Facing One of the Best

CGA Women’s Amateur winner Amy Hodgkins puts up a fight, but falls in first U.S. Women’s Amateur match to 2026 NCAA individual champ

By Gary Baines 

Suffice it to say that 2026 CGA Women’s Amateur champion Amy Hodgkins didn’t get the best of draws for her round-of-64 match at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Despite having a solid stroke stroke-play showing at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., the 2026 CGA summer intern — and part-time Lafayette resident — was matched up against 2026 NCAA Division I individual champion Farah O’Keefe, who’s ranked No. 4 in the world among female amateurs.

Still, Hodgkins hung tough with the University of Texas golfer for much of Thursday’s match. In fact, things were tied through 11 holes

Hodkins, younger sister of Colorado resident and former University of Colorado golfer Kirsty Hodgkins-Redner, went 3 over par for the 16 holes of Thursday’s match. O’Keefe countered with a 1-under-par showing.

In the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the championship, Hodgkins went 74-72 for a 2-over-par total, good for 28th place out of the 156-player field. It was her first appearance in the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

After starting her college golf career at Northern Arizona University, Hodgkins has transferred to the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where she’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.

For all the results from the U.S. Women’s Amateur, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com