Hailey Schalk of Erie and Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village are among the youngest teams at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, but they certainly didn’t look the part in Saturday’s first round at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif.
The two high school sophomores, who finished 1-2 in the 3A Girls State Tournament last year, made their national Women’s Four-Ball debut on Saturday by shooting a bogey-free 2-under-par 70.
That solid showing left the Coloradans in good shape to advance to match play. They share 16th place after the first round of stroke play, and will need to finish among the top 32 teams after 36 holes in order to make the match-play portion of the event.
The two, who earned a spot in the field after originally being alternates, made two birdies and 16 pars on Friday. They trail leaders Yachun Chang of Chinese Taipei and Yei Ye of China by six strokes.
Schalk and Hillary (pictured, with Hillary at left) are the first pair of Colorado residents to compete at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball since 2015.
Meanwhile, Colorado State University teammates Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor, competing in this event together for the second straight year, also opened with a 70 — albeit a far more eventful one. The two, who both recently earned spots as individuals in the Women’s NCAA Regionals, started poorly on Saturday, standing 3 over par through six holes. But they played their last dozen holes in a stellar 5 under, including carding birdies on Nos. 17 and 18.
Prendergast and Secor advanced to the match play round of 16 at last year’s national Four-Ball.
For all the scores from the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, CLICK HERE.
