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Winning in Wendover: Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship

The Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship has a habit of coming down to one or two swings. This year, it came down to one birdie putt.

Kareen Larson (left) and Molly Steffes celebrate their victory at the 2026 Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship at Toana Vista Golf Course.

Playing into a howling West Wendover wind on the 35th hole of the championship, Kareen Larson and Molly Steffes chose patience over power. Both players played conservative off the tee on Toana Vista Golf Course’s par 5 17th hole, laid up safely with their second shots and trusted their strategy.

Moments later, Steffes delivered the shot that ultimately won the championship.

Molly Steffes rolls in the tournament-winning birdie putt on the 35th hole at Toana Vista Golf Course.

From the fairway, Steffes knocked her approach close and converted the birdie, giving the duo a two shot swing over defending champion Nuny Khamken and new playing partner Amanda Henneman. One hole later, Larson-Steffes completed a final round 70 and a 36-hole total of 1-under par 143, good for a one stroke victory in the fourth Utah Golf Association women’s championship of the season.

For Larson, the victory added another chapter to one of the championship’s most successful partnerships. She previously won the title three times alongside Lila Galea’i. This time, Steffes joined the winner’s circle in just her second appearance at the championship after recently claiming her first individual UGA title at the Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

What made the victory even sweeter was the way the pair learned from last year’s disappointment. In 2025, Larson-Steffes lost by a single shot after trouble on the 17th hole proved costly. This year they arrived with a different plan.

“We actually just decided to get it in the fairway,” Larson said. “We weren’t going for the green. We knew we could always make birdie from our third shot.”

That conservative approach proved decisive.

Amanda Henneman (left) and Nuny Khamken finished runner-up at the 2026 Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship.

Meanwhile, Khamken and Henneman spent much of the final round applying pressure. The newly formed partnership looked comfortable from the opening hole despite having never played the championship together. Henneman, a relative newcomer to UGA women’s championships, fit seamlessly alongside the two-time defending champion.

The championship, presented by Pizza Hut, turned on a remarkable sequence of events at 17, the 35th hole of the tournament.

Knowing her team likely needed a birdie to win, Henneman stood in the left rough after a long drive, pulled her favorite club, a 3-wood, and took an aggressive line toward the green. Instead, her shot found the only obstacle in its path.

“I hit the only four inch obstacle in my way, head on,” Henneman said.

The ball struck a small tree standing alone a few yards ahead in the rough and ricocheted backward into the rocks. Khamken also found trouble on the hole before being forced to play sideways out of Toana Vista’s rocks hoping to get the ball back in the fairway. By the time Steffes’ birdie was on the card, Larson and Steffes had gained the advantage they needed to secure the championship.

Khamken and Henneman celebrate a birdie at Toana Vista Golf Course.

Khamken rolled in a birdie putt on the final hole to post a closing 70, but it left the defending champion one shot short.

Earlier in the round, the wind created one of the championship’s most memorable moments when Henneman watched a birdie putt on the 14th hole sit on the edge of the cup before a gust of wind rolled it into the hole. A post round video review by a UGA rules official confirmed the putt had not exceeded the allowable 10 second waiting period.

Larson (left) and Steffes read the final green moments before claiming the 2026 Utah Women’s Four-Ball title.

For Larson, the victory was her fourth Utah Women’s Four-Ball title, making her the championship’s most successful competitor. For Steffes, the victory added another chapter to a season already highlighted by her first individual UGA championship.

One birdie. One tree. One stroke. That was the difference in West Wendover.

Typical of the Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship, winners, both gross and net, were recognized in four flights. Click here for the final championship leaderboard.

The 2026 Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship tournament feature and photos provided by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson.