TAMPA, Fla. – Sixty-four teams are headed to Puerto Rico this month to kick off the start of the 2022 USGA championship schedule. Located in the town of Rio Grande, Grand Reserve Golf Club will host the first-ever USGA championship in Puerto Rico. The 7th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship will begin on April 20, with sixteen players representing Florida.
All 64 teams will compete in two rounds of stroke play, with only 32 advancing to match play. Here are some things to know about the Floridians competing this week.
Two dominant FSGA Champions, Elle Nachmann and Kendall Griffin, have teamed up at this year’s championship. In 2021 alone, Nachmann was a three-time FSGA champion, winning the Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Women’s Four-Ball Championship, and Mixed Shoot-Out. Due to her exceptional performance, the Boca Raton native was named the 2021 Women’s Player of the Year. Griffin captured the 92nd Women’s Amateur Championship last year at Hammock Dunes, along with the 2019 Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Black Diamond Ranch. This will be Griffin’s fifth U.S. Women’s Four-Ball.
FSGA Hall of Fame member, Meghan Stasi, will be competing in her seventh U.S. Women’s Four-Ball. Stasi is a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion and has won countless FSGA Championships, giving her a well-earned spot in the FSGA Hall of Fame. She will be pairing up with long-time U.S. Women’s Four-Ball teammate and South Carolina native, Dawn Woodard. They are the only pairing to play in every U.S. Women’s Four-Ball since it started in 2015.
Kaitlyn Schroeder and Bailey Shoemaker will be teaming up this year. Shoemaker just recently competed in the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and is the 2020 Florida Women’s Four-Ball Champion, while Schroeder won the Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship (13-15) in 2020 and 2019, and is competing in her fourth USGA Championship.
The 2020 and 2021 Girls’ Junior Player of the Year, Karoline Tuttle, will compete in her sixth USGA championship and team up with Tennessee native, Sophie Linder. The pair qualified for the 2021 and 2019 U.S. Women’s Four-Ball Championships, making it to the Round of 16 both years.
Stanford Women’s Golf alum, Shannon Aubert, will be competing in her first U.S. Women’s Four-Ball Championship with former teammate and Colorado native, Cali Ringsby. The pair were a part of the 2015 NCAA National Championship team. Aubert has qualified for two U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships and is the 2017 Florida Women’s Amateur champion.
Florida Junior Tour players, Izzy Pellot and Ryleigh Knaub, will tee it up together this year. Pellot is an eight-time FJT champion competing in her second U.S. Women’s Four-Ball, while Knaub makes her U.S. Women’s Four-Ball debut. Knaub is a five-time FJT champion and qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club.
Another strong FJT competitor, Chloe Kovelesky, will be teaming up with Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada. The Boca Raton Native is a four-time FJT champion and qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at just 14 years old, where she was the youngest player in the field.
Georgia Ruffolo, who is a member of the Wake Forest Women’s Golf team, is making her USGA debut this week with teammate Julia McLaughlin of Princeton, NJ.
FJT member, Gianna Clemente (14) will be competing with Texas native, Avery Zweig (15) for the second year in a row. The pair made it to the semifinals in 2021 as the youngest team in the field, and they will be the third-youngest team in the field this year.
Mi Li and Bridget Ma have teamed up this year for their first USGA Four-Ball. This will be Li’s USGA debut, while Ma competed in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
The pair of Madison Moman and Haley Davis will be making their USGA debut this week. Moman captured her third-career FJT win earlier this year at Eagle Harbor Golf Club, while Davis earned a runner-up finish at the FJT Skyview Open in March.
