70Th U.S. Girls' Junior Championship – Notebook and Storylines
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70th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship – Notebook and Storylines July 16-21, 2018, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif. mediacenter.usga.org/us-girls-junior | usgirlsjunior.org | #USGirlsJunior The average age of the 156 U.S. Girls’ Junior competitors is 16 years, 9 months, 24 days. Avery Zweig, 11 years, 5 months, 19 days, of McKinney, Texas, is the championship’s youngest competitor and the youngest qualifier in Girls’ Junior history. She is the only 11-year-old in the field. The championship’s oldest competitor is Elizabeth Caldarelli, of Scottsdale, Ariz. She is 18 years, 10 months and 27 days old as of July 16. Field breakdown by age: 11: 1 player 12: 1 player 13: 5 players 14: 13 players 15: 22 players 16: 35 players 17: 39 players 18: 40 players There are 14 countries represented in the championship: Argentina (2), Australia (3), Canada (6), Chinese Taipei (2), Colombia (2), Hong Kong China, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico (4), Nigeria, the People’s Republic of China (7), the Philippines (2), the Republic of Korea (2), and the United States (122). There are 33 states represented in the championship: Alabama (2), Arizona (4), Arkansas (2), California (34), Colorado (2), Connecticut (2), Delaware, Florida (10), Georgia (3), Hawaii (2), Idaho, Illinois (2), Indiana (2), Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland (3), Massachusetts, Michigan (2), Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey (5), New Mexico, New York (5), North Carolina (6), Ohio (4), Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina (2), Tennessee (3), Texas (13), Utah, Washington (2) and Wisconsin. There are two USGA champions in the field: Hailee Cooper, 18, of Montgomery, Texas (2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Kaitlyn Papp), and Erica Shepherd, 17, of Greenwood, Ind., the defending U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. Lucy Li, 15, of Redwood Shores, Calif., is the lone player in the field who competed in the 2018 Curtis Cup Match. Li went a combined 3-0-1 in the USA’s 17-3 victory over Great Britain and Ireland in June at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. There are two pairs of sisters in the field: • Maria Fernanda Martinez Almeida, 16, and Maria Jose Martinez Almeida, 18, of Mexico • Serena Shah, 18, and Symran Shah, 14, of Carrollton, Texas Eight players in the field competed in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open at Shoal Creek in Shoal Creek, Ala.: • Hailee Cooper – T-55: 72-76-77-74–299 • Celeste Dao, 17, of Canada – MC • Gina Kim, 18, of Chapel Hill, N.C. – MC • Lucy Li – T-55: 72-74-77-76–299 • Erica Shepherd – MC • Yujeong Son. 17, of the Republic of Korea – MC • Elizabeth Wang, 18, of San Marino, Calif. – T-34: 72-74-71-77–294 • Dana Williams, 17, of Boca Raton, Fla. – MC Seven players are in the top 100 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™ as of July 11: • No. 9 – Lucy Li • No. 22 – Yujeong Son • No. 36 – Yuka Saso, 17, of the Philippines • No. 48 – Isabella Fierro, 17, of Mexico • No. 70 – Yealimi Noh, 16, of Concord, Calif. • No. 71 – Gina Kim • No. 85 – Suzuka Yamaguchi, 17, of Japan There are four current college players in the field: • Elizabeth Caldarelli (Texas A&M) • Gurleen Kaur, 18, of Houston, Texas (Baylor) • Mychael O’Berry, 18, of Hoover, Ala. (Auburn) • Shotika Phadungmartvorakul, 18, of Bakersfield, Calif. There are 35 players who have signed national letters of intent to play college golf in fall 2018: • Morgan Bentley, 18, of Tacoma, Wash. (Weber State) • Ya Chun Chang, 17, of Chinese Taipei (Arizona) • Hailee Cooper (Texas) • Jordan Cornelius, 18, of Bethesda, Md. (Towson) • Payton Fehringer, 18, of Pocatello, Idaho (Grand Canyon) • Ami Gianchandani, 18, of Watchung, N.J. (Yale) • Sarah Hauenstein, 18, of Wheaton, Ill. (Illinois) • Sifan He, 18, of the People’s Republic of China (Pepperdine) • Speedy Kent, 18, of Mequon, Wis. (Wofford) • Annie Kim, 18, of Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. (Vanderbilt) • Gina Kim (Duke) • Ashley Lau Jen Wen, 18, of Malaysia (Michigan) • Trussy Li, 17, of Diamond Bar, Calif. (Denver) • Sienna Lyford, 18, of Roseville, Calif. (California-Irvine) • Maria Jose Martinez Almeida, of Mexico (Houston) • Lindsay May, 18, of Auburn, N.Y. (Clemson) • Ramya Meenakshisundaram, 18, of Jacksonville, Fla. (South Florida) • Alexis Miestowski, 18, of Schererville, Ind. (Indiana) • Elizabeth Moon, 18, of Forrest City, Ark. (Central Florida) • Katherine Muzi, 17, of Walnut, Calif. (Southern California) • Malia Nam, 18, of Kailua, Hawaii (Southern California) • Lauren Peter, 18, of Carmel, N.Y. (Ohio State) • Pinya Pipatjarasgit, 17, of Sylvania, Ohio (Brown) • Valery Plata, 17, of Colombia (Michigan State) • Calista Reyes, 18, of San