Riviera, Here I Come

Bianca Pagdanganan, who has posted 6 top-10 finishes in her LPGA Tour career, earns the lone U.S. Women’s Open qualifying spot at Walnut Creek

By Gary Baines

WESTMINSTER — Colorado hasn’t hosted an LPGA Tour — or related — event since the Solheim Cup came to Colorado Golf Club in 2013. The closest the Centennial State comes these days is either the Colorado Women’s Open, which usually features a few players with some status on the LPGA Tour, or the 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open qualifying held each spring in the Centennial State.

The latter has featured many LPGA Tour players over the years. And just since 2014, among the players who have qualified in Colorado for the USWO and who now have at least one LPGA Tour title to their credit include Colorado native Jennifer Kupcho (four-time winner on the LPGA, including one major), Celine Boutier (six LPGA victories, including one major), Moriya Jutanugarn (three LPGA wins) and Matilda Castren (one LPGA victory).

In addition, there are plenty of other LPGA regulars who have qualified in Colorado for the U.S. Women’s Open. Just to cite one very recent example, Celine Borge earned a USWO spot in Colorado in both 2024 and ’25.

On Tuesday, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve once again hosted the 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open qualifying, and there were certainly numerous players with LPGA Tour experience at the site. Among others, one-time LPGA Tour winner Natalie Gulbis teed it up — at least for 18 holes — as did Kim Kaufman.

In all, 40 competitors vied for just one spot in the USWO. This year’s Women’s Open will be held June 4-7 at historic Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades Calif., which hosts the Genesis Open on the PGA Tour. In most past years, the Colorado qualifier has featured USWO berths for two or three players, but with just one spot on Tuesday, the competition was particularly keen.

And, sure enough, an LPGA Tour player once again came out on top as Bianca Pagdanganan, a native of the Philippines who now lives in Orlando, earned the lone U.S. Women’s Open spot.

Pagdanganan earned a spot in the U.S. Women's Open for the third time.

Pagdanganan — who placed fourth in the women’s golf tournament at the 2024 Olympics — has made more than 90 starts on the LPGA Tour, recording six career top-10 finishes, including a runner-up at the 2023 Ascendant LPGA and two third places. She also helped lead the University of Arizona to the 2018 women’s NCAA Division I national title. At U of A, she was dubbed “the unicorn” by her teammates because of her golf skills, according to Golfweek.

On Tuesday, the 28-year-old who’s ranked No. 306 in the world among women, posted rounds of 68-69 for a 7-under-par total at Walnut Creek, which was good for medalist honors by three strokes.

It will be the third U.S. Women’s Open for Pagdanganan, who previously made the grade in 2020 and ’22, and the second time she’s gotten through via a qualifying tournament. And given that some consider the USWO the top tournament in women’s golf, it’s special each time.

“It's the US Open. Everyone wants to be able to play the U.S. Open with it being one of five (women’s) majors,” Pagdanganan said. “And I think every year they just continue to raise the bar for us. And I think that's why people want to be able to play it and see what it's like. But it definitely means a lot, and I'm just excited to go to ‘Riv’” for the first time.

Pagdanganan closed out her 36-hole day with a birdie on Tuesday.

After sharing the top spot with fellow Filipina Dottie Ardina after 18 holes on Tuesday, Pagdanganan pulled away by playing the first 10 holes of her second 18 in 5 under. That run was highlighted by a 25-foot eagle at the 524-yard, par-5 sixth hole.

But after reaching 9 under for the day through 28 holes, Pagdanganan gave some back and made what had looked like a runaway into something much tighter. She bogeyed three straight holes (14 through 16) and her lead was down to two. “But I tried to stay ‘chill’,” she said. She parred the sometimes tricky par-3 17th. Then she got up and down from a green-side bunker on the par-5 18th, making a 6-foot birdie to close out her day.

“I’m just proud of myself for getting through the longest day in golf,” she said of walking and competing over 36 holes. “I’m pretty proud of how I played. I felt pretty confident out here, and I felt really good about my game. So having that and being able to kind of push through and get it done after a long day, I think I needed that boost for the rest of the season. So I'm just really happy to get it done.”

One-time LPGA Tour winner Natalie Gulbis was among the competitors at Walnut Creek.

Pagdanganan ended up finishing three ahead of runners-up Rayee Feng, an amateur from Short Hills, N.J. (69-71), and pro Sarah Rincones (72-68), who will be the first alternate. Amateur Lauren Nguyen of Houston (70-71) placed fourth at 3 under, while Ardina (68-74) was fifth, another stroke back.

Pagdanganan finished the day with an eagle, 13 birdies and eight bogeys. All in all, it was an impressive performance given that she didn’t get to play a practice round at Walnut Creek, and was competing in Colorado for just the second time ever.

“You know, sometimes it's better going in blind,” she said. “It's like, ‘I see the fairway, hit the fairway, get it done.’ But I was able to practice a bit on the range and the putting green (on Monday). I tried to get my numbers dialed in because I know that the altitude makes a huge difference. So being able to get that done yesterday definitely helped me today.”

Pagdanganan has conditional status on the LPGA Tour this year, so she’s playing a mixed schedule between that and the Epson Tour. For Tuesday’s qualifier, she squeezed it in between two Epson events — last week’s in Las Vegas and this week’s in southwest Utah. And that effort made her appreciate Tuesday’s accomplishment all the more.

“I think it means a lot more knowing that you kind of have to go through such a grind — 36 holes,” she said. “So I think that's what makes it extra special. But yes, I like being able to perform on such big stages and seeing where my game is at. And just being able to compete. I’m grateful for all the opportunities that I'm able to present myself.”

Tuesday presented a considerable challenge because not only were there quite a few players with LPGA Tour experience in the field, but with just one qualifying spot, there wasn’t much room for error.

“I mean, anything can happen in 36 holes,” Pagdanganan said. “I feel like anyone can get through. Anyone can play their best golf, so it's very difficult when you’re fighting for one spot. But you come out here with the same mindset of just wanting to be able to play your best golf. So, I guess it probably kind of helped me.”

Team Colorado member Addison Dorsey rolls in a birdie putt on Tuesday.

The top Colorado finisher in Tuesday's field was Team Colorado member Addison Dorsey of Colorado Springs, who placed 16th (73-81).

The U.S. Women’s Open marks one of just three Colorado-based qualifiers that lead directly to berths in USGA open championships. (The others are the U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.)

Kupcho, by the way, is once again exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open, as is past Colorado Women’s Open champion Lauren Coughlin. Also exempt is amateur Kiara Romero, winner of the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy.

Walnut Creek is one of 26 sites in which U.S. Women’s Open qualifying is taking place this year — and one of the last ones. All told this year, the USGA accepted 1,897 entries for the 81st U.S. Women’s Open.

For all the scores from U.S. Women’s Open qualifying at Walnut Creek, 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