98th Women’s Amateur & 10th Mid-Amateur Championships Set for Springdale Golf Club

PRINCETON, N.J. - The New Jersey State Golf Association is headed to Springdale Golf Club for the 98th Women’s Amateur Championship and the 10th Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which will be contested from July 31 through August 3.

This marks the first time the Women’s Amateur Championship will visit the Princeton private golf club since 1985.

Both events will run simultaneously, however, the 98th Women’s Amateur Champion will be determined after a test of both stroke play and match play formats, while the 10th Women's Mid-Amateur Championship will consist of two rounds of stroke play. Both the Women’s Amateur Champion, Katie Lu and Mid-Amateur Champion, Samantha Perrotta are in this year’s field looking to defend their titles.

Founded in 1895, Springdale Golf Club has been a long staple of New Jersey golf competition. The course was designed in 1915 by Gerard Lambert and revised by William Flynn in 1926. The course is right next to the campus of Princeton University which has led to a very collaborative relationship over the years. Many faculty and students are on the club’s roster and it is the home course for the Princeton University Men's and Women's golf teams. The club has attracted many members and has been mutually recognized as one of the top courses in New Jersey.

The club is well known for its excellent conditions, great playability, and its consistency towards its original design.

General Manager Anthony Pagliari alluded to the course's unique features.

“We are a very walking-friendly golf course,” Pagliari said. “We are right in the heart of Princeton and we have a great relationship with the university with us being right on the edge of campus. We have 17 of the original 18 William Flynn greens that were complete in 1927. They are small, but undulating greens and the fairways are fairly tight. That’s how we guard against low scores, because we're only 6400 yards.”

Navigating the challenging greens at Springdale will be a tough test for the field of 57 of the top female amateurs in the Garden State.

“The key to going low is to stay below the pin on all of our greens,” expressed Pagliari. “If you get above the pin you can easily four putt.”

Overall, Springdale has hosted four women’s NJSGA championships, most recently in 2014 for the Women’s Senior Championship.

Inside the Field
The field is packed with talent and highlighted by our featured group, Angelina Tolentino, 2021 Women’s Amateur Champion Ami Gianchandani and defending champion, Katie Lu. The 1st and 10th holes of NJSGA’s ‘Featured’ Group will be live on Instagram @NJSGA1900. The competitors will tee off at 8:25 a.m. in round one.

Coming off a performance at the 103rd New Jersey Open Championship, Lu is looking to defend her title, which she claimed last year at Glen Ridge Country Club. Lu, a rising junior at Michigan State University had a stellar season representing the Spartans. She boasted a 74.1 scoring average and helped earn Michigan State a spot in the 2023 NCAA Championship.

Competing alongside Lu, 2021 New Jersey Women’s Amateur Champion Ami Gianchandani is looking to regain the title. A recent graduate of Yale University, Gianchandani is headed to Auburn University to compete in the SEC next season. She was recently awarded the 2023 Dinah Shore Trophy, cementing her status as one of the top collegiate female players who has made an impact on the course through her leadership and on society through charitable endeavor.

Springdale will be well represented at the Women’s Amateur. A slew of members in Madeleine Zang, sister Jacqueline Zang, Alicia Kapheim, Caroline Tomasi and former two-time Women’s Amateur Champion Donna Young pack the field. Madeleine Zang, 17, earned a spot in the 2023 U.S. Women's Amateur, which will be contested at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif.

Overall, there will be 20 women competing in the Mid-Amateur, including two former champions in three-time champion Samantha Perrotta and 2021 winner Kate Granahan.

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