Natalie Yen and Asia Young Win U.S. Women's Amateur Four Ball

NICHOLS HILLS, Oklahoma - Two Oregon teenagers brought home the hardware at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four Ball earlier this month.

Natalie Yen, 18, of West Linn, and Asia Young, 16, of Bend, rolled to a commanding 5-and-3 victory to win the 10th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on a hot and windy Wednesday at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, on May 14.

The 5 and 3 margin in the final match is the second-largest in championship history.

The duo defeated 17-year-old Kentucky residents Athena Singh and Keira Yun in the final match.

The Oregon duo will have their names go into the USGA Hall of Champions.

Teeing off just 45 minutes after wrapping up their 2-and-1 semifinal win over Fay Jia and Cherry Zhang, Yen and Young wasted no time finding their rhythm, taking a 1-up lead on the opening hole, thanks to Young’s steady two-putt par. True to the form they showed all week, both players contributed when it counted.

"I think overall, we trust each other to play our games, and we know we're trying our best,” said Yen, who is headed to Texas A&M this fall. “We may have different styles on certain holes. But at the end of the day, I think we both know that we're both able to score.”

After a tough fourth hole, Young bounced back in impressive fashion, becoming the only player in the group to reach the par-5 fifth green in two shots. Capitalizing on her length —she and Yen had been consistently outdriving their opponents all match — she tapped in for birdie to extend the side’s lead to 3 up, before draining a 30-foot birdie putt on the next hole for a commanding 4-up lead through six holes.

"We won those three holes in a row from 4 to 6, and I think my putt on 4 really helped us kind of feel like, okay, now we can really start firing,” said Yen.

“Being up a little with momentum on your side just lets you play a little more fearlessly,” added Young, a rising junior at Laurel Springs High School, in Bend.

But the perks for both Oregon players extend beyond their win, as they earned an Exemption for each player into 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in August.

“Bandon will be cool for me. My mom grew up in Coquille, which is about ten, 15 miles I think from Bandon,” Yen said. “I've played the Oregon Am out at Bandon Trails and played at Junior Am out there, but for me to go out there and be in my home state, kind of last tournament as a junior before I start college, you know, to be in Bandon somewhere close where my mom grew up is going to be really special.”

They also earned exemptions into the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga. and custody of the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Trophy for one year.

Yen who is committed to play at Texas A&M this fall is excited for her opportunity after making a name for herself on the American Junior Golf Association.

“I'm super excited for this fall. I have some great teammates incoming with Scarlett, Avery, and Brynn,” Yen said. “I think our team, we are really ready to hit the ground running this fall and get some miles on it before we hit postseason next year. Yeah, I'm excited. It's going to be bittersweet to leave junior golf because I've had a lot of fun and had a lot of good results and stuff like that. I'm excited for the next thing.”

As for Young and where she will consider playing college golf, she hinted at what that might look like.

“I get to start talking with coaches in about a month. We'll see,” Young said. “In Oregon, it's really cold there. I'm super open minded, but I would like to go someplace where I can golf all the time.”

Regarding the four ball format and how they worked together to win this USGA Championship.

“Yeah, that's the beauty of Four-Ball, is Asia has a bad hole, if I have a good hole -- you know, she talks about letting the team down,” Yen added. “There were a lot times where I was basically out of the hole and she was in there tight looking at birdie a lot. So Four-Ball, it's far more ham and egg than people give it credit for.”