11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball — Round of 16
Charleston, S.C.
What you need to know — after Round of 32
- Three major upsets reshaped the bracket. The 2021 champions (Barber/Saldana), 2024 semifinalists (Cherry/Slatton), and 2025 runners-up (Singh/Yun) are all eliminated.
- Just 3 of 13 exempt sides remain — Lee/Oh, Linder/Miller, and Dovhey/Dyer. The bracket is now dominated by qualifying sides.
- Haley Davis and Katelyn Huber knocked out the 2021 champions 4 and 3 in Barber and Saldana’s final U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before turning pro.
- Jordy LaBarbera and Sarah Thomas posted the round’s biggest blowout, beating 2024 semifinalist Cherry/Slatton 6 and 4 from the No. 20 seed.
- Hannah Hall and Iris Lee survived 22 holes over Kathryn DeLoach and Elizabeth Sullivan in the day’s longest match.
- Round of 16 begins Tuesday at 7:30 AM EDT. Quarterfinals follow Tuesday afternoon. Semifinals and final are Wednesday.
Round of 32: Three Major Upsets Rewrite the Bracket
Match play arrived at Daniel Island Club with three credentialed exempt sides expected to anchor the bracket through the weekend. By Monday afternoon, all three were on planes home. The 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball is now a qualifiers’ tournament, with just three of the original 13 exempt sides still alive heading into Tuesday’s Round of 16.
The most consequential upset came on the No. 10 vs No. 23 line. Floridians Haley Davis (Ocala) and Katelyn Huber (Gainesville) defeated 2021 champions Savannah Barber and Alexa Saldana 4 and 3 — ending what Barber had announced as the duo’s final U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before both turn professional later this year. Davis and Huber arrived in match play after a Sunday 66 vaulted them into the bracket, and they carried that scoring momentum into Monday.
The second upset produced the round’s largest margin. From the No. 20 seed, Jordy LaBarbera and Sarah Thomas dismantled 2024 semifinalists Savannah Cherry and Lauren Slatton, 6 and 4 — a five-hole-and-out blowout that ended Cherry and Slatton’s final year of an exempt run. The Tennessee duo was carrying a third-year exemption and arrived at Daniel Island as a top contender in the preview.
The third upset was the closest. Sophie Linder and Mary Miller (No. 16), the WAGR-exempt SEC pair from Georgia and Tennessee, defeated 2025 runners-up Athena Singh and Keira Yun 2 and 1 in a tight Kentucky-vs-the-South match. Singh and Yun had climbed from outside the top 25 to the No. 17 seed by shooting Sunday’s low round of 66; Linder/Miller’s SEC course-management showed up when it mattered.
The Long Match: Hall & Lee Survive 22 Holes
From the No. 18 seed, Florida natives Hannah Hall (Rockledge) and Iris Lee (Orlando) outlasted Kathryn DeLoach and Elizabeth Sullivan in 22 holes — four extra holes deep, the longest match of the round. The win advances them to a Round of 16 matchup with No. 2 seed Reisner/Schafer.
Top seeds Lee and Oh handled their opener cleanly, taking out No. 32 Sadie Goodman and Yasmina Oralkhan 3 and 2. The Stanford signees haven’t lost a hole-by-hole match yet this week. They draw the Linder/Miller side — fresh off the Singh/Yun upset — in Tuesday’s Round of 16 opener.
No. 4 seed Nachmann and Taino survived a 1-up scare against No. 29 Page Bowman and Susanna Manns — a closer call than the cousins probably wanted. They’ll need cleaner work Tuesday against the LaBarbera/Thomas duo that just dismantled a 2024 semifinalist side.
No. 6 Garibaldi/Lehigh also escaped a 1-up match (over Bridget O’Keefe and Julie Shin), while the only mid-amateur side in the bracket — Kimberly Dinh and Mary Janiga Kartes — fell to No. 3 Ellison/Scheck 2 and 1, ending the championship’s lone mid-am storyline. No mid-amateur side has ever won this title in 11 years of the event.
