Wind Tests Skills as Romero, Elite Players Advance at U.S. Women’s Amateur
BANDON, Ore. – After three days of calm conditions that turned Bandon Dunes into something resembling a pitch and putt, the wind finally arrived Thursday – sustained in the high teens with gusts up to 30 mph – and the best ball-strikers immediately separated themselves.
Or, as the kids say, balled out.
World No. 1 Kiara Romero, the uber-athletic Oregon junior, didn’t even need to reach Bandon’s iconic par-4 16th hole in either of her matches during this marathon day. Her 4-and-3 victory over Duke’s Andie Smith in the Round of 16 moved her into her first U.S. Women’s Amateur quarterfinals.
“My game was kind of rolling all day,” said Romero, who shot 4 under with just two bogeys across 28 holes.
Oregon head coach Derek Radley, on Romero’s bag this week, put it more bluntly.
“Dude, this wind, it really doesn’t matter when you hit it as pure as she does,” Radley said. “Her ball flight just holds so tight. It’s just so different.”
Romero took a break after an exhausting stretch that included the final group at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (where she slipped to T-7), wins at conference and regionals, and a record-setting week at the U.S. Women’s Open with a final-round 67 at Erin Hills. She vacationed in Lake Tahoe with family before inviting friend Anna Davis to Eugene last week to practice. Her trip to Bandon last Friday marked her first time at the property, despite it being less than three hours from campus.
Even with driver occasionally taken out of her hands, Romero has quickly adapted to the coastal layout.
Her quarterfinal opponent, Lyla Louderbaugh, a rising junior at Kansas and former basketball player, has also found her groove at Bandon. Ranked No. 249 in the world, Louderbaugh sits well behind Romero, whom she played with in stroke play at the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior (which Romero won).
But Louderbaugh’s stock has been rising since her breakout final round at Arizona State’s event last spring. After that bogey-free 66 at Papago – her first in college – she’s won an NCAA regional, finished third in the Missouri Women’s Amateur and claimed the Kansas Women’s Amateur.
“She’s just been in this zone ever since ASU and has this sense of confidence about her,” Kansas head coach Lindsay Kuhle said. “I don’t think she’s paying much attention to who she’s going up against tomorrow. She’s focused on her own game.”
Louderbaugh, who beat both 2027 standout Asia Young and Cal State Amateur champion Katelyn Kong on Thursday, agrees with her coach’s assessment.
“I’ve really been able to control my game in a way that I’m really liking when I’m on the golf course,” she said.
Romero and Louderbaugh tee off at 1:50 p.m. Pacific, with the winner facing either incoming Northwestern freshman Arianna Lau or Michigan State grad Brooke Biermann. Lau has been on a giant-killing run, taking down medalist and defending champ Rianne Malixi along with Wake Forest grads Emilia Doran and Carolina Chacarra. Biermann showed remarkable stamina Thursday, playing 41 holes as both her matches went to extras.
Power Players Dominate Bottom Bracket
On the other side of the bracket is a player with equal firepower to Romero. South Carolina sophomore Eila Galitsky might be the longest hitter in women’s amateur golf, capable of swing speeds over 105 mph and carries beyond 270 yards. Ranked sixth in the world, Galitsky won her second college event this spring in a playoff over Lottie Woad, whom she also beat in singles at the Patsy Hankins Trophy.
Galitsky, who lost her first two holes to Texas A&M freshman Natalie Yen on Thursday afternoon before rallying, joked that she loves Bandon because of its “90-yard-wide fairways.” The wind doesn’t bother her much either – like Romero, her ball flight cuts through it.
“I think it would be super boring if everybody just, you know, fairway, green, made the putt for birdie,” Galitsky said. “This one is like, OK, you hit the fairway. You are got to flight down your second shot. It’s 100 yards. You’re playing in almost like 140 yards.
“It’s a lot more thinking, and it’s a lot more fun.”
Her quarterfinal match against Stanford senior Megha Ganne might be Friday’s most entertaining battle. Ganne, a two-time first-team All-American, arguably faced the toughest opponents Thursday in Auburn’s Anna Davis and Ohio State’s Kary Hollenbaugh. This is her first quarterfinal appearance since advancing to the semifinals at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“I think one thing I remember from being in the semifinals is like as soon as you knock down this first round of 64, feels like I can just do that again and again and again,” Ganne said. “That’s a feeling that I had when I was on a run there, I was so trying to recreate that and remember that feeling I had.”
Ganne is among those hoping the wind sticks around – and she’ll be pleased with Friday’s forecast, which calls for even tougher conditions.
“I thrive a little bit more in those conditions compared to normal conditions,” Ganne said. “So hopefully keeps up for me.”
