Schroeder earns medalist honors at 123rd PNGA Women’s Amateur
Walla Walla, Wash. – Ava Schroeder of Twin Falls, Idaho, shot rounds of 69-69 (-6) to earn medalist honors at the 123rd PNGA Women’s Amateur Championship, being held this week at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. The championship is being administered by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.
Schroeder, a rising sophomore playing for the BYU women’s golf team, had only one bogey over the 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying, which was held July 7-8. She is familiar with being in the lead, having won the 2023 4A Idaho High School Individual State Championship and being formerly ranked the No. 1 NHSGA Player in 2023.
The field has been cut to 32 players who have been seeded into the match-play bracket, with Schroeder earning the No. 1 seed. The round of 32 will be held in the morning of Wednesday, July 9, followed by the round of 16 in the afternoon. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be held Thursday, July 10. All matches will be single-elimination, with each match contested over 18 holes, with the exception of the final championship match, which will be played over 36 holes on Friday, July 11.
Championship Links:
Other notables to also advance to match play:
- Kennedy Knox of Normandy Park, Wash.: named the 2021 PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year; just completed four years playing for the University of Washington women’s golf team
- Kyra Ly of Portland, Ore.: last month won her second consecutive Oregon Women’s Amateur; rising senior on the Oregon State University women’s golf team
- Gretchen Johnson of Portland, Ore.: named the 2024 PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year; quarterfinalist in last year’s PNGA Women’s Amateur
- Taya Battistella of Bellingham, Wash.: last month won the BC Women’s Mid-Amateur; named the 2024 WA Golf Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year
- Brooke Patterson of Eagle, Idaho: won the 2020 Idaho Women’s State Amateur; rising senior on Boise State University women’s golf team
The PNGA Women’s Amateur is considered a USGA Exemption Event, with this year’s champion earning an exemption into the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur, which will be held August 4-10 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. This opportunity has led to an exceptionally strong field in this year’s PNGA Women’s Amateur.
First held in 1899, the PNGA Women’s Amateur is among the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Past champions include Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers who made up the Golden Age of female golfers in the Northwest such as JoAnne Carner, Jo Ann Washam, Pat Lesser Harbottle, Edean Ihlanfeldt, Violet Pooly Sweeney, Marcia Fisher, and Betty Jean Hulteng, among others. Past champions also include many others who would later go on to the LPGA Tour, such as Gigi Stoll, Jimin Kang, Peggy Conley, Ruth Jessen and Shirley Englehorn.
The PNGA Women’s Amateur was previously held at Wine Valley Golf Club in 2013, when Jennifer Ha of Alberta, Canada, won the title. Wine Valley has also hosted the PNGA Men’s Amateur three times, in 2024, 2016, and 2012.
The PNGA Women’s Amateur Championship is one of the 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
