First-Timers Campbell, Rogers Among Tennessee Quintet At U.S. Women’s Amateur

Although Karlie Campbell has accumulated an impressive résumé of accomplishments over the course of her amateur golf career, this week will bring about a pair of firsts for the 19-year-old Ethridge native.

The rising sophomore at the University of Kentucky will be able to kill two birds with one stone when she travels to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort to compete in the 125^th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, which begins Monday with two days stroke play followed by five days of match play pairings. It will represent Campbell’s first visit to Oregon, and it will also be her first entry into a USGA national tournament.

“I'm just thankful for the opportunity to get to play out here,” Campbell said from Oregon on Saturday. “It’s very, very cool to get to play in a field with so many great golfers, getting to just go out here and compete with them and hopefully beat some of them.”

Campbell is one of five Tennessee residents among the field of 156. The Volunteer State trails only California and Texas in total qualifiers among the 35 states sending participants to the tournament.

Others with Tennessee ties are Rachel Heck of Memphis, who is playing in her seventh U.S. Women’s Amateur; Kynadie Adams of Gallatin, Isabella Johnson of Murfreesboro, and Carlee Rogers of Chattanooga.

“Tennessee golf is incredible,” Campbell said. “I wouldn't want to represent any other state or association when it comes to the summer golf platform. Of course, I love representing the University of Kentucky in college, but Tennessee golf is special, from the staff to the players to just everybody involved.”

Campbell comes from a golfing family dating back to her father, Jon, who played at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, which is now UT Southern. Her older sister, Lanie, is entering her senior year at Eastern Kentucky after three years playing for Middle Tennessee State’s golf team. This week will make for a special week for their family along the Oregon coastline.

“My dad will be on my bag this week helping keep me grounded and focused. It would be fun to have Lanie caddying for me, but we'd probably argue a little bit more than me and my dad will,” Campbell said.

Campbell punched her ticket to Bandon Dunes by joining Adams as co-medalists at a local qualifier at Old Fort Golf Club in early July. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to test her game among the nation’s elite amateur golfers.

“It's a good opportunity to show what I am made of this week,” Campbell said. “All tournaments like this are also a great opportunity to give God the glory, which is always my number one thing. I hope that I can possibly win the tournament and use it as a platform to tell the world what the Lord has done for me, but I’m also a competitor.

“Getting into match play would be a goal, because it’s a different brand of golf. That’s when you can be really aggressive, which is when I’m at my best. That's just kind of who I am. Of course, the goal is to win it, but also to go out there with a good attitude all week and just keep my head up high no matter what happens. I want to enjoy every moment because golf is not who I am, but it’s what I do.”

Campbell, who helped lead Summertown High School to five straight TSSAA team championships and captured the 2023 Tennessee Girls’ Junior title, has come to appreciate the bold challenges presented by Bandon Dunes. Gauging the steady coastal breezes along the 6,310-yard, par-72 links-style layout is a must, with gusts expected up to 30 mph while temperatures will peak in the low 60s.

“The atmosphere here is just different,” Campbell said “We were talking about these golf courses, and you don't get anything like it in Tennessee. It's completely different than what we've seen before. I think it's going to challenge everybody, starting from the best in the world all the way down. And that's what's super cool about playing this event at this place. It has a way of creating an even playing field, and anybody can come out on top.”

The past week has been a whirlwind for Rogers, a senior at Baylor School who has committed to the University of Miami as her college home.

She drove from Chattanooga to Indiana last weekend to play in the Junior PGA Championship, where she missed by one shot of eclipsing the 54-hole cut to advance to Friday’s final round. Rogers and her family then flew from Indianapolis to Eugene, Ore. by way of Seattle, only to battle a lengthy traffic snarl that delayed their arrival to Bandon.

But once she got her first look at Bandon Dunes, she was amazed at what she encountered.

“Oh my gosh, it's awesome,” Rogers said. “It's so different from what I'm used to, and it’s out in the middle of nowhere. I played a practice round (Saturday) morning and the marine layer rolled in where you could barely see the holes, so that was pretty cool.”

