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Women’s Amateur Championship Brings Competitive Field to Hickory Hills

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (June 14, 2023) – The 94th annual Women’s Amateur Championship will be held at Hickory Hills Country Club from June 18-20, marking the fifth time this highly-anticipated event has been hosted at Hickory Hills, with the last occasion being in 1999.

This year’s championship will feature a 54-hole stroke play format, with the competitor achieving the lowest total score being crowned the MGA Women’s Amateur Champion.

Event Schedule:

  • Practice Round: Monday, June 17
  • Competition Rounds: Tuesday, June 18; Wednesday, June 19; Thursday, June 20
  • Awards Ceremony: Following the final round on June 20

A total of 74 talented female golfers will vie for the title next week in what is one of the most competitive fields we have ever seen. This year, the stakes are even higher as the winner of the 2024 Women’s Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“This is the strongest field we’ve had in recent memory, and we’re looking forward to hosting the Women’s Amateur at one of the best clubs in the Midwest,” Executive Director Scott Hovis said. “It should be a great week of golf, and we are really looking forward to a great event at Hickory Hills.”

University of Central Missouri golfer Maya McVey (Blue Springs), the reigning Missouri Women’s Amateur Champion, will return to defend her title.

“It’s really exciting to see. I’ve been playing golf since my freshman year of high school, and I’ve been trying to get in tournaments with more competitive fields,” McVey said. “State amateurs tend to draw a lot of Divison I players, and it’s fun to mix up the field and challenge myself.” 

Joining the field is 2023 Missouri Women’s Amateur Runner-Up Kiser Pannier (Sedalia), who is expected to deliver a strong performance. Also competing is legendary Missouri golfer Ellen Port (St. Louis). Port has won over twenty combined amateur championships held by the Missouri Golf Association and Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association from 1992 to 2023. As a United States Golf Association player, she has won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur four times and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Golf Championship three times, tying for fifth for most career wins by a USGA golfer. Port has also captained the American Curtis Cup team and has been inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Other notable players in the field include: 

  • Brook Biermann (Wildwood) – Rising senior golfer at Michigan State University, WAGR of 237
  • Reagan Zibilski (Springfield)  – Rising junior golfer at the University of Arkansas, WAGR of 246
  • Julia Misemer (Overland Park) – Rising junior golfer at the University of Arizona, competed in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open, WAGR of 295
  • Megan Propeck (Leawood) – Rising senior golfer at the University of Virginia, WAGR of 329
  • Grace Kilcrease (Springdale) – Rising junior golfer at the University of Tulsa, WAGR of 367
  • Audrey Rischer (Columbia) – Rising freshman golfer at the University of Oklahoma, 2024 Women’s Southern Amateur Champion, WAGR of 724

To learn more about the upcoming Women’s Amateur Championship, click here. 

If you have any questions about the Women’s Amateur Championship, please reach out to the MGA office at (573) 636-8994 or mogolf@mogolf.org. 

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About MGA: The Missouri Golf Association is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote the best interests and true spirit of the game of golf throughout the State of Missouri. The Missouri Golf Association was started in St. Louis in 1905 to run the Amateur Championship. Four founding clubs would be the ones in existence in St. Louis in those early years – St. Louis Country Club, Algonquin Golf Club, Glen Echo Golf Club and Normandie Golf Club. Four years later, the invite-only Missouri Amateur was held in Kansas City at Evanston Club. 1911 marked the real organization of the MGA with Bonner Miller as Secretary and Executive Director. Ever since then, the MGA has striven to provide tournaments and spaces for Missouri golfers to sharpen their skills and enjoy the game.

Media Contact:

Ella Fixsen 

Director of Marketing, Media & Communications

efixsen@mogolf.org