Kary Hollenbaugh (Ohio State Athletics Photo)

The standout junior won The Sally last month and now is the individual champion at the 2025 Therese Hession Regional Challenge at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. 

Hollenbaugh started the final round one-shot behind Jasmine Koo of USC at 6-under, and a final round of 4-under 67 saw her get to 10-under overall and win by four shots. Kiara Romero finished in solo second place at 6-under, and Xin Kou of USC finished in solo third place at 5-under.

She is currently ranked No. 21 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Women's Rankings.

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Koo, the 36-hole leader, struggled in the final round, recording a 5-over 76 to fall to 2-under and T4 with Farah O'Keefe of Texas to round out the top five.

In the team competition, USC went wire-to-wire and finished 9-under to win by five shots over Oregon. The Trojans shot rounds of 282-277-284 to get to 9-under. Oregon shot rounds of 283-293-272 to get to 4-under and finished in solo second place.

Texas finished in solo third place at 2-over, 2024 champion South Carolina finished in solo fourth place at 4-over, and Florida finished in solo fifth place at 5-over.

This unique collegiate tournament was founded by Cathy (Hanlon) Marino, a member of the PVGC Hall of Fame, Therese Hession, Ohio State University Women's Golf Coach, and Sid Croft, a longtime PVGC member.

Marino and Hession were both former members of the Southern Methodist women's golf team and competitors on the LPGA Tour. In 1995, while Marino was the head coach at SMU and Hession was in her third year at Ohio State, they developed the idea of having a ladies collegiate event in Southern California early in the year to kick off the Spring season.

Marino had been a high school star at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, and she approached her good friend, Sid Croft, PVGC Board Counsel, about the possibility. Croft took the idea to the PVGC Board of Directors, which unanimously approved the idea, and the first tournament was held in February 1996.