11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball — Round 1 Coverage
Charleston, S.C.
What you need to know — after Round 1
- Three-way tie at the top. Lee/Oh, Reisner/Schafer, and Nachmann/Taino all carded 6-under 66 in cold, rainy, windy Lowcountry conditions.
- Two of the three lead sides went bogey-free — Lee/Oh and Reisner/Schafer. Four sides total finished R1 without a dropped shot.
- 2021 champions Savannah Barber and Alexa Saldana are alone in fourth at 5-under 67, the only past-champion or credentialed exempt side in the top tier.
- The 2025 finalists are not in the top 7. Singh/Yun, Dovhey/Dyer, and Cherry/Slatton all opened outside the leaderboard’s first page.
- Reagan Ramage hit the opening tee shot of the 2026 USGA championship season.
- Round 2 begins Sunday morning. The cut to the low 32 sides for match play is set Sunday afternoon.
Round 1: Three Sides Share Lead at Rain-Soaked Daniel Island
Cold rain and a steady Lowcountry wind didn’t slow the top of the leaderboard at Daniel Island Club on Saturday. Three sides shot 6-under 66 to share the 18-hole lead at the 11th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, with two of the three trios finishing the round bogey-free. The cut to the low 32 sides for match play comes Sunday after Round 2.
U.S. National Junior Team members Jude Lee (Walnut, Calif.) and Nikki Oh (Torrance, Calif.)—both Stanford signees—closed their bogey-free 66 with three birdies over their final five holes. The pair has played together long enough to settle into clearly defined roles.
“Nikki is a more aggressive player, who shoots for a lot of the pins and makes a lot of the birdies, whereas I’m more conservative and keep things steady by making sure we always have a par secured—freeing Nikki up to attack the pin.”— Jude Lee
Alongside Lee and Oh at the top, another Southern California pair—Kiley Reisner of Northridge and Summer Schafer of San Diego—also went bogey-free. Reisner, a freshman at Wyoming, birdied two of her first three holes before Schafer added another at the sixth. They added birdies at 12, 14, and 16, then saved a clutch 10-foot par on the par-5 18th to seal the round.
The third side at 6-under is the most narratively rich pairing in the field. Cousins Elle Nachmann (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Juno Taino (Studio City, Calif.) raced to 6-under through their first 12 holes before bogeying two of the next three. Two more birdies over the final three holes salvaged the share of the lead. Nachmann is a Penn graduate playing her sixth U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with her fifth different partner; Taino, 15, is making her championship debut with her older cousin on the bag of leadership.
The rest of the leaderboard’s top tier was led by 2021 champions Savannah Barber and Alexa Saldana, alone in fourth at 5-under 67 after seven birdies. The pair, who plan to turn professional later this year, are competing in their final U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball together. Saldana posted three of her five birdies over the final five holes.
“I think it’s nice to be on the course sharing the experience with someone else, especially when it’s your best friend. We’ve just known each other so long and the [Women’s Amateur Four-Ball] is such a great tournament.”— Alexa Saldana
Indiana sophomores Ressie Lemmon (15) and Taylor Snively (16)—tied for the third-youngest pair in the field—also went bogey-free for a 4-under 68, finishing in a T5 with Cienna Lee and Niuniu Zhao. Snively closed with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.
Round 1 Leaderboard — Top Sides
| Pos | Side | R1 | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Elle Nachmann / Juno Taino | 66 | −6 |
| T1 | Kiley Reisner / Summer Schafer | 66 | −6 |
| T1 | Jude Lee / Nikki Oh | 66 | −6 |
| 4 | Savannah Barber / Alexa Saldana | 67 | −5 |
| T5 | Ressie Lemmon / Taylor Snively | 68 | −4 |
| T5 | Cienna Lee / Niuniu Zhao | 68 | −4 |
| T7 | Amelia Garibaldi / Katelyn Lehigh | 69 | −3 |
Round 1 Notables
- Krysta Loftin played as a solo after her partner withdrew. She shot 7-over 79 in the rain.
