Roller jumps ahead early, holds off Benn for WOGA State Amateur title

By Clemente Almanza

Softly tapping the ball in with cicadas buzzing in the background, Jenni Roller’s last putt awarded her a trophy she’s chased all her life. She bested Brooklyn Benn 3 and 1 Thursday morning in the final of the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Championship at Indian Springs Country Club in Broken Arrow.

The two long-time friends and competitors hugged on the green after the three-hour match. The crowd size grew with each hole. With her first state amateur crown, Roller also punched her ticket for the upcoming U.S. Women’s Amateur Aug. 4-10 at Bandon Dunes in Bandon, Ore., her first trip to the world’s top amateur event for women.

Results of all flights:

“I’m excited. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that I get to play Bandon Dunes in the U.S. Amateur,” Roller said. “But this has been my goal this summer, so I’m excited to go.”

Roller jumped out to a fast start with birdies on the first and third holes while Benn made double bogey on the second. After Benn birdied the fourth, Roller holed out for eagle on the par-4 sixth hole from 108 yards to push the lead back to three.

“She got off to a great start but I knew there was a lot of golf left,” Benn said. “Match play is totally different than stroke play and the opportunities to get back in it are there. I battled back, but she just made more putts than I did today.”

One of those came on the eighth hole, a key point in the match. With Benn looking at a 10-foot putt for birdie, Roller drained a 25-footer for her birdie. Benn then missed the shorter one and Roller’s lead swelled to four.

“I think I was just putting well,” said Roller, the Jenks native entering her senior season at the University of Tulsa. “I just gave myself good opportunities and good looks that I was able to make those putts.”

Benn, however, had no intention of going away easily. She birdied the ninth hole and the 12^th and thanks to bogeys by Roller on holes 13, 14 and 16, found herself two down and within reach going into the par-5 17^th. It could have been closer if Roller had not made a sizeable putt to save her bogey on 14 and tie that hole.

Roller made a solid par on 17 to close it out 3 and 1.

The No. 13 seed Benn had quite the run to the championship match. She upset the No. 1 seed Lisa Herman on Wednesday, but fell just short of doing the same against the No. 2 seed Roller.

“I played really well on the front. I made a lot of big putts, so that helped,” Roller said. “Then on the back, I kind of struggled a little bit with a few holes but was able to get it done on the 17th.”

In the latest installment of their rivalry, it was Roller who had the upper hand against her longtime friend and competitor. The golfers have mirrored their careers from U.S. Kids Golf to the collegiate American Conference championships. Now, she gets to mark off another career ambition off her list as she gets ready for Oregon.

“It’s always hard to compete against one of your friends, but it’s just part of the game,” Roller said. “It’s how it is.”

Roller had previously won the WOGA Junior Girls Championship in 2022 and the OGA Junior Girls Championship in 2021 and 2022.

Photos by Bill Powell

2025 WOGA State Amateur