Former Coloradan Ashley Kozlowski rallies from 3 down with 3 holes left to beat world’s No. 42-ranked female amateur in U.S. Women’s Am
By Gary Baines – 8/6/2025
The good news for Ashley Kozlowski on Wednesday morning was that she made a birdie on the first hole of a playoff to earn a spot in match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The apparently not-so-good news for the former Littleton resident?
As one of the last qualifiers into the 64-person match-play portion of the event, she had to face one of the top seeds in her opening match at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
In Kozlowski’s case, that was Canadian Vanessa Borovilos, who plays her college golf at Texas A&M. Not only was Borovilos the sixth seed in the Women’s Am bracket, but she set a Women’s Amateur record with a 63 on Tuesday. Also, she’s ranked No. 42 in the world among female amateurs and was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Girls’ Junior last year.
No problem, Kozlowski seemed to say.
Though the former Coloradan was 3 down with three holes to play on Wednesday evening, she forced extra holes with an eagle on the 508-yard, par-5 18th, sank a 25-foot par putt on the 19th hole to extend the match, then pulled off the upset by winning the 20th hole with a par to Borovilos’ double bogey.
Kozlowski will advance to face Kary Hollenbaugh of New Albany, Ohio, a golfer for Ohio State, in a round-of-32 match that’s scheduled to begin at 10:35 a.m. (MT) on Thursday. It will be another test for Kozlowski as Hollenbaugh is ranked 20th in the world among women amateurs and has posted five victories in 2025.
Kozlowski, the 2024 CGA Women’s Stroke Play champion, never led in Wednesday’s match until winning the 20th hole.
Kozlowski, a Purdue and Rock Canyon High School graduate who now lives in Florida, played her 20 holes in 2 under par. Borovilos countered with a 1-under-par total.
After going 3 down through 15, Kozlowski won the short par-4 16th hole with a birdie, the 17th with a par, and the 18th with an eagle to beat Borovilos’ birdie. As the two went to extra holes, they were the last first-round match on the golf course.
Kozlowski, competing in the U.S. Women’s Am for the second straight year, tied for 59th place out of 156 golfers in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the championship.
The scores for all the players with strong Colorado ties at the U.S. Women’s Amateur:
WEDNESDAY’S MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64
Former Littleton resident Ashley Kozlowski def. Vanessa Borovilos, Canada, 20 holes
STROKE PLAY MONDAY AND TUESDAY
Advances to Match Play
59. Former Littleton resident Ashley Kozlowski 71-74–145
Failed to Advance to Match Play
74. CSU golfer Kara Kaneshiro 73-73—146
80. CU golfer Carolyn Fuller 78-69–147
149. Loveland resident Katelyn Lehigh 81-75—156
For all the results, 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