The match play portion of the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur begins Wednesday at Bel-Air Country Club with 10 golfers from the Los Angeles area, including top-seeded Briana Chacon of Whittier, in the field of 64.
Chacon set the U.S. Women’s Amateur 36-hole scoring record Tuesday, with a two-round total of 9-under 131, breaking the previous record of 133 first set by Mariel Galdiano in 2016 and matched by Lucy Li and Selin Hyun in 2018.
“Wow, I did not know that,” Chacon said after being informed she set a record. “It’s an honor and I’m just so thankful to be here this week with all my family and friends. I’m lucky that it’s so close to my hometown, so I’m just really excited.”
Chacon, an Oregon graduate student and graduate of La Serna High School in Whittier, shared the lead entering Tuesday’s play with fellow Southern Californian Caroline Canales at 4-under 66, then shot a 5-under 65 Tuesday.
Chacon began her round Tuesday on the 10th hole, parred her first three holes, then birdied the 13th, 14th and 16th holes. She completed the back nine at 3-under 31.
Chacon also birdied the first hole, had her only bogey of the round on the par-4 second hole and birdied the par-5 fifth hole.
Chacon’s first match play opponent will be determined in a 10-for-9 playoff set to begin at 7 a.m.
Stroke-play medalists have had minimal success in the match-play portion of the championship in recent years. The No. 64 seed has knocked off the No. 1 seed six times in the last nine years, and only two medalists have advanced to the quarterfinals since 2010.
Canales, a UCLA junior and former Calabasas High standout, shot a par-70 Tuesday to complete stroke play in a three-way tie for fifth at 4-under 136 with Hailey Borja, a fifth-year student at Michigan and former standout at Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo, and Auburn graduate student Megan Schofill.
All four USC golfers in the original field of 156 advanced to match play, led by graduate student Malia Nam, who finished in a three-way tie for tie for eighth at 3-under 137 with Nikki Oh, a 15-year-old from Torrance, and Stanford senior Rachel Heck.
USC junior Amari Avery, who is from Riverside, completed stroke play in a seven-way tie for 18th at par-140. Senior Brianna Navarrosa was among six golfers tied for 39th at 2-over 142. Freshman Bailey Shoemaker was among 11 golfers tied for 45th at 3-over 143.
The other Los Angeles-area golfers to advance to match play are Harvard-Westlake School senior Ellie Koo, Stanford sophomore Kelly Xu, a Claremont High School alum, Camille Boyd, a Washington senior from Yorba Linda, Princeton sophomore Catherine Rao, an Oaks Christian alum, and Santa Margarita Catholic High School senior Leigh Chien, who has made a non-binding verbal commitment to attend Stanford.
The tournament is set to conclude Sunday with the 36-hole final.