Round of 32 Results
| Match | Result |
|---|---|
| (1) Lee / Oh def. (32) Goodman / Oralkhan | 3 and 2 |
| (16) Linder / Miller def. (17) Singh / Yun UPSET | 2 and 1 |
| (8) Deakins / Le def. (25) Montoya / Seidl | 4 and 2 |
| (9) Chuang / Xu def. (24) Chi / Lee | 4 and 2 |
| (4) Nachmann / Taino def. (29) Bowman / Manns | 1 up |
| (20) LaBarbera / Thomas def. (13) Cherry / Slatton UPSET | 6 and 4 |
| (5) Raja / Sun def. (28) Roberts / Roberts | 4 and 3 |
| (21) Carter / Snyder def. (12) Jia / Little UPSET | 4 and 2 |
| (2) Reisner / Schafer def. (31) Dorsey / Lee | 2 and 1 |
| (18) Hall / Lee def. (15) DeLoach / Sullivan 22 HOLES | 22 holes |
| (7) Dovhey / Dyer def. (26) Burnette / Spence | 4 and 2 |
| (23) Davis / Huber def. (10) Barber / Saldana UPSET | 4 and 3 |
| (3) Ellison / Scheck def. (30) Dinh / Kartes | 2 and 1 |
| (14) Lemmon / Snively def. (19) Lee / Zhao | 1 up |
| (6) Garibaldi / Lehigh def. (27) O’Keefe / Shin | 1 up |
| (22) Cook / Yelverton def. (11) Guertin / Guertin UPSET | 2 up |
Round of 16: Tuesday Tee Times
The Round of 16 tees off Tuesday at 7:30 AM EDT. Quarterfinals follow Tuesday afternoon. The complete Round of 16 draw:
| Time EDT | Seed | Side | vs | Seed | Side |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:30 | 1 | Lee / Oh | · | 16 | Linder / Miller |
| 7:42 | 8 | Deakins / Le | · | 9 | Chuang / Xu |
| 7:54 | 4 | Nachmann / Taino | · | 20 | LaBarbera / Thomas |
| 8:06 | 5 | Raja / Sun | · | 21 | Carter / Snyder |
| 8:18 | 2 | Reisner / Schafer | · | 18 | Hall / Lee |
| 8:30 | 7 | Dovhey / Dyer | · | 23 | Davis / Huber |
| 8:42 | 3 | Ellison / Scheck | · | 14 | Lemmon / Snively |
| 8:54 | 6 | Garibaldi / Lehigh | · | 22 | Cook / Yelverton |
Three Round of 16 Matches to Watch
7:30 AM — (1) Lee / Oh vs. (16) Linder / Miller
The medalists against the side that just took out the 2025 runners-up. Lee and Oh haven’t conceded a hole the entire week. Linder/Miller bring SEC course-management and momentum from a clean 2-and-1 win over a credentialed exempt side. If the medalists drop a hole here, it’ll be the first time anyone has put one on them through 38 holes of stroke and match play.
7:54 AM — (4) Nachmann / Taino vs. (20) LaBarbera / Thomas
The cousins survived a 1-up scare in the Round of 32. LaBarbera and Thomas just delivered the round’s biggest beat-down, taking out 2024 semifinalist Cherry/Slatton 6 and 4. If LaBarbera/Thomas keep that scoring level, this is the most likely upset of the Round of 16. Penn graduate Nachmann has played in five previous Four-Balls but never advanced past the Round of 16.
8:30 AM — (7) Dovhey / Dyer vs. (23) Davis / Huber
A pure Florida-vs-Florida storyline. Davis and Huber are the side that just sent the 2021 champions home in their farewell Four-Ball. Dovhey and Dyer were the 2025 semifinalists and are now one of just three remaining exempt sides. The winner becomes the favorite to push deep on the bottom half of the bracket.
