The 39th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur is the USGA's national championship for the career amateur — every player in the 132-woman field is at least 25 years old and carries a Handicap Index of 9.4 or better. From Aug. 29 to Sept. 3, they will contest two rounds of stroke play and then a single-elimination match-play bracket over the second and third nines at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J.

It is only the second time the championship has visited New Jersey — the first was 1997 at Atlantic City Country Club — and it lands at one of the country's most historic clubs, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. home course that has already hosted a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Women's Amateur. Below: everything you need to follow the week, and the full record as it fills in.

At a glance

Defending champion	Ina Kim-Schaad, Jupiter, Fla. (also won 2019) — in the field
Dates	Aug. 29 – Sept. 3, 2026
Championship venue	Montclair Golf Club — West Orange, N.J. (Course No. 2 & No. 3) · 5,763 yards, par 70
Format	36 holes of stroke-play qualifying, then a 64-player match-play bracket
Field / entries	132 competitors (average age 34.3) from a record 496 entries · qualifying at 29 sites
Eligibility	Amateur women who have turned 25 by Aug. 29 with a Handicap Index of 9.4 or lower
Match-play cut	Low 64 scorers advance; a playoff settles ties for the final spots
Trophy	The Mildred Gardiner Prunaret Trophy

Storylines to watch

A champion chasing rare air

Ina Kim-Schaad arrives as the defending champion and one of the most accomplished mid-amateurs of her era. The 42-year-old from Jupiter, Fla., outlasted Hanley Long in 23 holes last October at Monterey Peninsula Country Club — the longest championship match in event history — to claim a second title to go with her 2019 win, and became the first multiple champion since Julia Potter-Bobb in 2016. It was one of many highlights in a career that has taken her to the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Women's Amateur this year on exemptions earned by that win. No one has successfully defended the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur since Meghan Stasi in 2006 and 2007; Kim-Schaad will try to be the next.

Meghan Stasi's bid for history

Speaking of Stasi — the four-time champion (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012) is in the field at 48, chasing a fifth Prunaret Trophy that would break her tie with Ellen Port for the most victories in the championship's 39-year history. The Oakland Park, Fla., resident who grew up in Voorhees, N.J., is also the two-time reigning USA Curtis Cup captain (2024, 2026) and the youngest inductee in Florida State Golf Association Hall of Fame history. A win on home-state roots would be one of the great mid-amateur stories in years.

Nine former champions in the draw

Montclair's field includes nine past U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champions: Kathy Hartwiger (2002), Meghan Stasi (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012), Julia Potter-Bobb (2013, 2016), Lauren Greenlief (2015), Shannon Johnson (2018), Ina Kim-Schaad (2019, 2025), Blaksley Brock (2021), Krissy Carman (2022) and Kimberly Dinh (2023). Add four U.S. Senior Women's Amateur champions — Nadene Gole (2024), Judith Kyrinis (2017), Shelly Stouffer (2022) and Dawn Woodard (2025) — and this is a field stacked with players who already know how to win a national title.

Hanley Long's unfinished business

No one came closer last year than Hanley Long of Clarksville, Tenn., who pushed Kim-Schaad to a 23rd hole before falling. She returns as the 2025 runner-up, one of a strong group of recent deep-run players — including 2024 runner-up Lindsey Gahm and 2019 runner-up Talia Campbell — looking to turn near-misses into the Prunaret Trophy.

A historic stage in New Jersey

Montclair is only the second New Jersey host in championship history, and it brings a pedigree few clubs can match: a Robert Trent Jones Sr. home course that produced two more legendary architects in his sons Rees and Robert Trent Jones Jr. It has already crowned a U.S. Women's Amateur champion (Carol Semple Thompson, 1973) and a U.S. Amateur champion (Sam Randolph, 1985). The lone New Jerseyan in the field, Kate Granahan of Mountain Lakes, plays her home state as the reigning state Women's Mid-Amateur champion. At 5,763 yards and par 70 over a composite of the club's second and third nines, Montclair will reward precision over power.

Day-by-day schedule

Six days of golf: two stroke-play rounds to seed the bracket, then a knockout that shrinks by half every session.

Sat., Aug. 29	Stroke play, Round 1 (18 holes)
Sun., Aug. 30	Stroke play, Round 2 (18 holes). Low 64 advance; a playoff settles ties for the final spots.
Mon., Aug. 31	Round of 64, match play
Tue., Sept. 1	Round of 32 and Round of 16, match play
Wed., Sept. 2	Quarterfinals and semifinals, match play
Thu., Sept. 3	Championship match (18 holes)

How to follow

Like most USGA amateur championships, the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur is followed through live scoring rather than a linear TV broadcast. Here is where to keep up all week:

• AmateurGolf.com live scoring & coverage — round-by-round leaderboards, bracket updates and recaps. Follow our hub.
• USGA live scoring — hole-by-hole scoring and the official match-play bracket at championships.usga.org.
• USGA social channels — photos, highlights and updates from inside the ropes.

