Dinner is served for Schofill and Morgan on a tough day for past North & South Champions

Match Play Bracket

By Alex Podlogar

There was no use in explaining.

As Anna Morgan finished talking with Chloe Schiavone on the 15th green of Pinehurst No. 2, a North & South tournament official walked up to the Furman senior.

Handing her an envelope with an invitation inside to attend a special dinner at Dornoch Cottage for the players who had advanced to the 120th Women’s North & South Amateur’s Round of 16, the official began to go over the details of where to meet, when, the attire…and who knows what else.

Then he remembered who he was talking to.

“Wait,” he said, “you know the deal.”

Yes, the 2021 Women’s North & South Amateur Runner-Up does know the deal. So does Megan Schofill. Her conversation was even shorter at the 16th green.

“Dinner tonight,” he said, and was met with a knowing smile.

Been there, done that.

Doing it again tonight.

The Round of 32 was a good day for those who have come close to winning the North & South. Morgan fell in the championship match a year ago, and Schofill had marched all the way to the semifinals until she had run into Morgan. They’ll see each other again Thursday night at the dinner in Donald Ross’s Pinehurst home following their match victories. As for the golf course, they’d have to wait until the championship match Saturday afternoon to meet again.

They won’t see any past champions, though, then or tonight. Isabella Fierro, the 2017 Women’s North & South Champion, fell 4&3 to Big Ten Champion Monet Chun, of Michigan. Rachel Kuehn, the 2020 Champion, was beaten 4&3 by Southern Cal’s Cindy Kou.

That leaves Morgan and Schofill as the lone remaining players who reached as far as the quarterfinals a year ago.

“It’s been something that I’ve been thinking about since that day I lost,” Morgan said. “It’s been in the back of my mind during practice, or just whenever I’ve been thinking about coming back for this year. It would be really special to get back to that final match.”

Morgan looked the part on Thursday, having little trouble dispatching Schiavone. She recovered from an early bogey to win the 5th, 8th and 9th holes for a 2-up lead at the turn, before a par at 13 and a birdie at 14 gave her a comfortable 4-up lead with four to play. She closed the match out on 15.

“I’m feeling pretty good, and I played some good golf today,” Morgan said. “We’ve been talking about how the goal is to try to get a little better each day, so I’d say I’ve done that so far. So that’s the plan for the rest of the week.”

Schofill’s win took a little more work. The Auburn senior fell 2-down through three holes, but won the next three straight to take a 1-up advantage. After Amber Park birdied the par-5 8th to even the match, Schofill won three straight holes again to build a 3-up lead through 11. Park could never get closer than 2-down before Schofill’s pitch to 6 feet on 16 effectively ended the match 3&2.

It was a match that reminded Schofill so much of her run last year.

“I definitely think playing the North & South prior helps,” Schofill said. “It’s really important to remember how it played in years previous.

“It’s just confidence. I got down in a few matches last year – I think I played two or three extra holes in each match – so I know I can just never give up. I was down here early (today) and got back ahead, and then was able to play my normal, steady golf the rest of the way to win.”

Medalist and top-seeded Hannah Levi had to wait until the back of the 18th green to get her invitation. That’s because the No. 32 seed, Colombian teenager Maria Jose Marin, never made getting a dinner reservation so difficult.

Marin, who made two birdies to win an 11-for-1 playoff to earn the final spot into match play, fell 2-down through three holes, only to rally back to take a 1-up lead after the 10th. Levi stuck her approach to 2 feet to win the 11th hole and tie the match again, then used a par on 15 and birdie on 16 to go 2-up. But Marin stuffed her tee shot on the par-3 17th to 5 feet to extend the match to 18. Finally, Levi managed to hold off the 15-year-old.

“I got up on her the first couple of holes, but Maria was like, ‘Nope,’” Levi said. “It’s crazy, I didn’t start playing this tournament until I was a sophomore in college, and here she is at 15, making it to match play. I think that’s so impressive and so brave. I was just a shy little kid at that age.”

Amanda Sambach, who won the Girls’ North & South Junior Championship in 2020, kept her hopes alive to be the first player to win the both the Junior and Women’s Amateur championships since May Wood accomplished the feat in 2001 and 2002. With three birdies on the front nine, Sambach recovered nicely after losing the first two holes to beat Zoe Slaughter 2&1.

Emilia Migliaccio, who reached the semifinals of the North & South in 2020, defeated Kary Hollenbaugh 3&2 and will face the top-seeded Levi in the Round of 16 on Friday morning. The quarterfinals will then be played on Friday afternoon.

120th Women’s North & South Amateur
July 10-16, 2022
Pinehurst No. 2
Round of 32 Match Play
July 14, 2022

• No. 1 Hannah Levi d. No. 32 Maria Jose Marin, 1up
• No. 16 Emilia Migliaccio d. No. 17 Kary Hollenbaugh, 3&2
• No. 25 Monet Chun d. No. 8 Isabella Fierro, 4&3
• No. 9 Justice Bosio d. No. 24 Sarah-Eve Rheaume, 5&4
• No. 4 Xin Kou d. No. 29 Rachel Kuehn, 4&3
• No. 13 Bailey Davis d. No. 20 Ting Hsuan Huang, 2&1
• No. 28 Michaela Morard d. No. 5 Kayla Smith, 4&2
• No. 12 Anna Morgan d. No. 21 Chloe Schiavone, 4&3
• No. 31 Caroline Craig d. No. 2 Emma Schimpf, 5&4
• No. 15 Melanie Green d. No. 18 Jackie Lucena, 1up
• No. 7 Megan Schofill d. No. 26 Amber Park, 3&2
• No. 10 Sadie Englemann d. No. 23 Malia Nam, 5&4
• No. 3 Zoe Antoinette Campos d. No. 30 Michelle Liu, 4&3
• No. 19 Amanda Sambach d. No. 14 Zoe Slaughter, 2&1
• No. 27 Jennifer Cleary d. No. 6 Kirsten Rudgeley, 2&1
• No. 11 Casey Weidenfeld d. No. 22 Sophie Linder, 19holes

Round of 16
July 15

• No. 1 Hannah Levi vs. No. 16 Emilia Migliaccio, 7:00 a.m.
• No. 25 Monet Chun vs. No. 9 Justice Bosio, 7:08 a.m.
• No. 4 Xin Kou vs. No. 13 Bailey Davis, 7:16 a.m.
• No. 28 Michaela Morard vs. No. 12 Anna Morgan, 7:24 a.m.
• No. 31 Caroline Craig vs. No. 15 Melanie Green, 7:32 a.m.
• No. 7 Megan Schofill vs. No. 10 Sadie Englemann, 7:40 a.m.
• No. 3 Zoe Antoinette Campos vs. No. 19 Amanda Sambach, 7:48 a.m.
• No. 27 Jennifer Cleary vs. No. 11 Casey Weidenfeld, 7:56 a.m.

Quarterfinals
July 15

• TBD

Semifinals
July 16 AM
Championship
July 16 PM