Hailey Borja lines up her putt on hole nine during the quarterfinals of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (James Gilbert/USGA)
Hailey Borja has been a part of the USGA in numerous ways this summer.
She spent time at Los Angeles Country Club during the U.S. Open as a USGA Pathways intern. Now, about a mile away at Bel-Air, Borja, the No. 7 seed, is into the semifinals at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“This is actually the only course in LA that I had not been,” Borja said.
Safe to say she has familiarized herself with it well.
The fifth-year at Michigan, the seventh seed, beat Oregon rising sophomore 18th-seeded Katy Ly, 3 and 2, on Thursday afternoon to punch her ticket to Saturday’s semifinal matchup.
“My putting really saved me today,” Borja said. “They’re hard greens, and I got really lucky with a lot of putts.”
Last year, Michigan teammate Monet Chun made it into the championship match at Chambers Bay. Borja is hoping to find herself in a similar position come Sunday.
“The last couple years, we’ve always been the underdog,” Borja said. “We’ve got great coaches over there, a great community and lots of support. I think that’s what has really helped.”