Diego, Calif. (Stanford) • Serena Shah, 18, of Carrollton, Texas (Southern Methodist) • Ivy Shepherd, 18, of Peachtree City, Ga. (Clemson) • Kelly Sim, 18, of Edgewater, N.J. (Northwestern) • Sydney Staton, 18, of Fort Smith, Ark. (Arkansas Tech) • Kelly Su, 18, of Scottsdale, Ariz. (Northwestern) • Caroline Waldrop, 18, of Birmingham, Ala. (Western Kentucky) • Elizabeth Wang (Harvard) • Libby Winans, 18, of Richardson, Texas (Oklahoma) • Haeley Wotnosky, 18, of Wake Forest, N.C. (Virginia) • Katherine Zhu, 18, of San Jose, Calif. (California-Berkeley) There are 16 players in the field who have competed in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club: • Nicole Adam, 16, of Pinehurst, N.C. (2016) • Sophia Burnett, 16, of Bluffton, S.C. (2016) • Abbey Daniel, 17, of Covington, La. (2015) • Megha Ganne, 14, of Holmdel, N.J. (2015, 2017, 2018) • Ashley Gilliam, 17, of Manchester, Tenn. (2015) • Sophie “Yixian” Guo, 17, of the People’s Republic of China (2016) • Savannah Grewal, 16, of Canada (2017, won 14-15 Division) • Gina Kim (2015) • Lucy Li (2014, won 10-11 Division) • Ashley Menne, 16, of Surprise, Ariz. (2014) • Alexa Pano, 13, of Lake Worth, Fla. (2014, won 10-11 Division in 2016, won 12-13 Division in 2017) • Natalie Pietromonaco, 18, of Auburn, Calif. (2014, won 12-13 Division) • Katherine Schuster, 15, of Kill Devil Hills, N.C. (2018, won 14-15 Division) • Christine Shao, 17, of Green Brook, N.J. (2015) • Christine Wang, 16, of Houston, Texas (2014, 2015) • Avery Zweig (2016, 2018) GENERAL PLAYER NOTES Annabelle Ackroyd, 16, of Canada, qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur championships on consecutive days in June. After deciding at the last minute to fly to Colorado from Calgary with her father, Ackroyd qualified for the Girls’ Junior on June 26 with a 70 at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, then earned a trip to the Women’s Amateur the next day with a 71 at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster. In Calgary, she only gets to play five months a year, with golf courses not opening until early May. She hits golf balls into a net and putts on artificial turf during the winter. Amari Avery, 14, of Riverside, Calif., was featured in the 2013 Netflix documentary “The Short Game,” along with fellow 2018 U.S. Girls Junior competitor Alexa Pano. She was named Southern California Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017 and was named a 2017 Rolex Second-Team All-American by the American Junior Golf Association. Phoebe Brinker, 16, of Wilmington, Del., is the niece of Suzy Whaley, PGA of America vice president. Whaley, who also serves as Brinker’s instructor, qualified for the 2003 Greater Hartford Open, becoming the first woman in 58 years to qualify for a PGA Tour event. Whaley, who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, will become the first female president of The PGA of America in November. Competing against boys, Brinker won the Delaware state high school championship in 2016 and 2018, and finished runner-up in 2017. Brinker also finished second individually in last year’s final USGA Women’s State Team Championship at The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, N.M., and led Delaware to a second-place team finish. Ya Chun Chang, 17, of Chinese Taipei, finished runner-up in this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif., alongside partner Lei Ye. She won the 2015 Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China and finished runner-up as an amateur in the 2016 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, a Symetra Tour event. She is headed to the University of Arizona this fall. Hailee Cooper, 18, of Montgomery, Texas, won the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship with Kaitlyn Papp at Streamsong Resort in Florida. Cooper is one of three players in the field who made the cut in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Shoal Creek. She has also qualified for four consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships. She will join Papp at the University of Texas this fall. Abbey Daniel, 17, of Covington, La., fractured her right arm in four places when she was 14 and was told she may never be able to play golf again. A year later, she advanced to the National Finals of the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship at Augusta National Golf Club. Also a volleyball player, Abbey has verbally committed to attend Mississippi State University in 2019, the same school her mother, Kay, and father, Chuck, attended. Kay advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La. Ami Gianchandani, 18, of Watchung, N.J., advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior. During the summer of 2014, she ran a golf clinic for children in New Jersey in order to raise money for a trip to Costa Rica, where she and her classmates built a protective fence around a school to keep students safe from a road and nearby river.