Why Scarlett Schremmer changed golf ball

BANDON, Ore. — Scarlett Schremmer hits the ball higher than most amateur golfers. Bandon Dunes is not a place you want to hit the ball high.

Winds rushing off the Pacific Ocean cover the spectacular Oregon layout like a blanket, nabbing loosely-hit golf balls and sending them into the crevices of the property. The wind, on a good day, can make a good shot average and a bad shot forgettable. When it’s really blowing, it can whisk away any hope for a good round.

Schremmer, who grew up a surfer in Hawaii before turning to golf, knew to compete at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur, she needed to make a change. So she did. She changed from a Callaway Chrome Tour X+ to a Chrome Tour X during Sunday’s practice round, and it’s a change that paid dividends Monday.

Schremmer shot 3-under 69 on Monday and is one shot off the lead after the first round of stroke play. She’ll head out early Tuesday in more benign condition to begin, but with only 18 holes separating her from match play, another strong round will have her in contention for the Robert Cox Trophy.

“I kind of struggled it around during the practice round. But I think changing golf balls was a key part, and just having my mom out there,” Schremmer said. “I was basically playing the spiniest ball they have, and now I’m right in the middle.”

The result of the change? Six birdies, three bogeys and a early appearance near the top of the leaderboard for a motivated Schremmer, the incoming freshman at Texas A&M who missed the cut in the U.S. Girls’ Junior three weeks ago in Atlanta. At one point in the opening round, Schremmer was tied for the lead at 4 under but had to birdie the last to get in the clubhouse a shot behind.

Her last USGA event, the U.S. Girls’ Junior, is a tournament that has bugged her since she went home after stroke play. That letdown was no match for her Monday.

“The U.S. Girls’ Junior definitely was a kind of gut punch,” she said. “I felt like I was a pretty main contender going into that week, so it was pretty heartbreaking to leave early. I definitely took it as motivation, and I’m just happy to be here and kind of open a new chapter as I close my junior golf career.”