Kan reaches second round of U.S. Girls' Junior

   Aurora Kan, a three-time Daily Times Player of the Year during a brilliant scholastic career at Chichester, held off a determined charge by 2010 quarterfinalist Stephanie Liu of St. Albans, Mo. to claim a 2 and 1 victory Wednesday and reach the second round of match play at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship in sweltering heat at Olympia Fields C.C.'s South Course in Olympia Fields, Ill.
   Kan, the 2010 Pennsylvania Women's Amateur and PIAA champion, struggled in qualifying for the U.S. Girls, posting an 81 at Spring-Ford C.C. and was an alternate. But when a spot opened up, she was ready to compete in her fifth USGA event.
  And Kan, who is headed for Purdue University, bettered her one previous trip to the U.S. Girls -- two years ago at Trump National -- by qualifying for match play.
   Kan had rounds of 75 and 76 over the 6,403-yard, par-72 Olympia Fields South layout to finish in a tie for 33rd and easily make the field for match play.
   In her opening-round match, Kan matched par on the front nine to build a 4-up lead on Liu. But Liu won the 10th and 13th holes with birdies and the 14th with a par to trim the deficit to one hole. But Kan kept making pars and when Liu made a double bogey at the 17th, the match belonged to Kan.
   Kan played 2-over golf while making 15 pars and two bogeys. That's a formula for success in match play.
   Kan's next foe Thursday morning is 15-year-old Hawaiian Eimi Koga, who claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Megan Blonien of Altus, Okla. in her first-round match. Koga finished third in qualifying. Her 3-under 69 was the low score of the second round of qualifying. If Kan wins the match, she'll have to turn around and play her third-round match Thursday afternoon.
   Meanwhile, about 1,000 miles west if Olympia Fields, the boys were competing in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Gold Mountain C.C.'s Olympic Course in Bremerton, Wash. and Michael Davis, the Newtown Square resident and the Intter-Ac League champion as a freshman at Malvern Prep this spring, gave a pretty good account of himself
   Davis, a Merion G.C. member, had a pair of 75s in qualifying over the 7,111-yard, par-72 Gold Mountain Olympic Course layout, in qualifying to finish in a tie for 36th and earn a spot in match play.
   Davis dropped a 3 and 2 decision to Hank Lebioda of Winter Springs, Fla., in an opening-round match Wednesday, but the two were all square with five holes to play.
   That's when Lebioda sandwiched winning birdies at 14 and 16 around a double bogey by Davis that cost him the hole at 15 and Lebioda was able to advance.