Six years, ago, when Megha Ganne was all of 15 years old, she played her way into the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Old Waverly Golf Club in Mississippi. It was all such a blur before she was beaten by a woman she idolzed, Albane Valenzuela, that the Holmdel, N.J., native insists she remembers almost nothing from it. “I was like a baby,” she says.
Ganne does remember this: “I wanted to be in the final. I didn’t get this last time, so definitely thinking about how to make my way there [this year].”
Now 21 years old and among the most accomplished players in college today, the rising senior at Stanford has indeed reached the final of the U.S. Women’s Am, and there is no doubt she’s going to remember nearly every bit of it, no matter the result.
On Saturday at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, Ganne needed every experience and piece of grit she could muster, coming from four holes down with seven to play to force extra holes and beat Australian Ella Scaysbrook. Ganne won the 19th hole when Scaysbrook, who had not trailed in match play the entire week, couldn’t get on the green in four shots on the par 4 and told Ganne, who had a 10-foot birdie putt, to pick up her ball.
For only the third time in the 125-year history of the U.S. Women’s Am, both semifinals went extra holes, and it was recent Michigan State graduate Brooke Biermann who lost a 3-up lead with three to play but pulled out a win with a par on the 19th hole against fellow Missourian Lyla Louderbaugh.
Ganne, who is 11th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and Biermann (112th)—each looking for their first career USGA victory—will face off Sunday for a scheduled 36 holes in the final.
After her victory, Ganne was reminded that in her semifinal loss to Valenzuela back in 2019, she was the one taken down in 19 holes.
“I wasn’t flashing back exactly to the shots I was hitting, but I was thinking about how at the time, I was 15, I was playing Albane, who was a rising senior at Stanford. At the time I thought the world of her. I was like, there is no reason you should think bad of yourself right now,” Ganne said.
“If you told yourself at 15 this is where you would be, you would be pretty proud of yourself. I was, like, you’re exactly the type of person that could make this happen right now. Let’s just go do it.”
Self-belief has never been an issue for Ganne, especially because she succeeded so much at a young age. She qualified for the National Drive, Chip & Putt Finals four times at Augusta National, contributed enormously to Stanford’s 2024 NCAA Women’s National Championship, and Ganne got the golf world’s attention in 2021 when the then-high-schooler played her way into the final group on Sunday in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club.
This is her eighth appearance in the U.S. Women’s Am, and she’s been a giant slayer at Bandon Dunes, eliminating three players in match play who ranked among the top 20 in the world.
Of her experience in these championships, Ganne said, “I think good fields really motivate me. Strong players. USGA course setups, where they choose the venues, how difficult it is and what a test it is mentally and strategy-wise in your golf game.
“I think those always bring out a lot of good players that have a lot of love for the game and love the grind. I think they’re just great championships.”
Biermann, 22, from Wildwood, Mo., has been stellar of late, coming off a strong match-play performance in reaching the semifinals of the 2025 Women’s Western Amateur Championship in July. She was an All-Big Ten First Team selection and left the Michigan State program with the third-best scoring average in program history.
This is the first time Biermann has reached match play after five previous USGA tries in which she didn’t make the 36-hole cut.
“I told my dad [Bill Biermann, who is caddying this week], I just need to get over that hurdle, and the hurdle was the cut,” Biermann said. “I know myself. I’ve played in several match-play events and I’ve gotten to the semifinals multiple times.
“I love match play. Like that’s where the fun begins. So I believe that I could do this.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
