On Friday afternoon along the Oregon coast, a group of caddies gathered at the Arcade Tavern, a favorite watering hole for loopers from nearby Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Wind was howling off the water, and the quarter finals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship was screening live from Bandon on a TV behind the bar.
“Beer man! That’s who I’m rooting for,” one of the caddies said, raising a glass of lager as a blond-haired golfer appeared on camera. Several of his buddies returned the toast.
“Beer man! Love that name!,” another said. “Go beer man!”
They were referring to Brooke Biermann, 22, of Wildwood, Mo., who was in a taut match against Arianna Lau of Hong Kong. A short while later, the caddies got their wish when Biermann, a recent graduate of Michigan State University, gutted out a 3-and-2 win.
“Really? That’s funny,” Biermann said when told about her local fan base.
Though her surname is indeed pronounced beer-man, Biermann said she wasn’t sure of its origins. Did it have anything to do with beer?
“I have no idea. I just know it’s German,” Biermann said. “You’d have to ask my dad.”
That would be Bill Biermann, an attorney and municipal judge who has been on his daughter’s bag this week.
“Good question,” the elder Biermann said, smiling. “I just know it’s not Italian.”
The victory for team Biermann sets up an all-Show Me State semi-final match against Lyla Louderbaugh, 20, of Buffalo, Mo. The other semi-final match will pit 19-year-old Ella Scaysbrook of Australia against Stanford rising senior Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J.
Here’s what you need to know heading into Saturday’s action, which will air live on Golf Channel at 3 p.m. ET.
An Aussie is feeling right at home
Golf at Bandon Dunes is often likened to golf in Scotland, but Scaysbrook said the course reminds her of the Down Under layouts where she learned the game, particularly the courses of the Melbourne Sandbelt. “It’s firm, bouncy, lots of wind,” she said. “A lot like what we see in Australia.” She’s been looking comfortable most of the week. Since squeaking into match play as the 63rd seed, Scaysbrook has knocked off a pair of Curtis Cuppers — Asterisk Talley and Jasmine Koo. None of her matches has made it past the 15th hole.
Ganne is at it again
Megha Ganne of Stanford made a national name for herself by playing her way into the final group of the 2021 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. But she has long been an amateur stalwart and she has come close in the U.S. Women’s Amateur before. That was in 2019 when she made it to the semi-finals of the championship as a 15 year old. This time around, her road to the semi-finals has not been easy. Over the past two days, she has knocked out three highly ranked amateurs: Kaleiya Romero, Anna Davis and Kary Hollenbaugh.
Local knowledge counts
Location, location, location. It matters in real estate. And looping, too. In seven of eight USGA championships held at Bandon Dunes, a Bandon resort caddie has made it to the finals. Robin Oliver is now trying to make it eight of nine. The veteran Bandon looper is on the bag of Louderbaugh, who notched the day’s biggest upset by beating World No. 1 women’s amateur Kiara Romero (Kaleiya’s younger sister) in 20 holes.
Mother nature has a say
After calm conditions (and a record-setting round) early in the week, Bandon Dunes morphed into a beast on Friday, with 30 mile-per-hour gusts off the water. Holes that played as driver-wedge on Tuesday called for fairway-wood approaches during the quarter finals. The current forecast calls for more of the same for Saturday’s semi-final matches.
