What’s it like watching a 20-for-10 playoff at the U.S. Women’s Amateur? Chaos

Photo: Kathryn Riley/USGA
TULSA, Okla. — A playoff is one of the most exciting moments in golf.

On Wednesday morning at Southern Hills Country Club, there was a playoff unlike any other in the history of the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Twenty players were tied for 55th after two rounds of stroke play, meaning there were 10 extra players over the 64 that can make match play. That means a playoff was needed, a historic one at that.

In the history of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the highest number of players in a playoff was 16. Wednesday morning, there were 20 who teed off the par-4 10th at Southern Hills, four at a time in five groups total.

The pin location remained the same on 10 as it had in the second round of stroke play, in the front portion of the green. A bunker guards the front of the putting surface, and any shots a bit long or right will trickle back toward the hole. Anything left, players were scrambling for bogey or worse.

U.S. Women’s Amateur: Photos

In that first group, Annabelle Pancake was the only player to advance, and she did so with a par. The other three made bogeys, and they were eliminated. But they didn’t know that for about an hour.

The first group teed off at 7:15 a.m. CT, and the final putt dropped at 8:33 a.m. CT. For a 371-yard hole, it was playing much more difficult.

In the second group, Canada’s Victoria Zheng made birdie, one of two made on the first hole. Amanda Sambach added a par, as did Emilia Migliaccio. Annabel Wilson, however, hit an approach shot that landed three feet from the pin but spun left and fell off a severe slope some 40 yards away from the green. She made double and was eliminated.

Slowly but surely, the third, fourth and fifth groups meandered their way down the hill and across the creek to the perched green. Fans, parents and rules officials crowded the hillside above the hole. The number slowly came into focus.

Depending on what the last group did would determine the future of the playoff. If every player made par, it would move to a 10-for-9 playoff on the second hole. If one made bogey and the other three pars, the 10 spots would be clinched.

The other 16 players were all watching from some point around the 10th green. Those with par were comfortable, knowing they were in or going to another hole. Players who made bogey constantly refreshed their phones and anxiously looked around at those around them.

Rebecca Skoler knocked in a brilliant birdie putt from above the hole to secure her spot in the Round of 64. Her playing partners all carded pars, and it was a 9-for-8 playoff moving on to the par-3 11th.

Now playing in three threesomes, Pancake and Sambach found the green with their tee shots, but Migliaccio’s came up well short in the bunker, landing in the face and sprinting toward the bottom. Her bunker shot, however, was disastrous.

She bladed the ball across the green and over the cart path, forcing her to take a drop so she could have a swing. Her third then rolled off the front of the green. A fourth was finally on, coming to rest about 10 feet from the hole, and two putts later, she was in for triple.

Those on the tee watched and counted in their heads what they needed to advance. One by one, they fired shots at the green, and one by one, they carded birdies, pars and a couple bogeys.

However, the triple made things simple enough for the other eight players, and the bracket was officially set for the Round of 64.