BANDON, Ore. – Lyla Louderbaugh’s run at the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship fell just short of the finals, but the Buffalo, MO. native put her name on the map with her gutsy performances this week.
Louderbaugh, a rising junior who competes for the University of Kansas during the school year, fell in the semifinals of the championship to fellow Show Me State product Brooke Biermann (Wildwood, Mo.).
Louderbaugh trailed by three holes in the match play format heading ot the 16th on Saturday. She needed to win three straight holes to keep the dream alive, and she did just that with a par and two straight birdies. To a playoff hole the competitors went.
Rock chalk, it's another incredible comeback!! @KUWomensGolf's Lyla Louderbaugh forces extra holes with a spectacular birdie on 18. pic.twitter.com/b3ZmxZBCov
— USGA (@USGA) August 9, 2025
The day before, Louderbaugh had lost a lead on hole 17 and needed two extra holes to take the win in the quarterfinals.
She didn’t have the same playoff magic today. On the 19th hole of the day in the semis, after a miscue on a chip shot, Louderbough fell a shot short to Biermann as she bogeyed the hole.
“I’m super proud of myself because I did overcome a pretty large deficit going into the last three holes, but super proud of my performance this week and how I was able to manage myself on the golf course and gave every shot my best, everything that I had,” Louderbaugh said.
Louderbaugh fell short of qualifying for the 2026 US Women’s Open on an exemption that goes to the finalists of the Amateur, but did receive exemptions for the next two US Women’s Amateur Championships.
