Top amateur golf moments of 2018, No. 6: The next big thing?
December 16, 2018 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: Yealimi Noh, U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur, a USGA Championship, Old Chatham Golf Club
In the summer of 2018, no one rode away with more hardware, with a winning streak crossing state lines and international borders.
Click here to see the whole list as it is revealed
A solid month of the amateur golf season belonged to 17-year-old Yealimi Noh. For weeks, she seemed unstoppable, and at the end of the summer, it wasn’t all that surprising to hear her say she would be looking past college golf and into turning pro in the near future.
Noh logged victories in consecutive weeks at the Girls’ Junior PGA Championship (where she was 24 under for 72 holes), the U.S. Girls’ Junior (where she had to play 49 holes on the final day when NorCal fog chopped up the early-week championship schedule) and the Canadian Women’s Amateur (where some of the nation’s top college players were at her heels).
Related: Yealimi Noh Goes 24 Under(!) to win the Girls Junior PGA
Related: Noh ends marathon day as U.S. Girls' Junior champion
Related: Noh's Winning Streak Continues at the Canadian Women's Am
The Concord, Calif., native also won the California Girls Junior at the end of June for a second time. She was a wire-to-wire winner at the Joanne Winter Silver Belle in December. Clearly, Noh found something in her game over the past few months that clicked.
“So Junior PGA, I was at the peak of my game, I was playing really well and I was really confident in my game,” Noh said at the end of the summer. “I was hitting it well, I think the main thing was I was putting it really well, making everything inside 15 feet, and same thing with the U.S. Junior.”
Other players noticed Noh’s streak, too, and felt the heat when they drew Noh in match-play events. Ultimately, Georgia senior Bailey Tardy ended Noh’s spectacular summer run in a dramatic 23-hole match in the second round of U.S. Women's Amateur match play.
“I knew it was going to be a good match,” Tardy said of a showdown that demanded precision from every aspect of her game to get the better of Noh.
AmateurGolf.com caught up with Noh in September to hear what she had to say about that magical summer amateur run and how it sets her up for an upcoming pro career.
About the U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur
The Girls Junior Amateur is one of 15 national championships conducted by the USGA. The event is open to female golfers who have not reached their 19th birthday prior to the close of competition and whose USGA Handicap Index does not exceed 5.4. Play...
Most Popular Articles
LIVE SCORING: 2026 Australian Men’s Amateur Championship
Feb 5, 2026Australia’s national amateur championship returns Feb. 3–6 at The Western Australian and Wanneroo.
2026 Ben Hogan Award Watch List: 35 Names to Know This Spring
Jan 29, 2026The 2026 Ben Hogan Award watch list is out—35 college golf standouts are in the early mix for the game’s top individual honor.
Titleist Fitting Philosophy: The Competitive Amateur’s Fastest Path to Lower Scores
Jan 26, 2026Competitive golf is a game of small edges. Titleist’s fitting approach combines expert human insight and honest data
NCAA Champion Michael La Sasso Turns Pro, Signs With LIV Golf
Jan 20, 2026Michael La Sasso is going LIV, joining Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC and passing on the 2026 Masters.
Early Invites Announced for the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur
Jan 24, 2026A running list of the first confirmed names headed to Augusta.