The Bigger Picture: A Qualifiers’ Bracket
For the first time in the championship’s 11-year history, just three of 13 exempt sides have reached the Round of 16. The defending champions weren’t in the field. The 2024 champions weren’t in the field. Now the 2025 runners-up are gone, the 2021 champions are gone, and the deepest credentialed pair from the WAGR exemption tier (Tennant/Port) didn’t even make match play.
What’s left is a junior-heavy, qualifier-heavy bracket dominated by sides from California, Florida, and the Carolinas. Lee and Oh remain overwhelming favorites — they’re yet to drop a hole this week, on any leaderboard or in any match. But the format that produced 21-hole quarterfinals last year and a 22-hole match in this very Round of 32 has a way of producing finalists nobody projected on Wednesday morning.
★ Match Play Storylines
Davis & Huber: The Cinderella Story
A Sunday 66 got them into the bracket. A Monday upset of 2021 champions Barber/Saldana made them the talk of the championship. Davis and Huber face fellow Florida side Dovhey/Dyer in the Round of 16 with a chance to put together one of the most unlikely runs in event history. They opened R32 nobody’s pick. They’re still nobody’s pick. That keeps working in their favor.
Lee & Oh’s Untested Run
36 holes of bogey-free stroke play. A clean 3-and-2 R32 win. The medalists haven’t had to defend a lead at any point this week. Linder/Miller in the Round of 16 will be the first true test — an SEC-tested exempt side coming off an upset of credentialed players. If Lee/Oh reach the quarterfinals, they’ll likely get a Davis/Huber or Dovhey/Dyer side that’s already proven it can win pressure matches.
Cousins on Notice: Nachmann & Taino
The first-cousins storyline that got the bracket’s most preview attention barely made it through the Round of 32. Now they get LaBarbera/Thomas, who just won 6 and 4 from the No. 20 seed. Penn graduate Nachmann has now played five Four-Balls; she’s never advanced past the Round of 16. Tuesday morning, that record is on the line.
Lehigh’s Round-of-16 Wall
Last year, Katelyn Lehigh advanced to the Round of 32 and lost on the 20th hole. This year she’s back, with Fresno State teammate Amelia Garibaldi, having survived another close R32 by a 1-up margin. Round of 16 against No. 22 Cook/Yelverton (who just upset the Guertin sisters) is exactly the kind of match where Lehigh has stalled before. Her stated approach this time: “keep things light and crack jokes left and right.”
Exempt Sides — The Survivors
Of the 13 sides that arrived at Daniel Island with full exemptions, just three are still alive heading into Tuesday’s Round of 16.
| Side | Exemption Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Jude Lee / Nikki Oh | WAGR top 400 | In Round of 16 |
| Mary Miller / Sophie Linder | WAGR top 400 | In Round of 16 |
| Bella Dovhey / Sophia Dyer | 2025 semifinalists | In Round of 16 |
| Athena Singh / Keira Yun | 2025 runners-up | Lost R32 to Linder/Miller |
| Savannah Barber / Alexa Saldana | 2021 champions | Lost R32 to Davis/Huber |
| Savannah Cherry / Lauren Slatton | 2024 semifinalists | Lost R32 to LaBarbera/Thomas |
| Sydney Hackett / Melanie Walker | 2024 semifinalists | Missed cut |
| Chloe / Faith Johnson, Tilma sisters, Mathur/Tribolet, Duan/Rao, Honea/Bunch, Tennant/Port | QF / WAGR exemptions | Missed cut |
Schedule of Play
| Date | Day | Round | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2 | Saturday | Stroke play, Round 1 | ✓ Complete |
| May 3 | Sunday | Stroke play, Round 2 & cut | ✓ Complete |
| May 4 | Monday | Round of 32, match play | ✓ Complete |
| May 5 | Tuesday | Round of 16 & quarterfinals | Tomorrow • 7:30 AM EDT |
| May 6 | Wednesday | Semifinals & 18-hole championship match | Upcoming |
Follow Every Match Through Wednesday’s Final
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Stroke Play Recap (May 2–3)
Stanford signees Jude Lee and Nikki Oh shot consecutive rounds of 6-under 66 to take medalist honors at 12-under 132 — the largest medalist margin in U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball history. The U.S. National Junior Team duo went bogey-free across all 36 holes of stroke play, finishing four shots off the championship’s all-time scoring record.
