Ellie was born and raised in Salem, Oregon, where she began swinging a club around age 2. She followed her older brother, Tim (pictured with her at left) around the golf course until she started competing in tournaments at age 8, the minimum age for Oregon Junior Golf. By age 12, Ellie was qualifying for and traveling to national tournaments. She fell in love with San Diego after her first Callaway Junior World Championship at The Country Club of Rancho Bernardo and returned each year to compete.
Junior Golf
Ellie’s impressive junior career culminated in two Oregon Junior Amateur championships, a Pacific Northwest Junior Championship, two OSAA high school state championships, qualifying and competing in three USGA Girls, and multiple other prestigious junior tournaments, including the PGA Junior, Junior Worlds, Joanne Winter Silver Belle, Scott Robertson Memorial, the North South Junior, and three years as part of Team Oregon in the Junior Americas Cup. She was named the Oregon Golf Association Girls’ Player of the Year three times (2015, 2016, 2017), Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Girls Player of the Year twice (2016, 2017) and Oregon Sports
Awards Prep Golfer of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
Collegiate Career
Ellie began her collegiate career at Oregon State in the fall of 2017 and graduated as the university’s most decorated golfer. While at Oregon State, she had three individual wins, 14 top10 finishes (the second most in Oregon State history), and was the first golfer in Oregon State history to be named Pac-12 Golfer of the Month (October 2018). Ellie was named to the All PAC-12 Conference Team three times, and was on the watch list for the Arnold Palmer Cup every year she played for Oregon State. In April 2021, she was named Golf Week’s Collegiate Golfer of the Week after notching her third collegiate win at the Silverado Showdown in Napa, Ca. She holds the Oregon State records for career scoring average (72.95), top-10 finishes in a season (7), lowest single-round score (6-under 66), lowest three-round score (11-under 205) and sub-par scores (46). Ellie also holds the Oregon State records for single-season scoring average as a freshman (72.79), sophomore (72.43), junior (72.72) and senior (73.19).
She led her team to Regionals all four years, including the ill-fated Baton Rouge regional where the unfortunate decision was made to cancel play without a single shot ever being hit, especially devastating after the prior year’s season was cut short due to COVID.
Amateur Career
Ellie has won the Oregon Amateur championship three times, in 2018, 2019 and 2021; and was runner up in 2020. Ellie also qualified and played in three US Women’s Amateurs (2018, 2020 and 2021) with her best finish T9 in 2020. In 2017, she partnered with future OSU teammate Amanda Minni and together they played in the US Four Ball, in Myrtle Beach, where they also finished T9.
Ellie’s stellar play earned her an invitation to the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, and she returned again in 2021 and 2022. The tournament was not held in 2020 due to COVID.
In January 2022, Ellie was invited to and attended the USGA’s Curtis Cup practice session in Florida. As an amateur, Ellie played in the LPGA Portland Classic twice (2019 and 2021), and made the cut both times. In April 2022, Ellie lost in a playoff for a spot at the US Women’s Open, and was first alternate.
Ellie graduated from Oregon State with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Public Health, with honors in June of 2022. She was named an Academic All-American in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Ellie has been a guest on numerous talk shows and podcasts, including Talking Beavers and The Firepit Collective.
Ellie turned professional in September 2022, debuting at the LPGA Portland Classic. She played her rookie season on the Epson Tour.