How the format works

The championship is two tournaments in one. The opening 36 holes of stroke play exist only to seed the field: everyone plays Saturday and Sunday, and the low 64 scorers advance. Ties for the final places in the bracket are broken by a playoff, and everyone else's week ends Sunday. The player with the lowest 36-hole total earns medalist honors.

From there it becomes single-elimination match play, where every score resets to zero. The Round of 64 begins Monday; the bracket then halves each day through the quarterfinals and semifinals before Thursday's 18-hole championship match decides the title.

Why the seed doesn't decide it: once match play starts, a medalist has no more cushion than a No. 64 seed. Last year proved the point at the other end of the draw — Ina Kim-Schaad needed 23 holes to win the final, the longest in championship history, before the trophy was decided.

The field

A record 496 players entered — up from the previous mark of 616 set in 2025 — for one of 132 places, filled through qualifying at 29 sites from June 24 to July 29 plus 32 exempt players. The low 64 after stroke play reach the match-play bracket.

By the numbers

Field size	132 competitors
Average age	34.3 years old
Age range	25 (Jensen Jalufka) to 63 (Mercedese Large)
U.S. states represented	31 (California leads with 14)
Countries represented	13 (110 of 132 players are U.S.-based)
Former champions in field	9

The defending champion

Ina Kim-Schaad — Jupiter, Fla. Two-time champion (2019, 2025) chasing a repeat. Won last year's final over Hanley Long in 23 holes, the longest in event history. A mental-performance coach for Fearless Golf, she played college golf at Northwestern and returned to competition after an 11-year hiatus; this year she has also teed it up in the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Women's Amateur.

Former champions in the field

• 2002 — Kathy Hartwiger
• 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 — Meghan Stasi
• 2013, 2016 — Julia Potter-Bobb
• 2015 — Lauren Greenlief
• 2018 — Shannon Johnson
• 2019, 2025 — Ina Kim-Schaad
• 2021 — Blaksley Brock
• 2022 — Krissy Carman
• 2023 — Kimberly Dinh

Notable players to watch

• Meghan Stasi, 48, Oakland Park, Fla. — four-time champion going for a record fifth; two-time USA Curtis Cup captain.
• Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran, 27, Charlotte, N.C. — NBC Sports and Golf Channel on-course reporter, two-time Curtis Cup player and a 2025 quarterfinalist; medalist at this year's North & South Women's Amateur.
• Lauren Greenlief, 35, Oakton, Va. — the 2015 champion, arriving on the heels of a seven-stroke win at the Canadian Women's Mid-Amateur.
• Brenda Kuehn, 61, Asheville, N.C. — USGA Executive Committee member playing her 62nd USGA championship and 19th Women's Mid-Amateur; a two-time Curtis Cup winner.
• Kate Granahan, 32, Mountain Lakes, N.J. — the field's only New Jerseyan, a three-time and reigning state Women's Mid-Amateur champion competing while expecting her first child.
• Dawn Woodard, 52, Greenville, S.C. — reigning U.S. Senior Women's Amateur champion with three titles already in 2026.
• Taya Battistella, 46, Bellingham, Wash. — former globe-trotting professional and Beijing Open winner, now a doctor of physical therapy back in the amateur ranks.

Other names to know

Recent deep-run players back for another try include 2025 semifinalists Katherine Zhu, Shannon Fish-Martin and Lindsey Gahm, plus quarterfinalists Jennifer Wang, Jasmeen Somrock and Justine Fournand. The international contingent — 13 countries in all — features European Women's Mid-Amateur champion Pauline Stein of Germany, Canadian veteran Judith Kyrinis and China's Xiaolong Zhong, low amateur at this year's U.S. Senior Women's Open. In all, 32 players earned exemptions, with the balance of the 132-woman field coming through sectional qualifying.

The course: Montclair Golf Club

Opened in 1893 and the 13th-oldest club in the country, Montclair is a rare 36-hole property built from four distinct nines. Tom Bendelow laid out the original course in 1899; Donald Ross redesigned the first and second nines and added a third in 1920, and Charles Banks introduced a fourth nine in 1928. Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Rees Jones later renovated all four, and Brian Schneider recently restored the 1920s designs on the second, third and fourth nines. For this championship, the USGA is using a composite of Course No. 2 and No. 3.