Saturday’s rain-and-wind conditions saw three sides share the first-round lead at 6-under 66, including the storyline cousins Elle Nachmann and Juno Taino. Sunday’s sunshine produced a tied-second-lowest cut in event history at 3-under 141, with sides making the cut combining for 184 under par — more than triple the 57-under figure at Oak Hills last year.
Six of 13 credentialed exempt sides missed the cut, including the WAGR-exempt veteran pairing of Lara Tennant and Ellen Port that had been the championship’s built-in counter-narrative to the five-year teenage title streak.
Daniel Island Club: Ralston Creek by the Numbers
Daniel Island Club sits on a marsh-laced peninsula a few miles north of downtown Charleston. The Rees Jones–designed Ralston Creek Course is the venue for this week’s championship. At 6,501 yards from its championship tees, Ralston Creek is playing as the third-shortest setup in event history. The par-72 layout splits evenly into two par-36 nines.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36 |
| Yards | 382 | 388 | 560 | 144 | 347 | 516 | 401 | 335 | 173 | 3,246 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Yards | 408 | 514 | 174 | 417 | 372 | 138 | 381 | 360 | 491 | 3,255 |
Past Champions: A Decade of Four-Ball
A teenage duo has won every U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball since 2021 — five consecutive years. With the 2025 runners-up out, Lee and Oh remain the field’s best chance to extend the streak.
| Year | Champions | Margin | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Mika Liu & Rinko Mitsunaga | 4 and 3 | Bandon Dunes (Pacific Dunes), Ore. |
| 2016 | Hailee Cooper & Kaitlyn Papp | 19 holes | Streamsong (Blue), Fla. |
| 2017 | Alice Chen & Taylor Totland | 4 and 3 | Dunes G. & B.C., Myrtle Beach, S.C. |
| 2018 | Katrina Prendergast & Ellen Secor | 1 up | El Caballero C.C., Calif. |
| 2019 | Megan Furtney & Erica Shepherd | 2 and 1 | Timuquana C.C., Fla. |
| 2020 | Canceled (COVID-19 pandemic) | ||
| 2021 | Savannah Barber & Alexa Saldana | 5 and 4* | Maridoe G.C., Texas |
| 2022 | Thienna Huynh & Sara Im | 1 up | Grand Reserve G.C., Puerto Rico |
| 2023 | Gianna Clemente & Avery Zweig | 3 and 1 | The Home Course, Wash. |
| 2024 | Asterisk Talley & Sarah Lim | 4 and 2 | Oak Hills C.C., Texas |
| 2025 | Natalie Yen & Asia Young | 5 and 3 | Oklahoma City G&CC, Okla. |
Future U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Sites
- 2027: Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va. (May 15–19)
- 2028: Blessings Golf Club, Johnson, Ark. (May 13–17)
- 2029: Desert Mountain Club, Scottsdale, Ariz. (May 12–16)
- 2030: Erin Hills, Erin, Wis. (May 18–22)
- 2035: The Country Club of York, Pa. (May 19–23)
- 2037: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Ore. (TBD)
By Tuesday afternoon, four sides will be left. By Wednesday evening, only one. Lee and Oh remain the favorites, but the bracket has already proven its capacity for upsets — three of the field’s most credentialed teams are gone after just one round of match play. AmateurGolf.com’s on-the-ground reporting continues Tuesday morning.
