119Th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship – Storylines
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119th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship – Storylines Aug. 5-11, 2019, Old Waverly Golf Club, West Point, Miss. usga.org/womensam | #USWomensAm | mediacenter.usga.org The average age of the 156 U.S. Women’s Amateur competitors is 19.69 years old. Gianna Clemente, 11, of Warren, Ohio, is the championship’s youngest competitor, followed by Lauren Kim, 13, of Canada. Kim, the only 13-year-old in the field, turns 14 on championship Saturday. Clemente is the third-youngest competitor in U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship history, behind Lucy Li and Latanna Stone. The championship’s oldest competitor is Sally Krueger, 61, of San Francisco, Calif., who tied for low-amateur honors at this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open in May. Sue Wooster, 57, of Australia, is the second oldest in the field. Wooster was runner-up to Lara Tennant in the 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in Vero Beach, Fla. Joining Kim in celebrating birthdays during the championships are Sarah Busey, of Racine, Wis., who turns 20 on Aug. 7, and Skylar Thompson, of Buford, Ga., and Ya Chun Chang, of Chinese Taipei, who both turn 19 on Aug. 9 and Aug. 11, respectively. Field by age: Age 11-15, 11 players Age 16-20, 100 players Age 21-25, 36 players Age 26-30, 4 players Age 31-35, 2 players Age 36-40, 1 player Age 41-61, 2 players There are 15 countries represented in the championship: Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, England, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the United States. There are 33 states represented in the championship: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. There are nine USGA champions in the field: • Kelsey Chugg, 28, of Salt Lake City, Utah (2017 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur) • Hailee Cooper, 19, of Montgomery, Texas (2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Kaitlyn Papp) • Lauren Greenlief, 28, of Ashburn, Va. (2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) • Shannon Johnson, 36, of Norton, Mass. (2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) • Mika Liu, 20, of Beverly Hills, Calif. (2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Rinko Mitsunaga) • Kaitlin Papp, 20, of Austin, Texas (2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Hailee Cooper) • Julia Potter-Bobb, 31, of Indianapolis, Ind. (2013 and 2016 U.S. Women' Mid-Amateur) • Ellen Secor, 21, of Portland, Ore. (2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Katrina Prendergast) • Lei Ye, 18, of People’s Republic of China (2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior) There are 11 USGA runners-up in the field: • Jillian Bourdage,17, of Tamarac, Fla. (2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior) • Sierra Brooks, 21, of Lake Mary, Fla. (2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur) • Virginia Elena Carta, 22, of Italy (2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur) • Ya Chun Chang, 18, of Chinese Taipei (2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Lei Ye) • Kelsey Chugg, 28, of Salt Lake City, Utah (2018 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur) • Shannon Johnson, 36, of Norton, Mass. (2016 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) • Andrea Lee, 20, of Hermosa Beach, Calif. (2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior) • Alexa Pano, 14, of Lake Worth, Fla. (2018 U.S. Girls’ Junior) • Albane Valenzuela, 21, of Switzerland (2017 U.S. Women's Amateur) • Sue Wooster, 57, of Australia (2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur) • Lei Ye, 18, of People’s Republic of China (2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Ya Chun Chang) Eight U.S. Women’s Amateur competitors have played in the Curtis Cup Match: • Sierra Brooks (USA, 2016) • India Clyburn (Great Britain & Ireland, 2018) • Mariel Galdiano (USA, 2016, 2018) • Annabell Fuller, 16, of England (Great Britain & Ireland, 2018) • Andrea Lee (USA, 2016, 2018) • Lucy Li (USA, 2018) • Mika Liu (USA, 2016) • Bethany Wu (USA, 2016) Nine U.S. Women’s Amateur competitors have represented their home countries in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship: • Virginia Elena Carta (Italy, 2014) • Ya Chun Chang (Chinese Taipei, 2016) • Rebecca Fuller (England, 2018) • Mariel Galdiano (United States of America, 2016) • Rebecca Kay (Australia, 2018) • Grace Kim (Australia, 2018) • Andrea Lee (United States of America, 2016) • Alessia Nobilio (Italy, 2018) • Albane Valenzuela (Switzerland, 2014 & 2018) Fifteen players are in the top 50 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR) as of July 31: No. 2 – Andrea Lee No. 3 – Lucy Li No. 5 – Albane Valenzuela No. 6 – Alessia Nobilio No. 15 – Sierra Brooks No. 20 – Yuka Saso No. 21 – Gina Kim No. 22 – Kaitlyn