Women's Met Amateur to Feature Familiar Faces
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (June 12, 2024) - The 22nd Women’s Met Amateur Championship will take place on June 18 at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y. Several past champions are back in the field, alongside others that have picked up wins already this year.
Related: Women's Met Amateur History
Defending champion Sofia Nogalo of Hollow Brook is in the mix, aiming to take home the trophy for a second consecutive year. She captured last year’s title by shooting 4-over par at challenging Essex County Country Club. Nogalo recently finished her freshman season at Bucknell University, where a runner-up finish in the Roseann Schwartz Invitational last fall helped earn her the title of Patriot League Golfer of the Week.
Ava Lozito, the 2022 MGA/WMGA Women’s Public Links champion, is also in the field. Lozito tied for third at last year’s Women’s Met Amateur Championship. She is coming off a successful junior season at Monmouth University, where she led the team in individual finishes at multiple tournaments.
Three-time champion Ina Kim-Schaad (2016, ‘18, ‘19) of Deepdale will try to win a record fourth title this year. She is currently tied with Laura Algiero, each owning three wins. Despite it having been five years since her last win in this championship, Kim has racked up several other wins since. She was the 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, the 2023 Long Island Women's Amateur Stroke Play champion and the 2023 Women’s International Four-Ball champion, while also being a mainstay on MGA International Teams.
MGA eClub – New Jersey member Grace Lu will be making her Women’s Met Amateur debut this year after picking up a win just this week. She claimed the 26th MGA/WMGA Women’s Public Links Championship on Bethpage State Park’s Yellow Course, shooting 2-under 69 – five shots ahead of the runner-up. Lu also won the 2022 New Jersey State Golf Association Women’s Public Links Championship.
Also new to the championship is Ami Gianchandani of Watchung Valley. A Yale and Auburn alum, Gianchandani has been making a splash in the golf world. In addition to winning her second New Jersey Women’s Amateur title this February, she is also the co-founder and CEO of Accel Golf, a stat-tracking app. She recently partnered with the USGA as a non-exclusive game-improvement app provider for the U.S. National Development Program. During her time at Yale, Gianchandani was named Ivy League Player of the Year twice (2019, ‘22) and recorded nine collegiate victories.
Recent MGA International Team competitors Catherine McEvoy of Innis Arden and Pendleton Bogache of Deepdale are also in the field. Both have also been competitors at The Farrell – the national invitational that’s a partnership between The Stanwich Club and the MGA – with McEvoy winning the Women’s Mid-Amateur division in 2023, the event’s inaugural year.
This year, the MGA is taking on an enhanced leadership role in the Women’s Met Amateur Championship, administering and conducting the championship with collaboration and support from the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association. The MGA aims to enhance the championship in future years, including introducing a multi-round, multi-day format in 2025 that will make it eligible for World Amateur Golf Ranking points.
The 22nd Women’s Met Amateur Championship will tee off at 8 a.m., on June 18 at Nassau Country Club.