Latanna Stone plays her second shot on hole 15 during the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. (James Gilbert/USGA)
To get to the championship match of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, a player has to win five matches.
In the case of Stone, those matches have come against some of the best in amateur golf and numerous past champions.
In the opening round, she knocked off Amari Avery, the third-highest-ranked player in the field and Curtis Cup team member. Then, she beat Rachel Kuehn, the second-highest-ranked player at Bel-Air and fellow Curtis Cupper. Then, she knocked off Yana Wilson, coming back from a 5 down thru 7 deficit, and Thienna Huyhn, both of them being former USGA champions.
In the semifinals, she beat another Curtis Cupper and former NCAA individual champion, Rachel Heck. Stone was 5 up with six to play and held on for a 3 and 2 victory.
“We were laughing our butts off and having a great time,” Stone said of her and Heck’s match. “Winning all of those holes was great, but it’s match play and anything can happen.”
In the first nine holes, Stone won six of them and had five birdies to one bogey. She added another birdie on the par-4 11th to go 5 up, but Heck won with a par on the par-3 13th to slightly decrease the deficit.
Then, a poor drive on the par-4 15th resulted in Stone eventually conceding the hole, but she had an easy two-putt par to clinch the match on the 16th.
“You just can’t let your guard down,” Stone said.
Stone was the top seed in match play last year and fell in her opening match. This year, she has had an incredibly challenging road to the final, but she continues to find ways to persevere.
“Match play is just a different game,” Stone said.
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