Papp No. 24 – Mariel Galdiano No. 28 – Pimnipa Panthong No. 29 – Dylan Kim No. 37 – Alexa Pano No. 35 – Lei Ye No. 44 – Allisen Corpuz No. 50 – Rachel Heck Fifteen players in the field competed in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open (May 30-June 2) at the Country Club of Charleston in Charleston, S.C.: • Tyler Akabane – MC, 77-84 • Sierra Brooks – MC, 75-72 • Brigitte Dunne – MC, 78-75 • Megha Ganne – MC, 81-72 • Paris Hilinski – MC, 83-81 • Sabrina Iqbal – MC, 78-73 • Shannon Johnson – MC, 75-78 • Auston Kim – MC, 79-70 • Gina Kim – T-12 (low amateur), 66-72-73-72—283 • Andrea Lee – T-60, 69-72-79-72—292 • Alexa Pano – MC, 75-74 • Kaitlyn Papp – MC, 74-77 • Gabriela Ruffels – MC, 75-77 • Yuka Saso – MC, 71-77 • Albane Valenzuela – MC, 75-75 Thirty-two players competed in the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior (July 22-27) at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point, Wis., including champion, Lei Ye, and runner-up, Jillian Bourdage, as well as: • Lauren Beaudreau (Quarterfinals) • Hailey Borja (Round of 64) • Phoebe Brinker (Round of 32) • Caroline Canales (MC) • Briana Chacon (Quarterfinals) • Anne Chen (Round of 16) • Bentley Cotton (MC) • Maisie Filler (Round of 32) • Madelyn Gamble (Round of 32) • Megha Ganne (Round of 64) • Ashley Gilliam (MC) • Andrea Gomez Ortizibarra (MC) • Sophie Guo (Round of 64) • Rachel Heck (Round of 64) • Kary Hollenbaugh (MC) • Sabrina Iqbal (Round of 16) • Jiarui (Joyce) Jin (Round of 64) • Angela Liu (MC) • Cory Lopez (Round of 64) • Hsin-Yu Lu (Round of 64) • Michaela Morard (Round of 32) • Alexa Pano (Round of 64) • Valery Plata (Round of 64) • Yuka Saso (Semifinals) • Emma Schimpf (MC) • Megan Schofill (MC) • Brooke Seay (Quarterfinals) • Elina Sinz (Round of 64) • Natalie Vo (MC) • Nicole Whiston (Semifinals) • Caroline Wrigley (MC) Twenty-three U.S. Women’s Amateur competitors played in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship (April 27-May 1) at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. Three two-player sides made this field (second player in bold): • Lauren Beaudreau with partner Caroline Smith (MC) • Jillian Bourdage with partner Casey Weidenfeld (Runners-up) • Jocelyn Bruch & Annabelle Pancake (MC) • Kelsey Chugg & Julia Potter-Bobb (Round of 32) • Whitney French with partner Avery French (Quarterfinals) • Madelyn Gamble with partner Kaleiya Romero (Round of 32) • Ashley Gilliam with partner Caroline Curtis (Quarterfinals) • Lauren Greenlief with partner Katie Miller (Round of 32) • Haylin Harris & Valery Plata (Round of 16) • Rachel Heck with partner Sadie Englemann (Semifinals) • Paris Hilinski with partner Allyn Stephens (MC) • Shannon Johnson with partner Megan Buck (Round of 32) • Gio Kim with partner Eunice Kim (Round of 32) • Sophie Linder with partner Karoline Tuttle (Round of 16) • Cory Lopez with partner Avery Zweig (Round of 16) • Alexa Pano with partner Amari Avery (Semifinals) • Valery Plata with partner Haylin Harris (Round of 16) • Ellen Secor with partner Katrina Prendergast (Round of 16) • Aneka Seumanutafa with partner Faith Choi (stroke-play medalists; Round of 32) • Caroline Wrigley with partner Lauren Freyvogel (Round of 32) The following 34 golfers in the field played in the 2018 Women’s Amateur at The Golf Club of Tennessee: • Tyler Akabane, Sierra Brooks, Ya Chun Chang, Kelsey Chugg, Hailee Cooper, Allisen Corpuz, Bentley Cotton, Amanda Doherty, Annabell Fuller, Ashley Gilliam, Lauren Greenlief, Lauren Hartlage, Rachel Heck, Sabrina Iqbal, Gurleen Kaur, Alli Kim, Dylan Kim, Gina Kim, Yoonhee Kim, Lucy Li, Mika Liu, Kaitlin Milligan, Elizabeth Moon, Alexa Pano, Pimnipa Panthong, Julia Potter-Bobb, Yuka Saso, Megan Schofill, Brooke Seay, Albane Valenzuela, Brynn Walker, Elizabeth Wang, Ziyi Wang, Bethany Wu GENERAL PLAYER NOTES Tyler Akabane, 18, of Danville, Calif., is competing in her ninth USGA championship after playing in the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this year in Charleston, S.C. Akabane, an incoming freshman at UCLA, won the 2018 California Women’s Amateur at Quail Lodge Resort. She advanced to match play in last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur and was a quarterfinalist in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Briana Chacon, a quarterfinalist in last month’s U.S. Girls’ Junior. In 2015, Akabane and friend Vivian Pang started “Care Kits for the Homeless,” a program that raises funds to provide homeless people with daily essentials such as water, food and clothing. Conner Beth Ball, 20, of Starkville, Miss., is the only golfer in the field hailing from Mississippi. Ball, who is competing in her second U.S. Women’s Amateur, qualified as an alternate out of Roswell, Ga., after carding a 1-under 71 at Brookfield Country Club. She previously reached the Round of 64 at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the Round of 32 at the 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior.