Lyla Louderbaugh Advances to Semifinals at the U.S. Women’s Amateur
Kansas golfer Lyla Louderbaugh secured a spot in the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur on Friday. After losing a 2-up lead against top-ranked Kiara Romero, Louderbaugh kept her cool and secured the victory in 20 holes at Bandon Dunes. Louderbaugh, who has been a two-time Kansas Women’s Amateur champion, will face Brooke Biermann in the next round. Biermann defeated Arianna Lau of Hong Kong with a score of 3-and-2. Megha Ganne, a senior at Stanford, also secured her spot in the semifinals after defeating Eila Galitsky of Thailand with a score of 2-and-1. Her next opponent will be Ella Scaysbrook of Australia, who had the shortest match of the quarterfinals, winning 5-and-4 against Taylor Kehoe of Canada. Louderbaugh took the lead against Romero, with an impressive shot on the 12th hole and another on the 13th hole. He was 2 up when Romero missed a putt on the 16th hole. However, the situation changed due to strong coastal winds, with gusts up to 30 mph. Louderbaugh sent his shot on the 17th hole off the green and into the bushes, while Romero managed to get his shot within 3 feet. On the 18th hole, Louderbaugh sent his shot into the bushes again, allowing Romero to win the hole.In the 10th hole, the first extra hole, Louderbaugh’s 7-foot birdie putt didn’t go in. On the 20th hole, Romero missed, and Louderbaugh made two putts from 20 feet to secure the victory.I went to the bathroom and told myself: “You were doing great on the last two holes. You don’t need to let the two mistakes affect you.” I told my caddie to let me think on my own, to go over the shots in my head. That helped me think clearly.
Lyla Louderbaugh
Ganne led by two holes early and by one hole when he made two 6-foot putts to stay ahead, before Galitsky made a mistake. Biermann was losing until he won three holes in a row, starting with a metal from the fairway to 3 feet on the 11th hole.I was confident that I could go out and beat her today.
Lyla Louderbaugh
