This Silver Cup will go down in history as one of the most exciting ever competed. The Nevada Northern Region women’s team made it two straight Silver Cup victories, beating the South team to retain the cup. The 2026 final score wound up a 21-19 thriller that saw exciting final day singles action. The three-day Silver Cup held Nov. 8-10 at the iconic Las Vegas Country Club. –by Bill Bowman
The Silver Cup pits the top women’s amateur golfers in Nevada from the Northern and Southern regions against each other in a Solheim Cup-type format. The Northern Region nows leads the event 2014 overall with the 2026 victory.
The North team won the first two sessions of the tournament by identical 6-4 scores, winning the Sunday foursome match as well as Monday’s four-ball matches.
That set the stage for Tuesday’s event-ending singles matches.
The North won the opening match of the final day before the South rattled off wins in eight of the next nine matches to take a two-point lead.
Four North wins in the next six matches saw the score tied at 18-18 with four matches remaining on the course.
The North won the next two matches that finished before the remaining two matches were halved because the North had secured the cup.
Katie Keller, North co-captain with Dana Chaikin, said the team held off a hard-charging South team.
“The South really gave us a challenge today,” Keller said. “It was a very exciting day.”
Despite having a four-point lead heading into the final day, Keller said the team didn’t take anything for granted.
“We knew the South would come out strong today and they certainly did,” she said. “Kudos to them because they really put the pressure on us. We just had to stay focused and play the best golf we could.”
Keller pointed out the play of Janice Campbell as being special.
“She’s been a Silver Cup member for 25-to-30 years and she was our first match out today and she won,” she said. “It was a great way for us to kick off the singles matches and a nice way to end her career.”
Keller said the Silver Cup is the ideal way for the North and South to come together.
“At the end of the day, it’s a community of women golfers who share a love of golf and competition,” she said. “We’re ecstatic to bring the cup back to Reno. It’s difficult to come to Vegas and play a course we aren’t that familiar with but the team really played well all three days. We were very motivated. They worked so hard all summer and had the confidence they could win.”
Autumn Dorino, South co-captain along with her sister, Christina Brandt, said the match showcased top golf talent.
“It was a nailbiter,” Dorino said. “Both sides played excellent golf. It came down to the final matches. We were looking at the board and it kept changing. There was a lot of blue and then it started to go red.”
Dorino added it was exciting to see a razor-thin match.
“Both teams fought right to the end,” she said. “It was just a great match. It was so fun…but so stressful…to watch.”
With the back-to-back losses, Dorino said the South’s goal for 2027 is simple.
“When the North won in 2025, it stopped us from getting a three-peat,” she said. “It’s our goal for next year that the North doesn’t see a three-peat.”
Co-captain Brandt summed up the three days perfectly.
“It was quite the battle,” she said. “But in the end, it was exhausting seeing the scoring changes going back and forth. This was as exciting as it gets.”
2026 North Silver Cup Team
Tracy Mimno-Wirshing, Jeong Kendall, April Hackett, Carolyn Smith Cressey, Ruthie Maxwell, Lori Elliott, Elaine Walker, Cindy Hall, Lynn Greer, Christy Atencio, Janice Campbell, Joni Taylor, Emily Byrne, Katie Keller, Dana Chaiken, Carol Colwell, Anita Mackey, Irene Reznick, Lori Grace, Laura Smith.
2026 South Silver Cup Team
Brooke Hempel, Christina Brandt, Regina Quintero, Eunah Lee, Ashley Vaughn, Anne Schlosser, Davene Forche, Normelita Imamoto, Melody Frei, Jessica Ng, Adeline Show, Laura DeLucia, Arlene Wilson, Jill Morrison, B.B. Harvey, Yuni Still, Gabriele Buonacorsi, Christy Smith, Sherry Jackson, Peggy Gore.
