The Championship featured three Women’s Divisions: Open (any age), Senior (50+ years old) and Legend (65+ years old) competing on the Pete Dye Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST and the Celebrity Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort.
Ryleigh Erickson (The Club at Kukui’ula, Koloa, Hawaii) took the Open Division with a score of 10-over 226 to win by four shots. Kim Keyer-Scott (Shadow Wood Country Club, Bonita Springs, Fla.) finished at 8-over 224 to win by eight strokes and claim the Senior Division title for a second time. Lettia Collins (Green Tree Country Club, Midland, Texas) won a hard-fought Legend Division, finishing at 22-over 238 to win by two.
Erickson opened the championship with an impressive 74 on the Celebrity Course to claim a share of the lead Saturday, but a 77 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course Sunday kept her two strokes behind heading into Monday’s final round. The 22-year-old responded with a 3-over 75 on PGA WEST’s Stadium Course, giving her the low round of the day and securing the Open Division title.
“It means so much [to win],” said Erickson. “I was talking to my family about it. I’m still kind of in shock. This is my first year playing in a club championship, and then I decided two weeks ago to come do this and to win is kind of surreal. It means a lot. It means hard work is paying off. It kind of gave me a new perspective for the game and just competitive golf in general.”
Erickson knew she had some strokes to make up, and after starting in “kind of a lull” with six pars and a bogey through her first seven holes Monday, she kicked her game into gear with back-to-back birdies to close out her front nine.
“I had shifted my mindset a little bit going into those holes,” said Erickson. “I wanted to try my best to get a momentum shift happening. Making those two birdies really stood out. And then I went three bogeys after that, and I was like, ‘ok, let’s hone this back in and stop thinking and overthinking so much.’ And I made that birdie on 16 and that was like the icing on the cake.”
Erickson is especially appreciative of the support and texts she’s already received from the people at The Club at Kukui’ula.
“I’m glad that I can bring this back to them and just celebrate with them when I get back home,” she said.
Among those congratulating Erickson were The Club at Kukui’ula’s PGA Director of Golf Todd Michaelsen and PGA Assistant Golf Professional Oliver Jones.
“I have been loving getting a new feel for the game,” Erickson said of her lessons with the two PGA Golf Professionals since she moved to Hawaii after college. “Playing with both Ollie and Todd has just helped all my mindsets kind of shift, and they’ve helped me learn a new aspect of the game every time I’m going out there and just keeping me sharp. It’s been such a blast to get to know them and play with them.”
Taylor Kay (Coto De Caza Golf & Racquet Club, Coto De Caza, Calif.) finished second in the Women’s Open Division at 14-over 230 followed by Heather Donnelly (Belmont Country Club, Ashburn, Va.) in third at 18-over 234. Rounding out the top five were Jessica Maddern (Stonebriar Country Club, Frisco, Texas) at 20-over 236 and Tina Papatolis (Maplewood Golf Course, Renton, Wash.) at 21-over 237.
At the 2023 PGA National Club Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz., Keyer-Scott battled to the very end to win the Senior Division by one shot. Two years later, the Florida native went wire-to-wire and cruised to an eight shot victory for her second title.
“It’s great, wonderful actually,” said Keyer-Scott, who also finished second in the rain-shortened 2024 edition. “I’ve been struggling with my game the last two years, so for it to all come together was really nice. The courses were great, I loved the courses. They were very challenging, so it required a lot of concentration, a lot of focus.”
An opening round 74 on Saturday at the Stadium Course was topped by a 1-over 73 on the Celebrity Course Sunday, giving Keyer-Scott a commanding six-shot lead heading into the final round. Even with a higher score of 77 Monday on the Nicklaus Tournament Course, the now two-time Senior Division champion extended her final margin of victory to eight strokes.
“I was focusing on making sure things were in play, hitting the middle of the greens, trying to two-putt,” said Keyer-Scott. “Just trying to stay out of trouble. I putted really well all three days. I just got done with the Bob Rotella ‘Putting Out of Your Mind’ book, and so I was really applying that psychology on the putting greens this time.”
Susan West (NorthRiver Yacht Club, Tuscaloosa, Ala.) finished second in the Senior Division at 16-over 232, followed by Debbie Kim (Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad, Calif.) in third at 17-over 233. Itsuko Moridaira, representing host site PGA WEST, was fourth with a score of 18-over 234 followed by 2024 Senior Division champion Suzanne Ricard (Country Club of Florida, Boynton Beach, Fla.) in fifth at 20-over 236.
Collins sat five shots off the lead in a tie for fourth heading into the final round, and her goal became to “finish in the top five.” She instead fired a 2-over 74 on Monday to catapult her to the Legend Division title.
“I didn’t really even think I had a chance of winning after yesterday’s round,” said Collins, who is excited to bring the trophy to Green Tree Country Club’s champions dinner in January. “Then I had a great day on a beautiful course and a great setup, and I was very surprised. I never checked the leaderboard, and when I went to scoring, my husband was there and he said, ‘Hey, I think you won!’”
The highlight of her final round, which was the lowest in the Legend Division on Monday, came on the Celebrity Course’s par-4 12th hole, when she chipped in for eagle.
“I did not play a practice round on Celebrity,” said Collins. “My husband played a round and took some notes for me, and he had written [on hole 12]: a 140 yard lay-up or hit your driver, just hit it away. I hit driver, came up just short and just chipped it in, went right in the hole for two.”
Janet Kelleher (San Diego Country Club, Chula Vista, Calif.) finished second in the Legend Division with a score of 24-over 240 followed by Kristin Fenwick (The River Club, Garden City, Idaho) and Carolyn Mindel (The Grizzly Golf & Social Lodge, Mason, Ohio) in a tie for third at 25-over 241. Betsy Butler (Cullasaja Club, Highlands, N.C.) and Karen Brannon of host PGA WEST tied for fifth at 27-over 243.
The PGA National Club Championship features amateur club champions from facilities across the country with a PGA of America Golf Professional. Winners of any 2025 club championship received an invitation to compete from their PGA of America Golf Professional.
All champions receive a five-year exemption into the PGA National Club Championship, and the top five finishers in each division will be invited to compete in next year’s championship