First Time is a Championship for Ellison, Scheck at Daniel Island Club

After a week that saw multiple championship records, history was made one last time Wednesday at Daniel Island Club’s Ralston Creek Course, as 23-year-olds Morgan Ellison, of Peachtree City, Ga., and Katie Scheck, of Ooltewah, Tenn., became the oldest champions in U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball history following their 19-hole victory over Grace Carter, 15, of Orlando, Fla., and Alexandra Snyder, 15, of Jupiter, Fla.

Before they could face Carter and Snyder, the champions’ eventful day began at dawn with the conclusion of their quarterfinal match, which had been suspended Tuesday night due to darkness.

A quick birdie on the 21st hole (No. 17 on the course) would put an end to the prolonged match and set up a semifinal showdown against former high school teammates and college freshmen Haley Davis (Florida State) and Katelyn Huber (University of Florida). In the penultimate contest, Ellison and Scheck rallied from an early 2-down deficit to post a 2-and-1 victory and secure a spot in the 18-hole final.

Facing Carter and Snyder, one of the most formidable duos of the weekend, the wunderkinds got off to a slow start, falling 1-down with a bogey on the par-5 third.

As the match progressed, Ellison and Scheck began to settle in, winning Nos. 9 and 10 to take a 1-up advantage. Their lead held for two holes before Carter, a first-year member of the U.S. National Junior Team and a semifinalist in the 2025 U.S. Girls’ Junior, stuck her approach on No. 13 to 2 feet to tie the match.

“I think that we kind of knew that we didn't play the first six holes our best,” said Ellison. “Those are not our strongest holes even though there's some birdie holes. We made some birdies, but we just kind of knew, as long as we could kind of stick in there, once we reached that stretch of 7 to like 13, 14, that those were some hard holes, but we could play those well. We were really good at those.”

The momentum shift proved to be short-lived as two holes later on the 135-yard par-3 15th, Ellison stepped to the tee and stuck her shot to 6 feet, converting the birdie putt for a 1-up lead. The following hole offered Ellison/Scheck a chance to take control, as the Floridian teens carded a bogey, giving Ellison and Scheck an opportunity for a 2-up lead. However, both college golf veterans – Ellison played for the University of Texas-San Antonio and Scheck is a senior at Mercer University – missed their 8-foot par putts, keeping the door open for the younger side.

Suspense continued to build into the following hole as Snyder made the most of the moment, sinking a 30-foot birdie putt to tie the match heading into No. 18.

On the par-5 closing hole, both sides had chances for walk-off birdies, but came up short, sending the final into extra holes for only the second time in the 11 iterations of the championship.

After days of grueling competition and hours of back-and-forth play between the finalists, the contest came down to a dramatic conclusion on the par-4 19th hole, Ralston Creek’s 382-yard first hole. Ellison drained a 12-footer for birdie, and Carter was unable to convert her 10-footer to extend the match.

“I had missed ones on 16, 17 and 18. So it felt good to see one drop,” said Ellison about her winning putt. “Obviously, I knew there was still a chance she could make hers, and Grace [Carter] had been a good player all day. So, I figured we were going to another [playoff hole]. That was my mindset. It was just so surreal. It was so good to see one go in.”

The victory is personal for Katie Scheck, who along with Ellison, earned an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur this August that will be contested at The Honors Course in her hometown of Ooltewah, Tenn.

“Special to play at home. So special,” she remarked, “It [The Honors Course] is right up the road where I live. So that's really special.”

The runners-up won’t go home empty-handed, as the duo of Carter and Snyder earned themselves exemptions into the next three U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Balls, provided  the side remains intact.

“Yeah, we didn't have our best stuff today,” said Snyder, a high school sophomore. “But we fought hard. We got it tied back going into 18, tied 18, and just an unfortunate playoff hole. We had a lot of fun this week, and Grace played amazing.” 

What the Champion Side Receives

• A gold medal for each player
• Custody of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball trophy for one year
• A 10-year exemption from qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball (provided the side remains intact)
• An exemption for each player into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn.
• Their names inscribed on a plaque recognizing all 2026 USGA champions that will reside in the Hall of Champions within the USGA Golf Museum & Library in Liberty Corner, N.J.

Notable

• This was only the second time the final match was extended to extra holes. The first was the 2016 final when Hailee Cooper and Kaitlyn Papp defeated Angelina Kim and Brianna Navarrosa in 19 holes at Streamsong (Fla.) Resort.
  
  
• The 92 match-play holes played by Morgan Ellison and Katie Scheck are the most by a champion. The previous record was 86 holes (Sarah Im and Thienna Huynh, 2022)
  
  
• With their victory, Ellison and Scheck are officially the oldest winning champions in U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball history with a combined age of 46. This week’s contest was also the first USGA championship for the duo.
  
  
• Grace Carter and Alexandra Snyder reached the final round in only 94 holes, setting a U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship record for the shortest path to the final (previous mark was 95 holes in 2023 by Gianna Clemente and Avery Zweig).
  
  
• The 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be contested at Farmington Country Club, in Charlottesville, Va. Registration is now open.  

Quotable

“It's super special to be here with my partner and my family and everything, and to just close it out like the way she did and to get a hold of this trophy that we knew we kind of were like that trophy's ours. We said that jokingly. As we were walking the course on Wednesday, we were like that trophy is ours this week. We made it a reality! So that was really special.” - Katie Scheck on what it means to be a USGA champion

“There's a lot to learn from this. We played really well throughout the week. Just unfortunate turnout, but we'll be back.” - Alexandra Snyder reflecting on her side’s run to the championship final

“The one on 18 really kind of broke my heart, stopping half a foot short. I was like, oh, Morgan, your dad would have told you to hit it harder and get into the hole. Luckily my putts on 17 and 18 were left-to-righters, and those don't suit my eye. And Hole No. 1 was a right-to-lefter. So I felt a little bit better about that one.” Morgan Ellison on hitting the match-sealing putt after lipping out on her two previous attempts

“They were great players. We had to work for that one. We definitely had to make birdies to win the holes out there. I had every confidence in her to make that putt. She's been making putts like that all week. So it was good. - Katie Scheck on her confidence in Morgan Ellison to sink the winning putt

“Yeah, any time you get to compete in a USGA event on the big stage and kind of make it more towards the end, just getting that experience for us and going back with our team and even individually, it's nice to be put in these situations and gain experience from them.” - Semifinalist Mary Miller on her experience playing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball alongside partner Sophie Linder.