Lu Shines at 101st New Jersey Women’s Amateur Championship
Jul 14 | Women's Golf
ESSEX FELLS, N.J. – Grace Lu from Rutgers women's golf continued her successful summer, earning a semifinal finish at the 101st New Jersey Women's Amateur Championship on Tuesday at Essex Fells Country Club.
The Edison native already punched her ticket to this year's 126th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship earlier this summer, set for Aug. 4-9 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Lu is the first Scarlet Knight to earn a spot at the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship since Leigha Devine in 2022.
Lu defeated 2024 Women's Amateur champion Katie Li, a rising senior at Duke, during Tuesday's quarterfinal to face Vanderbilt's Angelina Tolentino. Tolentino edged out Lu in a 1 up victory to earn a spot in Wednesday's final.
Lu defeated Li, 1 up, after holding off a late rally. The pair traded blows throughout the front nine before Lu seized momentum by winning holes 8 and 9 to take a 2-up lead at the turn. Lu extended her advantage to 3 up with birdies on holes 14 and 15, but Li responded by winning holes 16 and 17 to trim the deficit to one. Needing a win on the final hole to force extra holes, Li matched Lu with pars on 18, allowing Lu to advance to the semifinals.
In a tightly contested semifinal match, Tolentino rallied late to win the match against the stroke play medalist Lu, 1 up. The pair exchanged the lead through the opening three holes before Lu drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth to move 1 up. Lu carried that advantage through the front nine, but Tolentino answered with a birdie on the 10th to tie the match.
The two stayed tied, tying holes 11 through 15, before Tolentino seized the momentum with a birdie on the 448-yard par-5 16th to take her first lead since the opening holes. After the players split the 17th, the match came down to the final hole, where Tolentino made a steady par to secure her spot in Wednesday's championship match.
Lu led Rutgers with a 73.50 scoring average across 12 tournaments and 35 rounds during the 2025-26 season. The redshirt senior produced nine par or better rounds, including a career-low 67 at the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona.
The Edison native already punched her ticket to this year's 126th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship earlier this summer, set for Aug. 4-9 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Lu is the first Scarlet Knight to earn a spot at the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship since Leigha Devine in 2022.
Lu defeated 2024 Women's Amateur champion Katie Li, a rising senior at Duke, during Tuesday's quarterfinal to face Vanderbilt's Angelina Tolentino. Tolentino edged out Lu in a 1 up victory to earn a spot in Wednesday's final.
Lu defeated Li, 1 up, after holding off a late rally. The pair traded blows throughout the front nine before Lu seized momentum by winning holes 8 and 9 to take a 2-up lead at the turn. Lu extended her advantage to 3 up with birdies on holes 14 and 15, but Li responded by winning holes 16 and 17 to trim the deficit to one. Needing a win on the final hole to force extra holes, Li matched Lu with pars on 18, allowing Lu to advance to the semifinals.
In a tightly contested semifinal match, Tolentino rallied late to win the match against the stroke play medalist Lu, 1 up. The pair exchanged the lead through the opening three holes before Lu drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth to move 1 up. Lu carried that advantage through the front nine, but Tolentino answered with a birdie on the 10th to tie the match.
The two stayed tied, tying holes 11 through 15, before Tolentino seized the momentum with a birdie on the 448-yard par-5 16th to take her first lead since the opening holes. After the players split the 17th, the match came down to the final hole, where Tolentino made a steady par to secure her spot in Wednesday's championship match.
Lu led Rutgers with a 73.50 scoring average across 12 tournaments and 35 rounds during the 2025-26 season. The redshirt senior produced nine par or better rounds, including a career-low 67 at the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona.
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