Competing on a seaside links golf course presents a different set of challenges, and Rogers picked up some valuable experience during her practice session.

“You just can't really fight against this course because it's going to be hard for everybody,” Rogers said. “You’re going to get some bad bounces because of all the slopes and ridges, so you’ve got to take what it gives you and make the best of it. Also, avoiding dumb mistakes while dealing with the wind is going to be key.”

With this being Rogers’ second USGA event after playing in the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur, she’s excited for this next adventure with her father, Chris, walking each step as her caddie.

“The USGA does a really great job of making it a big deal, and they spoil us for sure,” Rogers said. “When I made it to the U.S. Girls’ Junior, it was kind of a similar feeling. But this is on another level.”

A look at the other Tennesseans who will be competing this week in Oregon:

Rachel Heck: After missing last year’s tournament, Heck will be making a return visit to an event where she has enjoyed success. She earned her entry by making it to the semifinals in 2023, playing as a member of the 2022 USA Curtis Cup team and by virtue of her ranking among the Top 50 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking as of June 4.

Heck failed to advance beyond stroke play her first two tries, but made it into the match play her other four appearances. She fell in the semifinals in 2023 and 2021, and was stroke play medalist by two shots in 2020, where she was later eliminated in the Round of 16.

At the age of 15, Heck played in her first major, earning a final-round pairing with Lexi Thompson at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open. She finished tied for 33rd, four shots ahead of Nelly Korda. She was viewed as the next prodigy in women’s golf, winning five TSSAA team titles and four individual crowns at St. Agnes Academy.

Heck became the third player in college history to win individual titles in her conference, at Regionals and at the NCAA Championships during her freshman year at Stanford University in 2021. Despite missing her junior year due to surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome, Heck helped lead Stanford to NCAA team titles in both 2022 and 2024.

Despite her stellar career that included eight collegiate victories, Heck opted to forego pursuing a professional golf career following her graduation last year. She is currently a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Air Force Reserves as well as completing an internship with a private equity firm.

Isabella Johnson: Johnson merited an exemption to Bandon Dunes by winning this year’s Tennessee Women’s Amateur at Chattanooga Golf & Country Club. It is her second appearance in this event after missing the cut in 2023.

She has one other Tennessee Golf Association win to her credit, teaming with Bella Bugg to win the 2022 Women’s State Four-Ball by 10 shots as a 15-year-old and was last year’s TGA Girls’ Junior Player of the Year.

A graduate of Providence Christian Academy, Johnson was part of three TSSAA Division II-A state championship teams, winning the individual title in 2024.

After enrolling early at the University of Tennessee last winter during her senior year of high school, Johnson will be competing closer to home after transferring to hometown MTSU this summer.

Kynadie Adams: Adams is one of six active Texas A&M golfers to qualify for Bandon Dunes, earning her spot via the Murfreesboro qualifier. This will be the Gallatin resident’s fourth appearance, advancing to the Round of 32 in 2022 and missing the cut to match play in 2021 and 2018.

Adams also advanced to match play in three U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateurs, making it to the Round of 16 in 2022. She was also named Tennessee Girls’ Player of the Year in 2019, and spent two seasons at Alabama before transferring to Texas A&M.

What the winner receives: With ages ranging from 55 (Shelly Stouffer of Canada) down to 14 (China’s Jie-En Lin), the average age of the field is 19.9 years old. The winner receives a gold medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year, exemption from qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Women's Open at The Riviera Country Club, exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Women's Amateurs, if eligible, and an invitation to the 2026 Augusta National Women's Amateur.

The Honors Course prepping for 2026: This year’s tournament is also of special interest in that next year’s edition will be hosted by The Honors Course outside of Chattanooga. A delegation led by Director of Golf and COO Henrik Simonsen are on site at Bandon Dunes, meeting with tournament officials to prepare for staging the tournament slated to be played August 3-9, 2026.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com