Roller, Schartz miss cut as birdie fest ensues at U.S. Women’s Amateur

A Code Red was issued for Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on Tuesday, and it had nothing to do with a pending storm. Well, an assault did take place at this breathtaking resort on the southwest coast of Oregon that is hosting the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

The weapons were drivers, irons and putters, and it was a group of highly talentedgolfers doing the damage. It was almost as if Oprah Winfrey made a guest appearance.

You get a birdie. And you get a birdie.

With sunshine and comfortable temperatures engulfing the property hosting its ninth USGA championship, and virtually no wind for the second and final round of stroke play, competitors enjoyed a green-light special to attack the hole locations.

Vanessa Borovilos, a rising Texas A&M sophomore from Canada, carded a 9-under-par 63 for the lowest round in the championship’s history, one better than the 64 posted by Japan’s Yumi Matsubara 12 years ago at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina.

And she wasn’t the medalist.

That belonged to a couple of familiar faces: Rianne Malixi, of the Philippines, and Asterisk Talley, of Chowchilla, Calif. The two teens met in a pair of USGA finals a year ago, including the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and this week they each posted 9-under-par 135. Malixi, 18, an incoming Duke University freshman, followed up her first-round 68 with a 67, while Talley, 16, a member of the U.S. National Junior Team and champion of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, posted one of six 6-under 66s on Day 2 after an opening-round 69.

University of Southern Carolina rising sophomore Eila Galitsky, of Thailand, backed up an opening-round 70 with a 66 to finish a stroke back.

University of Tulsa senior Jenni Roller improved considerably in her second round from an opening 80 to even-par 72 but it wasn’t near enough to make the cut. Frequent Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour competitor Emerie Schartz of Wichita also missed the cut after consecutive rounds of 75.