No golf genie, be it sponsored by Titleist, Callaway, or TaylorMade, appeared with an offer to grant three wishes for Gracie Piar.

But the Marquette Catholic graduate from East Alton was able to watch one come true Monday in Minnesota.

“It’s, literally, in my top three,” Piar said. “I’m still in shock, honestly. It’s so awesome.”

Piar shot 4-under par 68 to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship Qualifying tournament Monday at StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater, Minnesota. Piar claimed medalist honors and one of two automatic berths to the 124th U.S. Women’s Amateur scheduled Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“I’ve been trying for the past five years and I’ve never qualified,” Piar said of making the field of 156 golfers at the Women’s Amateur. “Last year, I was close. I missed it by one stroke. This year, after being so close last year, I was just determined to qualify.”

She did and it is a golf wish granted for the Cal State-Northridge junior. Wish Nos. 2-3 – making the U.S. Open and playing an LPGA event – will wait for another summer.

Piar, an Illinois high school state champion as a senior at Marquette after shooting a state-record 136 that included a state-record round of 65 in 2021 at Red Tail Run in Decatur, was a two-stroke victor in Minnesota. 

Laney Frye, an All-American and spring graduate at Kentucky, shot 70 place second and qualify for her fourth consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur. Frye was one shot back after nine holes, but her nine pars on the back nine would not catch Piar.

Piar made birdie on a par-4 hole at No. 4 and birdied both of the front nine’s par 3s on Nos. 7 and 9 for a 33. Piar would go bogey on No. 10, but answered with birdie on 11 and played the final seven holes at 1-under to win.

But she was envisioning August at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa – “one of the best golf courses in America, in my opinion” Piar said – halfway through Monday’s round in Minnesota.

“At the turn,” Piar said. “After nine holes, I was 3-under. Then, I was like, OK Gracie, let’s kick it into gear. I finished 1-under on the back. Thankfully, that was good enough.”

Sherri Piar was back home in the River Bend, where Gracie’s mom followed along with friends watching the leaderboard on line. “They were ecstatic,” Piar said of the reaction from home.

While mom was unable to make this golf trip, Gracie’s dad Jarrod got an up-close view of the milestone round as his daughter’s caddy.

“It’s insane, I’m just so happy,” Piar said of winning a qualifier. “And my dad was on the bag, so it was an even better moment.”

Before living a dream in at the U.S. Women's Amateur in Oklahoma, Piar will compete in two more elite tournaments. She leaves next week to play in the California Women’s Amateur on July 22-27 in San Mateo. And a day after winning in Minnesota, Piar opened an email Tuesday morning inviting her to play in the Canadian Women’s Amateur on July 30-Aug. 2 in Victoria, British Columbia.

It will be Piar’s first trip to Canada, coming off her first visit to Minnesota.

“I’ve never been to Minnesota before,” Piar said. “And to play that course like that, I love Minnesota now.”

Golf has been Piar’s ticket to touring the country. The drive to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” had some time killed by putting a number to the 20-year-old Piar’s domestic travel log.

“My dad and I, on the way to Minnesota, we wrote down all of the states I’ve been to,” Piar said. “And of the state’s I’ve golfed in. It’s pretty cool.”

The count reached 29 states been to and 25 golfed in. “My goal is to get all 50, some time in my life,” Piar said.

Lost, and likely irretrievable, is the number of different golf courses she has played.

“Oh, gosh,” Piar said. “A lot, but I really don’t know. At least, I’m sure, over 400. I’ve got to be well over that. It’s been awesome.”

After the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Piar will prepare for her junior season with Matadors golf at CSUN in suburban Los Angeles. Her sophomore season took Piar to eight states – California, Utah, Massachusetts, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona, Virginia and Nevada – and finished with a team-best 10th-place finish in the Big West Conference Championship, where she had rounds of 73-77-74 for 224.

Piar’s 75.8 stroke average this spring as a sophomore included five tourney finishes in the top 10, with a low at 69. As a freshman, she led the Matadors at 77.7 strokes, including the team’s only sub-70 rounds at 67 and 69.

“It’s been a lot easier than I expected,” Piar said of her transition to college golf. “I thought it would be kind of hard being away from home, all the way on the other side of the country, not knowing anyone. But, it’s been great and I’m excited to go back in August and get it rolling again.”

And after two years in California, Piar still does not identify as a West Coaster.

“Still Midwest,” she says. “It’s in my heart.”