PORTLAND, Ore. - Rising seniors Mariah Stackhouse and Lauren Kim sustained tough first-round defeats on Wednesday in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Portland Golf Club in Portland, Oregon. The Stanford All-Americans earned their way into 64-player match play field on Monday and Tuesday during stroke play qualifying, with Stackhouse (70-73-143) tying for 15th and Kim tying for 33rd (72-74-146).
The 21st-seeded Stackhouse fell to 44th-seed Elizabeth Wang of San Marino, California, 1-down. Stackhouse held a 1-up advantage after nine holes in the tightly-contested match. However, the 16-year-old Wang pulled out to a 1-up lead with a birdie on the par-4 14th hole.
Stackhouse, who helped lead the Cardinal to its first ever NCAA women’s golf title in June, squared the match with a birdie at the par-5 15th, and then won the par-4 16th with a par to reclaim a 1-up cushion.
Wang evened the match with a birdie at the short par-3 17th, then prevailed with a scrambling par at the par-5 18th. Stackhouse lipped out a short but testy par putt that would have forced sudden death.
The 38th-seeded Kim lost to 27th-seed Mika Liu of Beverly Hills, California, on the 19th hole.
They halved the first four holes with pars. Liu took a 1-up advantage with a birdie at the par-5 fifth, but Kim won the par-4 sixth with a bogey, then claimed the par-3 eighth with a par to assume her first lead.
The next three holes were halved with pars. Kim increased her advantage to 2-up with a par at the par-3 12th. But Liu battled back to square the match with birdies at the par-4 14th and 16th holes. The last two holes were halved with pars. Liu capped her comeback by winning the first hole of sudden death with a par.
Last month, Kim received an exemption to compete in the LPGA’s Marathon Classic. She shot 74-72 and missed the cut by three strokes.
Stanford teammates Casey Danielson and Shannon Aubert also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, but failed to reach match play. Danielson, a rising junior from Osceola, Wisconsin, shot 77-77-154, while Aubert, a rising sophomore from Stuart, Florida, shot 83-82-165.