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Near-Record Performance Nets Saso Medalist Honors at 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship

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When it comes to match play, Yuka Saso admits that her acumen in that format could use a boost. But if she can somehow find the same mojo that was on display the past two stroke-play days at SentryWorld, the 18-year-old from the Philippines might be an awfully difficult out.

Saso posted her second-consecutive bogey-free round on Tuesday, shooting a 5-under 67 to earn medalist honors by five strokes in the 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Her 12-under total of 132 was two strokes off the 36-hole stroke-play record of 130 held by Taylore Karle (2005 at BanBury Golf Course in Eagle, Idaho) and one behind Lucy Li’s total last year at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Saso was the only player in the field to go bogey-free in stroke play.

But now comes the mental hurdle. In three previous U.S. Girls’ Juniors, Saso, who is No. 24 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, has not advanced past the Round of 32. She did reach the semifinals of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pa. Eleven days ago, Saso won the Junior Girls PGA Championship in Hartford, Conn., a 72-hole, stroke-play competition.

“I really don’t play in match play except at USGA championships,” said Saso, “so to be honest I am a little nervous. But I’m trying to prepare and set myself up well.

“I’m definitely happy. My goal over the first two days was to get into match play so it feels good to accomplish that.”

For a second consecutive day, competitors were greeted with temperatures in the 70s, although it was a tad windier, with gusts reaching as high as 20 mph.

The cut for match play came at 6-over 150, with 13 competitors playing off for two match-play spots. Caroline Hodge, 18, of Larchmont, N.Y., birdied the first playoff hole, the par-3 16th, to secure the 63rd seed. The final spot will be determined on Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. CDT between Ainsley Cowart, 18, of Winston, Ga., and Kayle Sakoda, 18, of Cypress, Calif. Both players birdied the par-4 17th hole. They will resume the playoff on No. 18 and then go back to 16, if necessary.

Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, 17, of Australia, matched Saso for the championship’s best round with a bogey-free 65 to earn the No. 2 seed for match play. Playing in her second consecutive U.S. Girls’ Junior, Tolchard will look to improve upon her Round-of-64 effort from Poppy Hills.

“Last year was interesting with all the weather delays [due to fog], but the biggest thing I learned was that in match play scores don’t matter,” said Hinson-Tolchard. “You can have a double [bogey]and just need to move on. You can make it up on the next hole. In match play you can be a bit more aggressive.”

Sophia Bae, 15, of Norwood, N.J., who plans to attend Duke in 2021, earned the No. 3 seed after posting 5-under 139.

QUOTABLE:

  • “I had my [swing]coach (Brent Nicoson) on the bag and that really helped me focus on one shot at a time, and I just committed to the numbers and really felt good about it. I think he also helps me stay out of my own head. After making a couple of bogeys, having someone there to keep me in line. It saved me three or four shots.” – 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Erica Shepherd on the turnaround from a first-round 74 to a 3-under 69 in Round 2 to qualify for match play
  • “With this golf course, with the wind, you can really make a bogey at any time, and this setup is not easy, so I am a little surprised I’ve been able to go bogey-free.” – stroke-play medalist Yuka Saso
  • “For a sibling, I would say caddieing is tougher because you’re not taking the shots…and you can’t do anything about it. I don’t tell her to do anything. I just give her information and then she can decide to make the decision for herself.” – 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Preston Summerhays on caddieing for his younger sister, Grace, in the U.S. Girls’ Junior
  • “The course has been amazing. I love it. The greens are really, really pure. You can pick a line and trust it. The fairways are immaculate, they are so nice to play off of. And the 16th is my favorite hole. Just standing there on the tee box and looking at all the flowers, it’s so pretty.” – Maddison Hinson-Tolchard on SentryWorld

NOTABLE:

  • Yuko Saso’s five-shot margin of victory in stroke play matched the largest in the championship since 2000. The largest margin is seven, held by Beth Bauer (1997, champion), Lauren Howe (1976) and Kathleen Ahern (1966).
  • Erica Shepherd, 18, of Greenwood, Ind., the 2017 champion and 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion with partner Megan Furtney, of St. Charles, Ill., rebounded from an opening 74 to shoot a 3-under 69 to make the cut. Furtney finished at 7-over 151 and missed the cut by one stroke. Both are headed to Duke University this fall.
  • Last year’s runner-up, Alexa Pano, 14, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., also qualified for match play at 4-over 148.
  • Grace Summerhays, 15, of Scottsdale, Ariz., the younger sister of 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur championPreston Summerhays, qualified at 3-over 147 with her brother on the bag. Jiarui (Joyce) Jin, the younger sister of U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up, Bo Jin, also advanced at 5-over 149.
  • Among the notables who failed to qualify included playoff victims Ashley Gilliam, a quarterfinalist in 2018, world No. 45 Amanda Sambach, and 2017 semifinalist Taylor Roberts. Also missing the cut were sistersMadison and Carissa Wu.
  • Latanna Stone, 17, of Riverview, Fla., withdrew from the championship prior to Tuesday’s round with a back injury. Stone, who is headed to Louisiana State University in the fall, opened with a 78. She has the distinction of being the second-youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2012).

WHAT’S NEXT
The Round of 64 is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at 8 a.m. CDT. The 36-hole championship match is scheduled for Saturday. FS1 will broadcast live the last two days of the championship from 2-4 p.m. EDT.

Stevens Points, Wis. – Results from Monday’s first round at the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, played at 6,290-yard par-72 SentryWorld.

