Morgan Ellison & Katie Scheck
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Morgan Ellison and Katie Scheck won the 11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship on the first hole of sudden death Wednesday, edging 15-year-old Floridians Grace Carter and Alexandra Snyder at Daniel Island Club’s Ralston Creek Course in a final that swung four times across 19 holes.
The No. 3 seeds, both 23 and post-college amateurs, ended a five-year teenage-champion streak that had defined the event since 2021. Carter and Snyder, the No. 21 seed who had spent the week dispatching higher-seeded sides by 4 or more holes, took the match deep but couldn’t hold their early lead. Ellison and Scheck closed it out on the par-4 first — the championship’s 19th hole — for a 1-up extra-holes victory.
It is the first U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title for both players, and the first time since 2021 that the championship has not been won by a teenage duo.
Final — what you need to know
- Ellison & Scheck won on the 19th hole. The first hole of sudden death — the par-4 first played as the 19th — ended a final that had been all square through 18.
- The match swung four times. Carter/Snyder went 1 up at the 3rd. Ellison/Scheck went 1 up at the 10th. The match was tied at the 13th, 17th, and through 18 before sudden death.
- The teenage-champion streak ends at five. Every winner from 2021 through 2025 was a teenage duo. Ellison and Scheck, both 23, are the first non-teenage champions of the modern era.
- Ellison & Scheck never trailed a side seeded above them. They won every match they played as the higher seed across all five rounds of match play.
- Carter & Snyder finish runners-up at 15. They’re the youngest losing finalists in event history. Both Floridians earn two-year exemptions into 2027 and 2028.
A 19-Hole Final That Swung Four Times
Carter and Snyder set the tone early. Tied through two, the 15-year-old Floridians made a routine par on the par-5 third while Ellison and Scheck dropped a stroke for a 6 — one hole, 1-up lead. They held it for six holes. Through eight, Carter and Snyder were 1 up against opponents who hadn’t won a hole all afternoon.
The match flipped on the back nine. Ellison and Scheck birdied the par-3 ninth to draw even. They won the 10th to take a 1-up lead. They held that lead through 12, then traded back-and-forth wins through the closing holes — tied at the 13th, ahead at the 15th, tied at the 17th, then halved 18 with both sides making par on the 491-yard par-5 closer.
All square after 18. Sudden death. Back to the par-4 first. On the only hole that mattered, Ellison and Scheck won it. The 11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball belonged to the No. 3 seed.
Match Status, Hole by Hole
| Hole | Par | Status After | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | 4–4 | All square | Both sides matched pars |
| 3 | 5 | Carter/Snyder 1 up | First swing of the match |
| 4–8 | 3-4-5-4-4 | Carter/Snyder 1 up | Five halved holes |
| 9 | 3 | All square | Ellison/Scheck birdie 2 ties match |
| 10 | 4 | Ellison/Scheck 1 up | Second swing |
| 11–12 | 5–3 | Ellison/Scheck 1 up | Both halved |
| 13 | 4 | All square | Carter/Snyder win the hole |
| 14 | 4 | All square | Halved |
| 15 | 3 | Ellison/Scheck 1 up | Third swing |
| 16 | 4 | Ellison/Scheck 1 up | Halved |
| 17 | 4 | All square | Carter/Snyder force the issue |
| 18 | 5 | All square | Both par the par-5 closer |
| 19 | 4 | Ellison/Scheck win | First sudden-death hole |
The Week That Got Them Here
For Ellison and Scheck, the championship was a five-day demonstration of a single skill: closing matches against sides seeded below them. They were the No. 3 seed at the start of match play and the only side to win every match they played as the higher seed. Three of those wins came by 1-up margins. One came in 21 holes when their suspended quarterfinal resumed Wednesday morning at 7:15 AM EDT and resolved on the very first hole back. The semifinal and final required everything they had.
Their bracket also had a personal storyline. In the Round of 32, they defeated a side that included Mary Janiga Kartes — Ellison’s former assistant coach at UTSA. Ellison and Scheck won that match 1 up, the first of their three 1-up wins of the week.
Carter & Snyder: The Best Runners-Up Run in Recent Memory
Carter and Snyder won three matches by 4 holes or more before reaching the final. They were the highest-margin side of the championship, taking down the No. 5 seed Raja/Sun and No. 20 LaBarbera/Thomas (the Round of 16’s 24-hole record-holders) by 6 and 5 each. Their 4-and-2 semifinal win over the last exempt side, Ole Miss teammates Linder and Miller, was their fourth straight match decided by four holes or more. The final was the first all-square match they had played all week.
