Hong-Gregory first off in talent-laden U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball starting Saturday at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club

Complete tee times and more information here

By Ken MacLeod

The first tee time off the first tee in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball traditionally goes to a popular local entry. Teeing off at 7:30 a.m. Saturday will be the Norman North duo of Harlow Gregory and Juliana Hong, not just any local entry but the only Oklahomans in the field of 64 teams that will vie for the championship at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club.

Gregory, a freshman, and Hong, a junior, come in having both had excellent spring seasons. Gregory won the Class 6A state championship Tuesday at Meadowbrook Country Club while Hong, the defending champion, placed third. One or the other has won every high school event for Norman North since the season began last fall.

This event, however, is an entirely different level of competition, both in terms of the nationally-ranked competitors and the course set up. Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, unlike most courses in the state, is completely devoid of winter kill thanks to an aggressive program in which all tee boxes and green surrounds stayed under tarps most of the winter. It will play at 6,330 yards to a par of 71 and the Perry Maxwell design with a Tripp Davis refresh in 2020 will be an excellent test for this format.

The teams will play 36 holes of stroke play over Saturday and Sunday with the top 32 teams reaching match play beginning Monday. The round of 32 will be Monday, the rounds of 16 and quarterfinals on Tuesday with semifinals and finals on Wednesday.

Defending champions Sarah Lim and Asterisk Talley of northern California are not in the field but there are dozens of talented duos with extensive AJGA and USGA resumes. There are 25 states represented including 13 competitors who played in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills and nine who played in the 2024 U.S. Girls Junior.

The six USGA champions in the event include Savannah Barber (2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Kimberly Dinh (2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Shannon Johnson (2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), , Alexa Saldana (2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Meghan Stasi (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) and Avery Zweig (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball).

Three other teams with Oklahoma connections are the sister duos of Kate and Meg Tilma of Wichita and Emerie and Avery Schartz of Wichita, all of whom played frequently on the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour growing up. Also Evyn Cannon, who lived in Edmond until moving to Florida last year, is in the field with her partner Dresden Bounds. Cannon was one of the top prospects in the state.

With a combined age of 31 (14 for Harlow and 17 for Hong), the Oklahoma duo is the third youngest in the field. The average age is 19 and the oldest team in combined age is Marissa Mar (33) and Stasi (46).

The event will be the 23^rd USGA Championship held in Oklahoma, with the most recent being the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club. This is the second USGA event for OKC G&CC, with the previous being the 1953 U.S. Amateur won by Gene Littler. Since the Davis renovation, the club has taken a more aggressive approach to hosting events, including the Jackson T. Stephens Cup last fall. Director of Golf Tim Fleming said the club would continue to seek out events it feels are appropriate going forward.

Winners will receive exemptions into the U.S. Women’s Amateur as well as the U.S. Junior Girls, U.S. Mid-Amateur or U.S. Senior Amateur, age dependent.

There is no charge for admission. Free parking with shuttles to the course are at the Renaissance Waterford Hotel at 6300 Waterford Blvd.

Saturday (May 10), Hole #1 / Sunday (May 11), Hole #1

7:30 a.m. / 10:50 a.m. – Harlow Gregory, Norman, Okla. & Juliana Hong, Norman, Okla.; Jodie Han, Lewis Center, Ohio & Meadow Tian, Delaware, Ohio

7:42 a.m. / 11:02 a.m. – Natalie Yen, West Linn, Ore. & Asia Young, Bend, Ore.; Lea Ludwig, Germany & Leena Stephens, The Woodlands, Texas

7:55 a.m. / 11:15 a.m. – Amanda Jacobs, Portland, Ore. & Gretchen Johnson, Portland, Ore.; Eva Brown, St. Louis, Mo. & Sarah Hyten, Edwardsville, Ill.

8:07 a.m. / 11:27 a.m. – Skylar Dean, Lewis Center, Ohio & Reagan Ramage, Burlington, Ky.; Fay Jia, Murrieta, Calif. & Cherry Zhang, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif

8:20 a.m. / 11:40 a.m. – Nicole Iniakov, Prunedale, Calif. & Sydney Silva, Castro Valley, Calif.; Lisa Copeland, Naperville, Ill. & Martha Kuwahara, Northbrook, Ill.

8:32 a.m. / 11:52 a.m. – Victoria Cui, Atherton, Calif. & Addison Claire Lee, Cupertino, Calif.; Sofia Benavides, Mexico & Aubri Braecklein, Northglenn, Colo.

8:45 a.m. / 12:05 p.m. – Kathryn Deloach, Athens, Ga. & Elizabeth Sullivan, Atlanta, Ga.; Isabel Emanuels, Austin, Texas & Lydia Portlock, San Antonio, Texas

8:57 a.m. / 12:17 p.m. – Meredith Finger, Wilmington, Del. & Reagan Garnsey, Camden, Del.; Kate Tilma, Wichita, Kan. & Meg Tilma, Wichita, Kan.

9:10 a.m. / 12:30 p.m. – Nina Choe, New York City, N.Y. & Ysabel Liu, Short Hills, N.J.; Isabelle Lynch, Bloomington, Minn. & Nicole Reineke, Chaska, Minn.

9:22 a.m. / 12:42 p.m. – Kary Hollenbaugh, New Albany, Ohio & Anna Ritter, New Albany, Ohio; Tatum Churchman, Prosper, Texas & Stephanie De Marco, Southlake, Texas

9:35 a.m. / 12:55 p.m. – Dresden Bounds, San Antonio, Texas & Evyn Cannon, Edmond, Okla.; Alisa Davidova, Roanoke, Va. & Raquel Walker, Burke, Va.

9:47 a.m. / 1:07 p.m. – Kate Hu, San Diego, Calif. & Zoe Jiamanukoonkit, San Diego, Calif.; Carly Marshall, Temple, Texas & Ava Osborne, Austin, Texas

10:00 a.m. / 1:20 p.m. – Avery Schartz, Wichita, Kan. & Emerie Schartz, Wichita, Kan.; Catherine Andino, Boca Raton, Fla. & Nicole Sardinha, Doral, Fla.