- Four sides finished R1 bogey-free: Reisner/Schafer (66), Lee/Oh (66), Lemmon/Snively (68), and Olivia Deakins/Madison Le (70).
- Annie Chi (14) and Aubrey Lee (14), the youngest combined side in the field, carded four birdies for an even-par 72.
- Seventeen players in the field are from the U.S. National Development Program, including co-leaders Lee and Oh. Seven of the 17 are from California.
- Reagan Ramage of Burlington, Ky., 18, hit the opening tee shot of the entire 2026 USGA championship season.
- Elle Nachmann is playing with her fifth different partner in six U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball appearances—cousin Juno Taino, whose father Eric won the 1992 US Open Boys Doubles tennis title.
The Bigger Picture: A Wide-Open Title Race
For the first time in five years, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be decided without its defending champions in the field. Natalie Yen, who routed the bracket alongside Asia Young last May at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, is now a freshman at Texas A&M. Her partner went home to Bend without a defense partner, and 2024 champions Asterisk Talley and Sarah Lim are also absent from the 64-side draw.
That left the 11th playing of the championship as the most wide-open four-ball field since the event debuted at Bandon Dunes in 2015. Thirteen sides arrived with full exemptions; the other 51 came through 29 qualifying sites between August and December. Saturday’s opening round confirmed it: the leaderboard’s first page is dominated by qualifying sides and just one credentialed exempt team. By Wednesday afternoon, two teenagers will likely be hoisting the trophy—or, if a 64-year-old former USGA champion has anything to say about it, defying a five-year teenage streak.
Event basics
Daniel Island Club: Ralston Creek by the Numbers
Daniel Island Club sits on a marsh-laced peninsula a few miles north of downtown Charleston, with two championship layouts woven through tidal creeks and Lowcountry waterways. The Beresford Creek Course, designed by Tom Fazio, opened in 2000. Six years later, Rees Jones delivered Ralston Creek—the venue for this week’s championship—a course that hosted the 2009, 2010, and 2011 Korn Ferry Tour Championships and, in 2023, the U.S. Junior Amateur won by Bryan Kim.
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, with five par-4s on the front and four on the back, and balances three par-3s and three par-5s across the round.
| 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 |
Schedule of Play
| Date | Day | Round | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2 | Saturday | Stroke play, Round 1 | ✓ Complete |
| May 3 | Sunday | Stroke play, Round 2 — cut to low 32 sides | Today |
| May 4 | Monday | Round of 32, match play | Upcoming |
| May 5 | Tuesday | Round of 16 & quarterfinals | Upcoming |
| May 6 | Wednesday | Semifinals & 18-hole championship match | Upcoming |
The 13 Exempt Sides
The USGA accepted 382 side entries (764 individual golfers) for the 2026 championship—the third-largest entry total in event history. Thirteen sides are fully exempt based on past USGA performance or Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking standing. Of those 13, only Barber/Saldana cracked the top 7 of the Round 1 leaderboard.
