It was already the longest championship match in the history of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and Ina Kim-Schaad added to that history, becoming a two-time winner of the championship after making an 18-foot birdie putt against Hanley Long on the 23rd hole at Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach.
Kim-Schaad, the 2019 champion in Arizona, was playing in her 20th USGA championship, and eighth Mid-Amateur. At age 42, she’s the fourth-oldest winner.
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“I’m overwhelmed with emotion, honestly,” Kim-Schaad said. “I truly love this place, and my husband and I got married in Carmel. To do it at such a special place, golf course, with my family here and my husband on the bag, his birthday day week, and for a second time, it’s like there’s not even enough language to put around just all the feels that I’m feeling.”
Hanley Long
Hanley Long reacts to her putt on the 12th hole during the championship match.
Eakin Howard
The match was a see-saw battle from the beginning although Long never actually led at any point. Kim-Schaad, from Jupiter, Fla., won the first hole to take the lead and was only ever as much as 2 up twice. Long, from Clarksville, Tenn., won the 10th and 11th holes to pull back tied and they exchanged holes won on Nos. 14, 15 and 16. Kim-Schaad bogeyed the 17th—her approach shot flew the green—to allow Long to pull the match even, then both women bogeyed the 18th hole with all the pressure on the line. They both parred each of the next four holes—Long made an 18-footer to save par on the 20th hole—while playing sudden-death before Kim-Schaad birdied the short 287-yard, par-4 final hole from 18 feet to win the match.
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“I kind of figured it was going to be a war of attrition,” said Kim-Schaad, who works as a mental performance coach. “The pins where they were today, you could not get on offense. It just felt physically impossible to be on offense. So, playing defensively, playing patiently and just letting the things happen and be a war of attrition was mentally where I had to put myself, and I was ready to play 36 if it had to be.”
Long, 28, was the 2019 Conference USA Golfer of the Year while playing at Middle Tennessee State and earned two First-Team All-Conference selections. This was the second USGA championship she’s played in, having advanced to the Round of 32 in the Women’s Mid-Am last year.
“It was an absolute battle out there the entire day,” Long said. “Honestly, I’m just so proud of my grit and determination throughout the entire day, keeping my head up and held high and never giving up.”
Ina Kim-Schaad
Eakin Howard
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Kim-Schaad was runner-up at the 2000 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Pumpkin Ridge and went on to play college golf at Northwestern. She’s been on an impressive run the past few years, winning the 2024 New York State Women’s Amateur, she’s a four-time Met Women’s Amateur champion, including a runner-up this year and has qualified for match play in six of her seven appearances in the Mid-Amateur. She also competed in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, and, with this victory, is exempt into next year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera.
“Super proud,” Kim-Schaad said. “Getting through two USGA champions and the No. 1 seed even to get into the finals, I was honestly just really patting myself on the back yesterday. So today is just obviously icing on the cake.”
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