of 83.7, more than two strokes higher than last year's opening-round average of 81.07. Vincent, making her U.S. amateur debut, and Papatolis both posted 1-under 71s to share the lead after the opening round of stroke play.

Vincent makes immediate impact

Vincent arrived in Portland with four victories in 2026, including the Internationaux de France Seniors Dames, and quickly adapted to her first senior amateur event in the United States. She led the field with six birdies, making four over her opening six holes to reach 3 under. A difficult stretch on the back nine brought her back to even par, but consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 helped her finish at 1 under. Vincent credited her putting after a round in which birdies were difficult to find across the field.

Papatolis joins the lead

Papatolis, a Toronto native who lives in Issaquah, Wash., matched Vincent with five birdies in her 71. Starting on No. 10, she was 1 over when she reached the third hole before making three consecutive birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 6. A bogey at the ninth, her final hole, left her alongside Vincent at the top.

Tennant opens with 79

Three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Lara Tennant, a Portland native, opened with a 7-over 79 and was the best placed of the five Oregon natives in the field. Her sister, Cappy Mack, finished at 10 over.

Notable

Loren le Gassick provided one of the day's highlights with a hole-in-one on the 99-yard, par-3 fourth. She used a gap wedge for the fifth ace of her career and first in USGA competition. It was the 14th hole-in-one in championship history and the first since Christie Blasi in 2022. Ginny Burkey was a late addition to the field after Carolyn Creekmore withdrew Friday morning. Burkey, a Delta Airlines flight attendant, had been working in London before flying back to Portland and checking in Friday afternoon. The championship continues with the second round of stroke play, after which the field will be reduced from 132 players to 64 for match play.