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Met Area Players Conclude Play at U.S. Girls' Junior

Sophia Bae

Sophia Bae of Norwood, N.J. Photo: USGA/Steven Gibbons


UPDATE (July 25, 2019) -- After earning the No. 3 seed in stroke play qualifying and winning a pair of matches, Sophia Bae's run came to an end on Thursday afternoon in the 71st U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at Sentry World in Stevens Point, Wis.

Related: U.S. Girls’ Junior Homepage | Scoring

Bae, who's committed to play at Duke following her 2021 graduation, and opponent Nicole Whiston of San Diego, Calif., tied 11 holes in their match that went the distance. Whiston took the first advantage with birdie on the par-5 5th, but Bae immediately answered to return the match to tied. The pair traded holes once again on Nos. 10-11 before three more tied holes in the well-played match.

Bae captured the par-4 15th with a birdie, but Whiston's par on the par-4 17th tied the match with one hole to go. Whiston took advantage of the situation, carding birdie on the last to win, 1-up and advance to the quarterfinals.


UPDATE (July 25, 2019) -- No. 3 seed Sophia Bae continued her steady play in the 71st U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, Thursday morning at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., winning her Round of 32 match by a 2-and-1 margin over Julia Gregg of Farmers Branch, Texas.

Gregg and Bae traded each of the first three holes, but Bae won Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 9--three of which with birdies--to gain a 3-up advantage. The birdie fest continued as Gregg placed circles on her card for wins on Nos. 11-12. Bae responded to her lead getting trimmed by winning the next hole, but Gregg claimed the next to return Bae's advantage to just one. After back-to-back ties, Bae claimed the 17th to secure her spot in the afternoon's Round of 16.

Meanwhile match play came to a close for two more Met Area players, with Caroline Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y., falling to Brooke Seay of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., by a 3-and-2 margin, while Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif., defeated Fair Lawn, N.J.'s Yoona Kim, 2-up.

Bae will take on Nicole Whiston of San Diego, Calif., at 2:50 p.m. Eastern with a trip to the quarterfinal round on the line.


UPDATE (July 24, 2019) -- On a day where seed-upsets were common, a trio of Met Area players registered wins to advance to the Round of 32 in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.

Caroline Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y., continued to be involved in dramatic finishes following her Tuesday evening playoff birdie that secured her slot in match play. As the No. 63 seed, Hodge went back-and-forth with Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard throughout their Round of 64 match. Both players held the lead on multiple occasions while the status also was brought back to tied five different times, including after 18 holes as Hodge finished with a par to her opponent's bogey. Another par on the first extra hole secured Hodge's place in the Round of 32.

Yoona Kim of Fair Lawn, N.J., also had plenty of excitement in her match, scoring an ace on the par-3 7th hole. The hole-in-one extended her advantage to three and she pushed the lead to four, but Jennifer Koga of Honolulu, Hawaii didn't go quietly, winning Nos. 13-15 to close the gap to one hole. But, Yoona calmly birdied the par-3 16th, while a tie with par fours on the 17th closed out the match in favor of Kim, 2-and-1.

No. 3 seed Sophia Bae of Norwood, N.J., continued her impressive play, opening her match against Alexis Sudjianto of Charlotte, N.C., with wins on the first three holes. Sudjianto won Nos. 7-8, but wins on Nos. 11-14 for Bae ended the match, 5-and-4, for the Duke commit.

Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J., found herself in a three-hole deficit after the first three holes, but slowly climbed back into the match and pulled even with a birdie-two on 12. While opponent Madelyn Gamble of Pleasant Hill, Calif., won the next two, Ganne then won Nos. 16 and 17 to tie the match. The duo went on to extras as well, but Gamble secured the victory with birdie on the par-4 1st.

The Round of 32 begins at 8 a.m. Eastern, on Thursday, with Round of 16 matches slated to follow in the afternoon. Kim tees off at 8:27 a.m. against Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif., who defeated reigning champion Erica Shepherd. Hodge looks to continue her run at 9:12 a.m. against Brooke Seay of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., while Bae takes on Julia Gregg of Farmers Branch, Texas at 9:48 a.m. 


