Westfield star plays in U.S. Women’s Open, gets victory at Women’s Western Junior
By RICHIE HALL
From hitting golf balls with a major champion to breaking through for a victory at a prestigious tournament, it’s been quite the past few weeks for Samantha Brown.
The Westfield High School graduate spent the end of May playing in the biggest tournament of all: the U.S. Women’s Open. A few days after that, she traveled to Chicagoland to win the Women’s Western Junior.
“It’s been crazy, but it’s been good,” said Brown. She is taking a well-deserved break from tournament action, although she wouldn’t trade the experience of playing in one of golf’s major tournaments for anything.
“It was definitely a dream come true, just getting to be out there with all the people that I’ve looked up to over the years,” said Brown. “It was the toughest set-up I’ve ever played in my life, but it was good.”
Brown earned her place at the Open by winning a qualifier May 9 at Sunset Country Club in St. Louis. Three weeks later, she was in Lancaster, Pa. at the Lancaster Country Club, the site of the 2024 Open, and immediately realized this was unlike any other golf tournament she had played in.
“It was different atmosphere-wise because there were so many fans and you have to learn to block that out when you play in an environment like that,” said Brown. While she had played in big tournaments before, like the 2023 IHSAA state finals where Brown claimed the individual state title, “it’s nothing compared to that,” she said. “There are grandstands all around you and everyone was watching.”
Brown got a chance to see some famous golfers up close, such as Nelly Korda, the current world No. 1-ranked player and two-time major championship winner.
“I saw Nelly on the range,” said Brown. “It was nuts. And then Lexi (Thompson) was hitting right next to me.” Thompson won the Chevron Championship in 2014 at age 19, the second-youngest woman ever to win a major.
Brown finished the first round with a score of 85 but rebounded in the second round to score 77. She made one birdie in her first 18 holes and two more in the second round.
“I approached the golf course differently in the second round,” said Brown. “In the first round, if you missed, it was incredibly hard to get out of some of those spots, because the greens were so hard.” Brown said there if any chip shots were hit in the wrong spots, “you can’t get out of them.” Some good shots would go well off the green and would keep rolling.
“It was such a good learning experience, just in how to approach golf course setups like that,” said Brown. She noted that “some things you can get away with on easier setups, you cannot get away with it out there.”
Playing free
A little over a week later, Brown was in Clarendon Hills, Ill. at the Hinsdale Golf Club for the Women’s Western Junior. This was the fourth time she played in the event, and she got by far her most successful result, breaking through to win a tournament that had been a tough one in the past.
First there was a 36-hole stroke play tournament to determine the 16 players that advance to match play. Brown qualified 10th with a two-day total of 72-76=148. She was seeded 13th in the match play but powered her way through four matches to get to the trophy, culminating with a 4 & 3 win in the championship round.
“I played pretty well,” said Brown. “I worked my way around the golf course and I didn’t lose control of any of the matches. The first match was the toughest. It was just back and forth all the way and I wound up winning 2 Up in that match.”
Brown missed the cut in her first try at the Women’s Western Junior, then made the cut the next two times but lost her first match.
“Going into the events, I just wanted to make match play,” said Brown. Once Brown got through her Sweet 16 match, she said she was able to go out and play free, “cruising through” all of her matches.
“All the girls I played with are great, they were super sweet,” said Brown.
In between those events, Brown played in the Pete & Alice Dye Junior Invitational, which took place June 3 to 5 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel. Brown tied for 19th in the Alice Dye Division with a three-day score of 80-78-72=230.
“One of my biggest goals this year was to play in some big events and get some good finishes, which thankfully I’ve been able to do,” said Brown. “It’s nice to see all the work paying off.”
After a few weeks off, Brown will be playing in some more summer tournaments, including the U.S. Junior tournament, the Indiana State Amateur and the Junior PGA tournament, which takes place July 30 to Aug. 2 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
Then it’s off to Purdue, where she will join the Boilermakers team. Brown said she is considering majoring in finance.
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