Ledwein Falls in Round of 32 in Women's Mid-Am

WEST NEWTON, Mass. -- Taylor Ledwein won the Class AAA portion of the Minnesota state high school tournament in 2015, when she was a junior at New Prague. Then she won it again as a senior in 2016.

That became a pattern for her, winning titles in pairs. She won the MGA Women's Match Play in 2018, and again in 2022. She also won the Women's Amateur twice, in those same two years, 2018 and '22. And she won the MGA Women's Player of the Year twice, in 2020 and again in 2022, when she was co-Player of the Year, along with Kate Smith.

But on Tuesday, it was a run of three bogeys in a row that derailed Ledwein in her Round of 32 match against Valeria Mendizabal, a former star for the University of Texas at El Paso. Ledwein, the No. 22 seed, lost the first hole to Mendizabal, the No. 54 seed, with a bogey. Not a big deal. Players lose the first hole and come back to win the match all the time. But after halving the second hole with a par, Ledwein lost the third, fourth and fifth holes with bogeys, and she lost the 380-yard, par-4 seventh with a double to Mendizabal's par. She was 4 down at that point.

Ledwein played the next seven holes in 2 under par, but that deficit and Mendizabal, who played those seven holes in 3 under, were too much to overcome. The result was a 4&3 victory for Medizabal.

If you want to know the difference between match play and medal play, just looik at what happened in the match between the No. 1 seed, co-medalist Jacqueline Setas and the No. 32 seed, Krystal Quihuis. After nine holes, Setas was 1 under, Quihuis was 2 over -- and they were tied. Setas ended up 2 under for the round, and Quihus was 4 over, but Setas had to win the 360-yard, par-4 18th hole with a par just to win the match 1 up.

When it was over, the card for Quihuis showed 6 pars, 3 birdies, 7 bogeys and 1 double.

Having survived that weird contest with Quihuis in the morning, Setas had to rally against the No. 17 seed, Taryn Walker, in the next round (Round of 16), Tuesday afternoon, winning four of the last six holes to claim a 1-up victory. As for Mendizabal, she was beaten 4&2 by No. 6 Hana Ryskova in the Round of 16.


U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship

At Brae Burn Country Club

Par 72, 6,170 yards

West Newton, Mass.

Stroke play

T1. Sabrina Coffman 75-72--147

T1. Jacqueline Setas 72-75--147

T3. Jackie Rogowicz 74-74--148

T3. Alexandra Austin 70-78--148

5. Judith Kyrinis 75-74--148

T18. Emma Groom 79-75--154

T18. Taylor Ledwein 74-80--154

T25. Betsy Kelly 76-79--155

T55. Olivia Herrick 81-80--161

What it took to qualify for match play -- 163 (a 4-for-1 playoff)

Paige McCullough 85-88--173


Match play

Round of 64

(1) Jacqueline Setas def. (64) Sydney Gillespie 4&3

(63) Raegan Bremer def. (2) Sabrina Coffman 2&1

(62) Sherry Zhong def. (3) Jackie Rogowicz 21 holes

(4) Alexandra Austin def. (61) Olivia Herrick 4&3

(5) Judyth Kyrinis (60) Lucy Burke 4&2

(22) Taylor Ledwein def. (43) Laura Bavaird 20 holes

(39) Elayna Bowser def. (26) Betsy Kelly 19 holes

(45) Sarah Spicer def. (20) Emma Groom 1 up

Round of 32

(1) Setas def. (32) Krystal Quihus 1 up

(63) Bremer def. (31) Megan Buck 4&3

(62) Zhong def. (30) Talia Campbell 4&3

(4) Austin def. Catherine Matranga 5&4

(54) Valeria Mendizabal def. (22) Ledwein 5&4

(7) Julia Potter-Bobb def. (39) Bowser 2 up

(13) Claire Connolly def. (45) Spicer 4&2