Both players were 15 years old at trophy presentation. Carter was a U.S. National Junior Team member who had reached the semifinals of the 2025 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Snyder was her partner. They are the youngest losing finalists in U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball history and earned two-year exemptions into the 2027 (Farmington Country Club) and 2028 events.
Path Through the Bracket
| Round | Champions: Ellison / Scheck | Runners-Up: Carter / Snyder |
|---|---|---|
| R32 | def. Dinh / Janiga Kartes, 1 up | def. (12) Jia / Little, 4 and 2 |
| R16 | def. (14) Lemmon / Snively, 1 up | def. (5) Raja / Sun, 6 and 5 |
| QF | def. (22) Cook / Yelverton, 21 holes | def. (20) LaBarbera / Thomas, 6 and 5 |
| SF | def. (23) Davis / Huber, 2 and 1 | def. (16) Linder / Miller, 4 and 2 |
| FINAL | def. Carter / Snyder, 19 holes | — |
The 11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, By the Numbers
★ Five Days, Five Storylines
The Champions: Ellison & Scheck Closed Every Match They Were Favored In
Five matches as the higher seed. Five wins. Three by 1 up, one in 21 holes (the Wednesday-morning resumption), and one over Davis/Huber in the semifinals. Then the final, against opponents seeded 18 below them, decided in extras. The most narrow-margin championship run in recent memory.
The 24-Hole Record
Jordy LaBarbera and Sarah Thomas’s Round of 16 win over cousins Elle Nachmann and Juno Taino — sealed by Thomas’s 96-yard hole-out eagle on the par-5 sixth in the playoff — broke the championship’s 22-hole match-length record that had stood since 2019. Two of the three longest matches in event history were played at Daniel Island this week.
The Medalists Couldn’t Close It
Stanford signees Jude Lee and Nikki Oh ran away with stroke-play medalist honors at 12-under 132 — the largest medalist margin in event history. They had not trailed in any match through 52 holes. Then Ole Miss teammates Sophie Linder and Mary Miller put nine birdies on them in the Round of 16, closing it out 2 up. The trend held: only two stroke-play medalists in 11 editions have gone on to win this title.
A 13-Year-Old Tied a Record
Iris Lee, 13, of Rockledge, Fla., the youngest player in the field, helped tie the championship’s 22-hole record on Monday with partner Hannah Hall. The pair survived DeLoach/Sullivan in extras, then upset No. 2 Reisner/Schafer 4 and 3 in the Round of 16 before falling to Davis/Huber in the quarterfinals after leading by 3 with 9 holes to play. Lee was the youngest quarterfinalist in event history.
The Qualifiers Took Over
Of the 13 sides that arrived at Daniel Island with full exemptions, six missed the stroke-play cut. Six more lost in the Round of 32 or 16. Only Linder/Miller advanced as far as the semifinals. The quarterfinals were six qualifier sides and one credentialed pair. The final was two qualifier sides. The bracket got the year it had been threatening to deliver.
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Longest Matches in Event History
| Year | Match | Holes | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | LaBarbera / Thomas def. Nachmann / Taino | 24 | Round of 16 RECORD |
| 2026 | Hall / Lee def. DeLoach / Sullivan | 22 | Round of 32 |
| 2026 | Ellison / Scheck def. Cook / Yelverton | 21 | Quarterfinals |
| 2019 | Rawl / Vardas def. Buck / Johnson | 22 | Round of 32 |
| 2026 | Ellison / Scheck def. Carter / Snyder | 19 | Final |
What’s Next
The 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball heads to Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. Ellison and Scheck are exempt as defending champions. Carter and Snyder are exempt into both 2027 and 2028 as semifinalists. Quarterfinalists Chuang/Xu, LaBarbera/Thomas, Hall/Lee, and Cook/Yelverton are also exempt into 2027.
Carter, Snyder, and Iris Lee will all be eligible for the U.S. Girls’ Junior next month. Hall, Davis, and Huber close out their college spring seasons. Lee and Oh head to Stanford.
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Become a Member →Five days. Twenty-eight matches. Four extra-hole thrillers. One sudden-death final. The 11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship belongs to Morgan Ellison and Katie Scheck.
