Johnson falls in semifinals at U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur

The run for Gretchen Johnson of Portland, Ore. at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship has come to a close.

Johnson, the No. 58 seed, fell 2 and 1 to defending champion Kelsey Chugg of Salt Lake City, Utah in today’s semifinal match at the 32^nd U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, hosted by Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, Mo.

Click here for full scoring from the 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

In today’s epic quarterfinal match, Johnson trailed No. 34 seed Julia Hodgson of Canada two down thru 16 before winning the 17^th and 18^th  to tie the match at All Square for extra holes. She then sealed the deal with a birdie on the 20^th hole to advance.

By making it to this year’s semifinals, Johnson is exempted into the next two U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs. This is the third straight championship Johnson has qualified for, and this year’s performance is easily the deepest she has gone in the match-play bracket.

Her friend Amanda Jacobs caddied for Johnson in her matches. Jacobs had also qualified for match play, but fell in the round of 64, and so caddied for Johnson the remainder of her matches. Jacobs was the PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Johnson and Jacobs recently qualified for the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.

Johnson had qualified on the number for match play at the championship, and is the No. 58 seed (out of 64) in the bracket. In the round of 64, she defeated No. 7 seed Katie Miller of Jeannette, Pa., 1-up.  Johnson was 1-down to Miller with two holes to play, but birdied both 17 and 18, winning both holes and taking the match.

In her round of 32 match, Johnson handily downed No. 26 seed Sarah Davison 6 and 5 before securing a close 1 up victory with a birdie on the final hole to defeat No. 10 seed Marissa Mar in the round of 16.