Yuka Saso, Philippines – 65-67–132
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Australia – 72-65–137
Sophia Bae, Norwood, N.J. – 68-71–139
YoonMin Han, Republic of Korea – 72-69–141
Jillian Bourdage, Tamarac, Fla. – 69-72–141
Sabrina Iqbal, San Jose, Calif. – 70-72–142
Lei Ye, People’s Republic of China – 68-74–142
Bohyun Park, Republic of Korea – 74-69–143
Erica Shepherd, Greenwood, Ind. – 74-69–143
Erika Smith, Orlando, Fla. – 71-72–143
Briana Chacon, Whittier, Calif. – 69-74–143
Maisie Filler, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. – 73-71–144
Megha Ganne, Holmdel, N.J. – 73-71–144
Nicole Adam, Pinehurst, N.C. – 68-76–144
Grace Kim, Australia – 73-71–144
Hsin-Yu Lu, Chinese Taipei – 73-71–144
Julia Misemer, Overland Park, Kan. – 71-73–144
Chun-Wei Wu, Chinese Taipei – 73-71–144
Irene Kim, La Palma, Calif. – 70-74–144
Jasmine Ly, Canada – 72-72–144
Katherine Muzi, Newport Beach, Calif. – 73-72–145
Hailey Borja, Lake Forest, Calif. – 71-74–145
Sarah Arnold, St. Charles, Ill. – 74-71–145
Jennifer Koga, Honolulu, Hawaii – 74-71–145
Sophie (Yixian) Guo, People’s Republic of China – 72-73–145
Yue Zhang, People’s Republic of China – 70-75–145
Alexa Udom, Portland, Ore. – 71-75–146
Isabella Fierro, Mexico – 74-72–146
Lauren Beaudreau, Lemont, Ill. – 72-74–146
Grace Ni, Cypress, Texas – 72-74–146
Ashley Menne, Phoenix, Ariz. – 72-74–146
Valery Plata, Colombia – 69-77–146
Phoebe Brinker, Wilmington, Del. – 70-76–146
Brooke Seay, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. – 78-68–146
Julia Gregg, Farmers Branch, Texas – 74-73–147
Rachel Heck, Memphis, Tenn. – 74-73–147
Kynadie Adams, Nashville, Tenn. – 76-71–147
Kayla Smith, Burlington, N.C. – 75-72–147
Virginie Ding, Hong Kong China – 69-78–147
Rose Zhang, Irvine, Calif. – 73-74–147
Yoona Kim, Fair Lawn, N.J. – 73-74–147
Grace Summerhays, Scottsdale, Ariz. – 74-73–147
Gia Feliciano, Concord, Calif. – 71-76–147
Mika (Meijia) Jin, People’s Republic of China – 79-69–148
Emma Zhao, Windermere, Fla. – 74-74–148
Nicole Whiston, San Diego, Calif. – 73-75–148
Elle Nachmann, Boca Raton, Fla. – 74-74–148
Isabella Van Der Biest, Kingsport, Tenn. – 69-79–148
Anne Chen, Sugar Land, Texas – 73-75–148
Alexa Pano, Lake Worth, Fla. – 75-73–148
Anika Varma, India – 74-74–148
Madelyn Gamble, Pleasant Hill, Calif. – 75-74–149
Jiarui (Joyce) Jin, People’s Republic of China – 75-74–149
Yu Wen Lu, People’s Republic of China – 76-73–149
Isabella McCauley, Inver Grove Heights, Minn. – 74-75–149
Kelly Xu, Claremont, Calif. – 75-74–149
Michaela Morard, Huntsville, Ala. – 73-76–149
Elina Sinz, Katy, Texas – 76-73–149
Cory Lopez, Mexico – 74-75–149
Savannah Hylton, Hilton Head Island, S.C. – 73-76–149
Kendall Todd, Goodyear, Ariz. – 71-78–149
Alexis Sudjianto, Charlotte, N.C. – 75-74–149
Caroline Wrigley, Wexford, Pa. – 79-71–150
Ainsley Cowart, Winston, Ga. – 79-71–150
Amanda Sambach, Charlotte, N.C. – 72-78–150
Caroline Hodge, Larchmont, N.Y. – 74-76–150
Ashley Gilliam, Manchester, Tenn. – 77-73–150
Kaylee Sakoda, Cypress, Calif. – 77-73–150
Valentina Rossi, Argentina – 76-74–150
Cassie Kim, Yakima, Wash. – 77-73–150
Megan Schofill, Monticello, Fla. – 73-77–150
Taylor Roberts, Parkland, Fla. – 73-77–150
Caroline Hwang, Orlando, Fla. – 77-73–150
Danielle Suh, San Ramon, Calif. – 74-76–150
Caris Kim, Los Altos, Calif. – 79-71–150
Brooke Biermann, Wildwood, Mo. – 82-69–151
