On a sunny final day at Desert Mountain, Elise Lee (Irvine, Calif.) and Jared Abercrombie (Simi Valley, Calif.) were able to hold off their challengers and capture Southwestern Amateur titles with matching 14-under-par winning scores.
Abercrombie, a Santa Clara University transfer, dueled all day with Miles Kuhl of Boulder, Colo., before pulling away late with two late birdies and a precise final-hole approach. He started the day with a three-shot lead over RJ Arone (Las Vegas, Nev.) with Kuhl four shots back, but the San Diego State commit started hot, with three birdies in his first five holes to pull within one.
“It was a good battle. He definitely turned it on early”, said Abercrombie, whose “stress-free” start turned tense.
Kuhl would cool off with bogeys at seven and nine, but got the two shots right back by holing an amazing bunker shot for eagle at the driveable par-4 10th. Two holes later, it was a tie after an Abercrombie bogey at the par-3 12th and was officially a two-man race to the finish.
Abercrombie regained the lead at the short par-4 14th with his first birdie of the day, and after both players birdied the par-5 16th, Kuhl had a golden opportunity to tie at the 17th. After hitting driver into the narrowest part of the fairway, he had a flip wedge that took a look at the hole before trickling outside 10 feet. His potential tying putt slid by, and Abercrombie was up by one heading to the final hole.
There, he drove down the left side and was faced with 178 to the traditional back-left pin at the 18th. One final precision approach set him up for a two-putt par and the win.
“I had 155 to cover the bunker, and I was telling myself to cover that and it would feed down there, and [the shot] was exactly what fit my eye.”
“The whole back nine was really stressful. [Kuhl] holing it out on 10 was an unbelievable shot to get within one”, said Abercrombie. “I feel like it was a two-man battle from there and I’m just glad to pull through on the last two (holes).”
Abercrombie closed with a 1-under 72 for a 14-under 274 total, two shots ahead of Kuhl, who missed long on 18 and made bogey. Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh of Malaysia had the round of the day, a 7-under 65 to finish third at 11 under, while Austin Krahn (Christina Lake, B.C., Canada) was fourth at 10 under. The defending champion Hartel Grewal (Pleasanton, Calif.) and first-round leader RJ Arone (Las Vegas, Nevada) tied for fifth another shot back.
The winner said that damage control and precision was key. “I didn’t have a penalty all week. And then finding the right spots on the greens. If you can do that, keeping the ball in play and giving yourself enough looks [he hit 70% of the greens for the week], they’re bound to fall and I’m glad they did.”
It was Abercrombie’s first big amateur tournament win after a spring that saw him contend in college events and gain valuable experience being in the competitive heat.
“I think this whole college season was about getting comfortable with being in contention; I think I got really good at that late in the year. Just keep knocking on the door and eventually have the opportunity to be in control of [a tournament], and I’m glad I was able to have that today starting with a three-shot lead. It was in my control, mine to win or mine to lose, and it was great to be able to have that opportunity.”
The women’s championship had far less drama. Elise Lee (Irvine, Calif.), whose previous competitive round was the NCAA Women’s Championship final match, retained her competitive edge and pulled away from the field with a masterful display of wedge play and putting. The USC rising junior started the day two shots ahead of Mary Miller (Savannah, Ga.) of Ole Miss, and after treading water on the front nine, began to separate herself from Miller and everyone else starting at the tenth.
An accurate wedge there and another at the 11th produced two birdies and stretched the lead to four, and once Lee got up and down behind the final green, her winning margin was six shots.
“I didn’t think too much in the beginning, I just played my own game,” said Lee. “But as we got near the end I found myself getting momentum and the putts were falling.”
With a final-round 69, Lee tied the 72-hole tournament record at the Outlaw Course and became the first player with four straight sub-70 rounds. She shot 69-69-67-69 to finish 14 under par. On a course known for its elevation changes and challenging green complexes, dialing in her wedges and converting those chances was what set Lee apart from the rest of the field.
“My inside-100 (yard) wedge shots were really solid this week, which helped a lot, especially on a course like this”, said Lee. “The greens are shallow, so I think distance control is very important. And, your putting has to be good, and this has got to be the best putting week I’ve ever had in my career.”
Lee was a member of the national champion Northwestern University team in 2025, and had another deep run in college golf this year after transferring to USC. Lee and the Trojans made it all the way to the final match before falling to a loaded Stanford team. In her first individual tournament of the summer, Lee acknowledged a different feel this week than the team-oriented vibe of college golf, but she didn’t alter her approach.
“You are thinking more of your team when you are in a team event, but there are still individual (results) when you are in a team event, so there’s not much of a shift (in the mindset of playing my own game).”
Miller and rising Pepperdine junior Grace Anderson (Burlington, Ont., Canada) were within two shots at the turn, but both came home in one over to finish in a tie for second at 8 under. Anderson closed with a 71 and Miller carded a 73.
Mia Clausen (Carlsbad, Calif.), one of four members of the U.S. National Junior Team in the field this week, was fourth at 6 under, while Scarlett Schremmer (Birmingham, Ala.) and last year’s runner-up Kaili Xiao (Beijing, China) shared fifth at 4 under par.
This was the sixth year of the women’s championship, after 105 years of Southwestern Amateur championships for men. An inaugural member of the Women’s Elite Amateur Golf Series (WEAGS), the Southwestern Amateur draws the world’s top amateurs to the Arizona desert, and this year’s field was the strongest to date. Thanks to all of the men and women who traveled from across the U.S. and across the world to compete at Desert Mountain.