UPDATE (July 24, 2019) – After 36 holes of on-site qualifying in the 71st U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, a quartet of Met Area competitors advanced to match play at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., led by Sophia Bae of Norwood, N.J., who earned the No. 3 seed behind a 5-under 139.

Bae followed up her opening 68 with a 1-under 71 on Tuesday, keeping her near the top of the leaderboard though seven shots behind medalist Yuka Saso of the Philippines who went bogey-free through stroke play. Bae, who's committed to Duke, will face Alexis Sudjianto of Charlotte, N.C., in the Round of 64.

Four-time Drive, Chip and Putt national finalist Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J., shot 1-under 71 to finish stroke play at even-par. She takes the No. 13 seed into match play and faces Madelyn Gamble of Pleasant Hill, Calif., on Wednesday. Yoona Kim of Fair Lawn, N.J., finished three shots higher with rounds of 73-74, earning the No. 41 seed for a matchup against Jennifer Koga of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Caroline Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y., secured her spot late on Tuesday evening after making birdie on the par-3 16th to secure the 63rd seed as part of a 13-for-2 playoff. Hodge takes on Maddison Hinson-Tolchard of Australia, who finished second with a 7-under score during stroke play.


UPDATE (July 23, 2019) – Following Monday's first round of stroke play in the 71st U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, several Met Area players are eyeing the Round of 64 at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., including Sophia Bae of Norwood, N.J., who sits tied second on the leader board with an opening 4-under 68.

Bae, set to enter her junior year of high school having already committed to Duke, carded six birdies on the round with four coming over her final nine holes. "I think my putting worked really well on the back nine," Bae told the USGA. "On the front nine I struggled a little bit, but I came back, so I'm happy."

Yoona Kim of Fair Lawn, N.J., and Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J., both find themselves well within position to advance following 1-over 73s on Monday, while Caroline Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y., is in the mix as well thanks to a 2-over 74.

The final 18 holes of stroke play qualifying takes place Tuesday, with the top 64 advancing to match play for the remainder of the championship.


ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 22, 2019) – The 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship begins Monday at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., and the Met Area is represented by multiple up-and-coming stars this year.

Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J., is a four-time Drive, Chip & Putt national finalist and finished runner-up in the 14-15 age group this spring. Ganne will be playing in her third straight U.S. Girls’ Junior championship and competed in her first U.S. Women’s Open in May at the Country Club of Charleston. At 15 years old and only a freshman at Holmdel High School in New Jersey, she finished runner-up in the Shore Conference Tournament this April, helping the Holmdel girls’ golf team win its third straight team title. Ganne also won the 2017 New Jersey Junior PGA Championship and was a member of the 2018 MGA/WMGA French-American Challenge team.

Caroline Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y., is a member of the Florida State University golf eam. Hodge finished third in the stroke play portion of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2017, and also finished sixth in the New York State Women's Amateur Championship in 2018. She ranked No. 55 nationally in the Class of 2018 on Junior Golf Scoreboard.

Yoona Kim of Fair Lawn, N.J., was recently awarded the honor of NJ.com Girls Golfer of the Year and won the NJSIAA Girls individual championship in May. This is her fifth appearance in the U.S. Girls’ Jr. Championship. Sophia Bae of Norwood, N.J. will join the group competing for her first time in this USGA event, while Eunice Kim of Edgewater, N.J. is also in the field.

71st U.S. Girls' Junior Starting Times:

Player Monday Tuesday
Megha Ganne 8:06 a.m. 1:21 p.m.*
Caroline Hodge 7:11 a.m.* 12:26 p.m.
Eunice Kim 7:22 a.m.* 12:37 p.m.
Yoona Kim 12:26 p.m. 7:11 a.m.*
Sophia Bae 7:55 a.m. 1:10 p.m.*

* denotes 10th tee start

 

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