For the fifth time in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship’s seven-year history, a pair of juniors walked off with the title. But it wasn’t the two teenagers most expected.
Kaitlyn Schroeder and Bailey Shoemaker, a pair of 17-year-olds high school juniors, had cruised through their first four matches at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Puerto Rico, shooting the equivalent of 31 under par with the usual match-play concessions. They needed just 65 holes to waltz into the finals and averaged more than seven birdies in each clash along the way.
But in the 18-hole championship round on Sunday, Schroeder and Shoemaker met their match in the likes of Georgia residents Thienna Huynh and Sara Im. The duo jumped to a 3-up lead through nine holes and then held off a late rally from their opponents, winning the finals 1 up.