Penelope Tir, Winnetka, Ill. – 77-74–151
Samantha Yao, Berwyn, Pa. – 73-78–151
Camille Boyd, Yorba Linda, Calif. – 76-75–151
Bentley Cotton, Austin, Texas – 75-76–151
Megan Furtney, St. Charles, Ill. – 77-74–151
Natalie Vo, San Jose, Calif. – 79-72–151
Kamie Hamada, Aiea, Hawaii – 76-75–151
Chayse Gomez, Yorba Linda, Calif. – 74-78–152
Andrea Gomez Ortizibarra, Mexico – 75-77–152
Tess Blair, South Jordan, Utah – 73-79–152
Jennifer Cai, Irvine, Calif. – 73-79–152
Olivia Venderby, Denmark – 78-74–152
Rachel Kuehn, Asheville, N.C. – 78-74–152
Kendall Turner, Chesapeake, Va. – 78-74–152
Dianna Lee, San Diego, Calif. – 77-75–152
Zoe Slaughter, Houston, Texas – 74-78–152
Angela (Yilin) Liu, People’s Republic of China – 77-76–153
Leah Herzog, Red Wing, Minn. – 77-76–153
Aayushi Sarkar, Woodbury, Minn. – 78-75–153
Pinya Pipatjarasgit, Sylvania, Ohio – 80-73–153
Claire Chen, Fremont, Calif. – 76-77–153
Bailey Davis, White Plains, Md. – 77-76–153
Mary Scott Wolfe, Beaverton, Ore. – 79-75–154
Eunice Kim, Edgewater, N.J. – 80-74–154
Megan Propeck, Leawood, Kan. – 79-75–154
Makenzie Niblett, Austin, Texas – 74-80–154
Jennifer Wang, Solon, Ohio – 73-81–154
Angelica Holman, Fort Pierce, Fla. – 78-76–154
Laney Frye, Nicholasville, Ky. – 77-77–154
Rylie Heflin, Avondale, Pa. – 78-76–154
Caroline Smith, Inverness, Ill. – 75-79–154
Melena Barrientos, Plano, Texas – 73-82–155
Kary Hollenbaugh, New Albany, Ohio – 78-77–155
Rebecca DiNunzio, Norfolk, Va. – 80-75–155
Shannyn Vogler, Sherrard, Ill. – 78-77–155
Jana Ni, People’s Republic of China – 75-81–156
Emily Hou, San Ramon, Calif. – 76-80–156
Faith Choi, Frederick, Md. – 75-81–156
Bridget Ma, Naperville, Ill. – 75-81–156
Carissa Wu, Dublin, Calif. – 76-80–156
Emma Schimpf, Charleston, S.C. – 80-76–156
Jensen Castle, West Columbia, S.C. – 81-76–157
Hailey Schalk, Erie, Colo. – 80-77–157
Estibaly Garcia Rubio, Mexico – 79-78–157
Kaylee Chen, Denver, Colo. – 76-81–157
Jasmine Koo, Cerritos, Calif. – 81-76–157
Manuela Lizarazu, Colombia – 81-76–157
Caroline Canales, Calabasas, Calif. – 77-80–157
Nicole Cee, Port Saint Lucie, Fla. – 76-82–158
Arantza Armas Stenner, Mexico – 77-81–158
Emilia Smith, Enterprise, Ala. – 79-79–158
Isabella Gomez, Colombia – 78-80–158
Chloe Schiavone, Jacksonville, Fla. – 83-75–158
Nicole Whatley, Northville, Mich. – 74-85–159
Emma McMyler, San Antonio, Texas – 76-84–160
Paige Wood, Canada – 81-79–160
Amari Smith, McKinney, Texas – 78-83–161
Kailani Deedon, Mesa, Ariz. – 82-79–161
Mallory Fobes, East Bend, N.C. – 81-80–161
Minhae Gwon, Republic of Korea – 81-80–161
Allyn Stephens, Houston, Texas – 78-84–162
Alexsandra Lapple, Ridgefield, Conn. – 84-78–162
Gabriella Gilrowski, Westfield, Ind. – 80-82–162
Annie Huaxin Zhang, People’s Republic of China – 82-81–163
Daniela Ballesteros, Peru – 78-85–163
Allison Cui, Okemos, Mich. – 82-81–163
Kyra Ly, Portland, Ore. – 82-82–164
Lauren Jones, Newtown Square, Pa. – 79-85–164
Iris Cao, Duluth, Ga. – 85-79–164
Emily Duan, Buffalo Grove, Ill. – 80-85–165
Alex Crafton, Lake Mary, Fla. – 80-87–167
Kiara Todd, Kaneohe, Hawaii – 85-83–168
Avery Blake, The Woodlands, Texas – 86-84–170
Lisa Colee, DeLand, Fla. – 85-85–170
Madison Wu, Dublin, Calif. – 84-87–171
Lucy Bloomstran, St. Louis, Mo. – 83-88–171
Emily Staples, Orlando, Fla. – 89-83–172
Jo Baranczyk, Green Bay, Wis. – 89-85–174
Becca Tschetter, Minot, N.D. – 89-86–175
Latanna Stone, Riverview, Fla. – 78-WD–WD