Hole by hole — 5,763 yards, par 70 (subject to change)

Hole	Yards	Par	Hole	Yards	Par
1	506	5	10	425	4
2	139	3	11	386	4
3	367	4	12	148	3
4	350	4	13	342	4
5	150	3	14	363	4
6	370	4	15	450	5
7	344	4	16	114	3
8	312	4	17	331	4
9	359	4	18	307	4
OUT	2,897	35	IN	2,866	35
TOTAL	5,763 yards · Par 70

A first family of golf architecture. Robert Trent Jones Sr. was a longtime Montclair member, and his sons Rees and Robert Trent Jones Jr. — both celebrated designers in their own right — learned the game at the club. Montclair was also a founding member of the Metropolitan (1897), Women's Metropolitan (1899) and New Jersey (1900) golf associations, and produced two USGA presidents in Charles Littlefield and Ike Grainger.

Championship history at Montclair

Montclair has hosted championship golf for more than a century, from New Jersey state titles to national events. Carol Semple Thompson won the 1973 U.S. Women's Amateur here, and Sam Randolph took the 1985 U.S. Amateur. The club has also staged the New Jersey Open, the Met Open, multiple New Jersey Women's Amateurs (Maureen Orcutt, Charlotte Glutting and Dorothy Porter among the winners) and, most recently, the 2023 New Jersey Women's Open won by Meaghan Francella.

Championship history

First played in 1987, the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur was created to give amateur women 25 and older a national stage of their own. Its honor roll runs deep: Carol Semple Thompson, Ellen Port and Meghan Stasi are among the multiple champions who have defined the event.

Notable champions

Ellen Port (four titles: 1995–96, 2000, 2011) and Meghan Stasi (four: 2006–07, 2010, 2012) share the record — and Stasi is in this year's field with a chance to break the tie. Carol Semple Thompson (1990, 1997) and Sarah LeBrun Ingram (1991, 1993–94) also won multiple times, as did Julia Potter-Bobb (2013, 2016) and Ina Kim-Schaad (2019, 2025). Recent champions include Kelsey Chugg (2017), Shannon Johnson (2018), Kimberly Dinh (2024) and Kim-Schaad.

New Jersey history

This is only the second U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur contested in New Jersey. The first, in 1997 at Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, went to Carol Semple Thompson — the same player who won the 1973 U.S. Women's Amateur at this week's host, Montclair.

The trophy and what the winner receives

The champion takes custody of the Mildred Gardiner Prunaret Trophy for one year and, more valuably, an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open. The full list of what awaits the winner:

• A gold medal and custody of the Mildred Gardiner Prunaret Trophy for one year
• Exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open at Inverness Club (must remain an amateur)
• Exemption into the next 10 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateurs
• Exemption into the next two U.S. Women's Amateurs
• Name engraved on the 2026 USGA Champions' plaque in the Hall of Champions, Liberty Corner, N.J.

Future U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur sites

2027	Country Club of Buffalo, Williamsville, N.Y. · Sept. 11–16
2028	Charlotte Country Club, Charlotte, N.C. · Sept. 23–28
2029	Country Club of York, York, Pa. · Sept. 22–27
2030	Sand Valley Resort, Nekoosa, Wis. · Sept. 7–12
2032	Jupiter Hills Club (Hills Course), Tequesta, Fla.
2033	Exmoor Country Club, Highland Park, Ill.
2034	The Golf Club of Tennessee, Kingston Springs, Tenn.
2035	Waverley Country Club, Portland, Ore.

U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur FAQ

Where is the 2026 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur being played?

Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J., using a composite of the club's Course No. 2 and No. 3. It plays to 5,763 yards and a par of 70.

When is it?

Aug. 29 through Sept. 3, 2026. Stroke play runs Saturday and Sunday, match play begins Monday, and the 18-hole championship match is Thursday, Sept. 3.

Who is the defending champion?

Ina Kim-Schaad of Jupiter, Fla., who won her second title in 2025 by defeating Hanley Long in 23 holes — the longest championship match in event history. She is in this year's field.

Who is eligible to play?

Any amateur woman who has reached her 25th birthday by Aug. 29, 2026 and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 9.4.

What is the format?

36 holes of stroke play seed the field; the low 64 advance to single-elimination match play, with a playoff to break ties for the final spots. The champion is decided in an 18-hole final.

Is it on TV?

Like most USGA amateur championships, it is followed primarily through live scoring rather than a linear broadcast. Follow leaderboards and the match-play bracket on AmateurGolf.com and at championships.usga.org.

What does the champion win?

A gold medal, one year's custody of the Mildred Gardiner Prunaret Trophy, an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open, exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateurs and the next two U.S. Women's Amateurs, and her name on the USGA Champions' plaque in Liberty Corner, N.J.

Our coverage

• Live scoring — stroke play and every match
• Qualifying roundup: how the field was set
• Official championship site (USGA)

This page will be updated throughout the week. Newest coverage appears at the top, directly under the live-status bar.