Phillips to defend OGA Stroke Play title; Blonien is favorite in WOGA State Amateur

Defending champion C.J. Phillips will be in the field when the Oklahoma Golf Association Stroke Play Championship tees off Monday at Shawnee Country Club. The event is 54 holes with 18 each day Monday through Wednesday, with a cut to the low 30 and ties after 36 holes.

It’s a strong field but one recent champion will not be playing. Ryder Cowan of Edmond, who won in 2023 at the Territory, was leading the U.S. Open briefly on Thursday.

Collegians Preston Albee, Grant Gudgel, Collin Bond, Christian Johnson, Rhett Hughes, Will Hennessee and Ben Lathrop along with veterans Mike Hearne, JR Hurley and Luke Phillips may all be in contention but the field is deep and balanced.

First-round tee times and pairings are here. 

Meanwhile, the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association will crown a new champion next Monday through Thursday at historic Oakwood Country Club in Enid in its State Amateur Championship as defending champ Jenni Roller is out of the country.

Natalie Blonien of Altus, who will be a junior at the University of Arkansas next fall, would be regarded as the strong favorite. She won this event in 2024 and recently romped to an easy win in the WOGA Stroke Play Championship.

There is one other past champion in the field in 2023 winner Sydney Hermann of Ponca City. A total of 20 women will play a qualifying round Monday for the 16 spots in match play, with two rounds of match play Tuesday and Wednesday and thc championship match Thursday morning.

Other strong contenders would include Lucy Darr of Stillwater and Oklahoma State, Juliana Hong of Norman, recently crowned OGA Junior champion Dia Singh of Bixby and Megan Kalapura of Tulsa.