DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The first Wolverine to make it to the U.S. Amateur finals since 1966 along with being the first women to be in the finals, Monet Chun lost to Japan’s Saki Baba, 11&9. Baba came out strong winning six of the first eight holes. Chun made up some ground in the back nine holes but Baba already had a 7-up lead which was hard to catch.

“I’m pretty excited to be here representing Canada and Michigan,” said Chun. “I saw the turning point in the first round as Baba made a birdie putt and I missed mine. There were some other moments out there where she made a couple more putts than I did.”

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Chun was the no. 53 seed and opened up the tournament with a 1-up upset win over no. 12 seed Lauren Gomez (Pepperdine). She won the match making her move in the early part of the final nine holes. She was trailing by one after seven holes but then won three of the next five holes for a 2-up lead going into the 13th. In the final six holes, Chun held onto the win to advance on.

She earned a sweet 16 win over no. 44 seed Amanda Sambach (Virginia). The Elite Eight match was even closer with a 4&3 win over no. 60 Julia Gregg (Arkansas). She dominated the match, though, never dropping a hole.

On the final day, Chun battled Brianna Navarrosa (USC) in an extra hole victory. Having a great shot down the middle off the tee, her second shot came 20-feet away from the hole. She then put the ball six-feet off the hole for the advantage. Navarrosa hit her shot to the fringe but then missed for par and conceded the hole as Chun advanced to the Final Four. In the Final Four match against no. 33 Annabel Wilson, Chun had a 2&1 win to make it to the championship match.

Chun was the third Michigan golfer to play in a title match following men’s golfer John Fischer in 1936. Finishing as the runner-up, Chun earned an exemption to play in the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

Chun says this about getting the exemption for Pebble Beach, “I’m pretty excited about that. I haven’t played a professional event yet and I’m going to tee it up next week at CP and after that I’m going to gain some momentum for next year.”