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Pairings and tee times for Wednesday’s first round of match play at the 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, played at 6,290-yard, par-72 SentryWorld.

10:15 a.m. – Yuka Saso, Philippines (132) vs. To Be Determined()

8 a.m. – Valery Plata, Colombia (146) vs. Phoebe Brinker, Wilmington, Del. (146)

8:09 a.m. – Hsin-Yu Lu, Chinese Taipei (144) vs. Anne Chen, Sugar Land, Texas (148)

8:18 a.m. – Julia Misemer, Overland Park, Kan. (144) vs. Isabella Van Der Biest, Kingsport, Tenn. (148)

8:27 a.m. – Bohyun Park, Republic of Korea (143) vs. Michaela Morard, Huntsville, Ala. (149)

8:36 a.m. – Sophie (Yixian) Guo, People’s Republic of China (145) vs. Rose Zhang, Irvine, Calif. (147)

8:45 a.m. – Erica Shepherd, Greenwood, Ind. (143) vs. Kelly Xu, Claremont, Calif. (149)

8:54 a.m. – Jennifer Koga, Honolulu, Hawaii (145) vs. Yoona Kim, Fair Lawn, N.J. (147)

9:03 a.m. – YoonMin Han, Republic of Korea (141) vs. Kendall Todd, Goodyear, Ariz. (149)

9:12 a.m. – Lauren Beaudreau, Lemont, Ill. (146) vs. Rachel Heck, Memphis, Tenn. (147)

9:21 a.m. – Megha Ganne, Holmdel, N.J. (144) vs. Madelyn Gamble, Pleasant Hill, Calif. (149)

9:30 a.m. – Jasmine Ly, Canada (144) vs. Emma Zhao, Windermere, Fla. (148)

9:39 a.m. – Jillian Bourdage, Tamarac, Fla. (141) vs. Savannah Hylton, Hilton Head Island, S.C. (149)

9:48 a.m. – Isabella Fierro, Mexico (146) vs. Kynadie Adams, Nashville, Tenn. (147)

9:57 a.m. – Maisie Filler, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (144) vs. Jiarui (Joyce) Jin, People’s Republic of China (149)

10:06 a.m. – Katherine Muzi, Newport Beach, Calif. (145) vs. Mika (Meijia) Jin, People’s Republic of China (148)

10:24 a.m. – Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Australia (137) vs. Caroline Hodge, Larchmont, N.Y. (150)

10:33 a.m. – Ashley Menne, Phoenix, Ariz. (146) vs. Brooke Seay, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (146)

10:42 a.m. – Grace Kim, Australia (144) vs. Alexa Pano, Lake Worth, Fla. (148)

10:51 a.m. – Chun-Wei Wu, Chinese Taipei (144) vs. Elle Nachmann, Boca Raton, Fla. (148)

11:00 a.m. – Lei Ye, People’s Republic of China (142) vs. Elina Sinz, Katy, Texas (149)

11:09 a.m. – Yue Zhang, People’s Republic of China (145) vs. Virginie Ding, Hong Kong China (147)

11:18 a.m. – Erika Smith, Orlando, Fla. (143) vs. Isabella McCauley, Inver Grove Heights, Minn. (149)

11:27 a.m. – Sarah Arnold, St. Charles, Ill. (145) vs. Grace Summerhays, Scottsdale, Ariz. (147)

11:36 a.m. – Sophia Bae, Norwood, N.J. (139) vs. Alexis Sudjianto, Charlotte, N.C. (149)

11:45 a.m. – Grace Ni, Cypress, Texas (146) vs. Julia Gregg, Farmers Branch, Texas (147)

11:54 a.m. – Nicole Adam, Pinehurst, N.C. (144) vs. Anika Varma, India (148)

12:03 p.m. – Irene Kim, La Palma, Calif. (144) vs. Nicole Whiston, San Diego, Calif. (148)

12:12 p.m. – Sabrina Iqbal, San Jose, Calif. (142) vs. Cory Lopez, Mexico (149)

12:21 p.m. – Alexa Udom, Portland, Ore. (146) vs. Kayla Smith, Burlington, N.C. (147)

12:30 p.m. – Briana Chacon, Whittier, Calif. (143) vs. Yu Wen Lu, People’s Republic of China (149)

12:39 p.m. – Hailey Borja, Lake Forest, Calif. (145) vs. Gia Feliciano, Concord, Calif. (147)

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Glen Turk is a Wisconsin native who has been the Senior Writer/Editor of Midwest Golfing Magazine since 2006. Besides being an avid golfer, Glen enjoys traveling, music, and cheering on the finest professional sports team of all-time, the Green Bay Packers. Glen’s ultimate golf goal is to play in all fifty states and currently he is more than half way there. His other dream, albeit far-fetched, it to record an ace in all seven states of our distribution area. Thanks to an ace in Illinois in 2015, and one in Michigan in 2016, he has three down, four to go!

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