| Side | Hometown | Exemption Source |
|---|---|---|
| Savannah Barber / Alexa Saldana | Fort Worth, Texas / Mexico | 2021 champions |
| Athena Singh / Keira Yun | Morehead, Ky. / Lexington, Ky. | 2025 runners-up |
| Bella Dovhey / Sophia Dyer | Orlando, Fla. / St. Petersburg, Fla. | 2025 semifinalists |
| Savannah Cherry / Lauren Slatton | Brentwood, Tenn. / McMinnville, Tenn. | 2024 semifinalists |
| Sydney Hackett / Melanie Walker | Charlotte, N.C. / Southern Pines, N.C. | 2024 semifinalists |
| Chloe Johnson / Faith Johnson | — | 2025 quarterfinalists |
| Anya Mathur / Ailis Tribolet | Scottsdale, Ariz. / Chandler, Ariz. | 2025 quarterfinalists |
| Kate Tilma / Meg Tilma | Wichita, Kan. / Wichita, Kan. | 2025 quarterfinalists |
| Olivia Duan / Catherine Rao | — | WAGR top 400 |
| Ryann Honea / Emma Kaiser Bunch | — | WAGR top 400 |
| Mary Miller / Sophie Linder | Savannah, Ga. / Carthage, Tenn. | WAGR top 400 |
| Jude Lee / Nikki Oh | Walnut, Calif. / Torrance, Calif. | WAGR top 400 |
| Lara Tennant / Ellen Port | Portland, Ore. / St. Louis, Mo. | WAGR top 400 |
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Lara Tennant & Ellen Port
In a championship that has been won by a teenage duo for five consecutive years, Tennant and Port are the field’s built-in counter-narrative. Port is a seven-time USGA champion and a former Curtis Cup captain. Tennant is a multi-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion. Their experience in coastal wind makes them a serious match-play threat. The previous-oldest co-champion was 22-year-old Taylor Totland in 2017.
Savannah Barber & Alexa Saldana
The 2021 champions still hold the record for the largest winning margin in a championship match—5 and 4 over Bourdage/Weidenfeld at Maridoe Golf Club. They opened R1 at 5-under 67 in their final U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before turning professional later this year. Seven birdies in difficult conditions. They are the field’s most physically mature side and the only credentialed exempt team in the top tier after one round.
Sister Sides: Tilma & Johnson
Sister sides have a strong championship pedigree—the Craig sisters (Caroline and Catie) and Lehigh sisters (Katelyn and Lauren) tied for low 36-hole score in 2024 with matching 128s. Both Kate & Meg Tilma (2025 quarterfinalists) and Chloe & Faith Johnson (also 2025 QF) hold exemptions in 2026.
Mary Miller & Sophie Linder
Both players are inside the WAGR top 400 and bring SEC-tested course-management to the four-ball format. Miller posted one of the lowest 36-hole scores at Oak Hills in 2024 (130) alongside Abby Newton. The home-region setting—Miller is from Savannah, an hour’s drive from Daniel Island—adds a comfort factor.
USGA History at Daniel Island Club
This is the second USGA championship contested at Daniel Island Club, and the first conducted on the Ralston Creek layout for a women’s national title. The club’s prior USGA hosting—the 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur—produced one of the most memorable finals in recent junior golf, with Bryan Kim defeating New Zealand’s Joshua Bai 2 up after multiple weather delays pushed the match a full day past schedule. It was the first time in 21 years the U.S. Junior Amateur finished a day later than scheduled.
Daniel Island has also hosted three Korn Ferry Tour Championships (2009–2011), the 2018 Trusted Choice Big “I” National Championship, and the 2025 Bryson Invitational. This is the second U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball contested in South Carolina, joining the 2017 edition at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.
Past Champions: A Decade of Four-Ball
Since the championship debuted at Bandon Dunes in 2015, 18 different players have hoisted the trophy across 10 contested editions (the 2020 championship was canceled due to COVID-19). Erica Shepherd remains the only player to win both the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball (2019) and the U.S. Girls’ Junior (2017).
| 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. |
How Four-Ball Match Play Works
Four-ball is a partner format where each player plays her own ball throughout the round. On every hole, the better of the two scores from each side is the side’s score. In match play, that score is then compared to the opposing side’s better score, and a hole is won, lost, or halved.
The format is distinct from foursomes (alternate shot), where one ball is shared between partners. Foursomes punishes mistakes; four-ball rewards aggression. A side can leverage one player’s strengths without putting the other partner’s tee shot at risk. The winning side is typically the one that consistently posts birdies, especially on reachable par-5s and short par-4s—exactly what the three R1 leaders did Saturday.
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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 Sunday afternoon, 32 sides will be left. By Wednesday evening, only one. Round 2 begins Sunday morning, and the cut comes that afternoon. AmateurGolf.com’s on-the-ground reporting continues all week.
