Kaitlyn Lees, who recently completed an outstanding
scholastic career at Agnes Irwin by winning the Inter-Ac League’s individual
title for the third time in six years, hasn’t had much luck in qualifying for
United States Golf Association championships.
Not that Lees has played badly in any of them, she was just coming
up a little short. Last year, Lees was the first alternate at local qualifiers
for both the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur, but
never got the call in either. There are a lot of talented players competing for
very few spots in these qualifiers. There isn’t a whole lot of margin for
error.
Well that streak of futility continued last week, but more
on that later. Lees has fared better in qualifying for the Girls Junior PGA
Championship, which will be held July 9 to 12 at the Kearney Hill Golf Links in
Lexington, Ky.
Not that it was easy. Lees carded a 4-over-par 146 total at
Riverton Country Club in Cinnaminson, N.J. Thursday to finish tied for second
in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship, presented by BagBoy, which
left her tied for second with Samantha Yao, the reigning two-time District One
Class AAA champion from Conestoga.
Only two spots in the national event were available, so Lees
and Yao went to a playoff to see who would get the final ticket to Kearney
Hill.
The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour website didn’t have
a lot of details on the playoff, but from what I remember from my Twitter
timeline, it took four holes for Lees to finally get that final qualifying
spot. I’ve watched Yao, who plays out of White Manor Country Club, in the final round of the last two PIAA Class AAA
Championships and she is a tenacious competitor.
Pretty sure it was all 36 holes in one day and, even though
Thursday was the summer solstice and thus the day of the year with the most
amount of daylight, that would be 40 holes of golf. Long day.
The qualifying medal went to Jennifer Cleary, the Tower Hill
junior from Wilmington, Del. who has emerged as one of the top junior players
in the area.
Cleary, who came up just short of a spot in match play at
last summer’s U.S. Girls’ Junior at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo., had
the day’s best round, a sparkling 4-under 67, in the opening round at Riverton
and added a 2-over 73 for a 2-over 140 total.
Lees opened with a 1-over 72 and added a 3-over 74 to get to
146. Yao, who has respective second- and fourth-place finishes at the state
tournament the last two years, opened with a 74 and then caught Lees with a
1-over 72.
Lees and Cleary both made the cut in last year’s Girls
Junior PGA Championship at the Country Club of St. Albans’ Lewis and Clark
Course in St. Albans, Mo. Lees finished tied for 49th and Cleary
ended up in the group tied for 67th in the 72-hole stroke-play event.
The Junior Tour website broke the scoring down into its
usual age groups. Following Lees and Yao in a tie for fourth at 6-over 148 in
the 16-to-18 division were Esther Park, a senior at A.I. DuPont from
Wilmington, and Elizabeth Beek from Blue Bell.
Park was part of the Delaware entry along with Cleary and
Archmere Academy’s Phoebe Brinker that put on a spectacular performance in
finishing second in what was, sadly, the final edition of the USGA Women’s
State Championship at The Club at Las Campanas’ Sunrise Course in Santa Fe,
N.M. last September. Park followed up an opening-round 73 at Riverton with a
75.
Beek is opting to play in the older age group, but she is a
Class of 2023 player, still a year removed from high school and one of the real
phenoms in the Philadelphia area. Beek fired a 1-under 70 in the opening round
before falling back with a 78 in the second round.
Yao’s pal, Downingtown East senior Liddie McCook, finished
alone in sixth at 7-over 149. McCook, who played in the final group in the PIAA
Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort and was the runnerup,
followed up an opening-round 73 with a 76.
Reigning Pennsylvania Junior Girls champion Rylie Heflin, an
Avondale resident and a Tower Hill sophomore, finished alone in seventh at 151
after adding a 74 to her opening-round 77.
Haley Quickel, a junior at Padua Academy from Middletown,
Del., finished alone in eighth at 156 after improving four shots from her
opening-round 80 with a 76 in the second round.
Grace Hickey of Downingtown, the reigning Graham Company Junior
Tour 16-to-18 Player of the Year, finished ninth with rounds of 80 and 78 for a
158 total.
Morgan Sohosky, who finished eighth in the PIAA Class AA
Championship as a junior at Bloomsburg last fall, rounded out the top 10 at 159
after adding a solid 76 to her opening-round 83.
Natasha Kiel of New Hope and Angelina Tolentino of Mount
Laurel, N.J. shared the top spot in the 13-to-15 division, each finishing at
153. Kiel fired a 2-over 73 in the opening-round before falling back with an 80
while Tolentino added a 75 to her opening-round 78.
Michelle Cox of Allentown finished third at 156, following
up a 79 with a second-round 77. Olivia Strigh of Hammonton, N.J. was two shots
behind Cox in fourth at 158, posting a pair of 79s. Victoria Kim of West
Chester was another shot behind Strigh in fifth at 159, adding a 78 to her
opening-round 81.
Jade Gu of Yardley finished sixth at 160 with consistent
rounds of 81 and 79. Lily Yang (81-83) of West Chester and Lauren Jones (81-83)
finished tied for seventh at 164. Jones was a freshman standout on Episcopal
Academy’s Inter-Ac League championship team this spring.
Haverford High sophomore Riley Quartermain, who plays out of
Llanerch Country Club, finished ninth at 171 with rounds of 84 and 87. Kiera
Bartholomew of Westampton, N.J. rounded out the top 10 at 172, improving six
shots from her opening-round 89 with an 83 in the second round.
Yao, by the way, will be the
first alternate for the Girls Junior PGA Championship and if she needs any
advice on how that works, she can consult Lees.
Lees, who represents both Philadelphia Country Club and
Merion Golf Club, is the second alternate for the U.S. Girls’ Junior after
firing a 1-over 73 in a qualifier administered by the Golf Association of
Philadelphia Tuesday at the Steel Club in Hellertown. It was known as Silver
Creek Country Club a year ago when Lees emerged as the first alternate in
qualifying for the U.S. Girls’ Junior.
Lees, who is headed for Dartmouth at the end of the summer,
finished in a tie for the third and final ticket to the U.S. Girls’ Junior,
which tees off July 16 at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif., with
Lauren Peter, an Ohio State recruit from Carmel, N.Y. and Bailey Davis of White
Plains, N.J. A par on the third playoff hole gave Peter the final ticket to
Poppy Hills.
Davis is the first alternate and Lees the second alternate,
although based on last summer’s experience, I don’t think Lees will be holding
her breath for that call.
Medalist honors went to Valery Plata, a Michigan State
recruit from Colombia who fired a 2-under 70 over the 6,173-yard, par-72 Steel
Club layout. Plata, who will be making her third appearance in the U.S. Girls’
Junior, got out of the gate fast at the Steel Club with birdies at two, three
and seven.
Christine Shao, a senior at The Pingry School from Green
Brook, N.J., finished a shot behind Plata in second at 1-under 71. Shao, who
earned a trip to last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior out of what was then Silver
Creek, also had four birdies in her round. Shao intends to continue her
academic and golf pursuits at Virginia in the summer of 2019.
Cleary had a solid 75, but it wasn’t enough to earn her a
return trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Like I said, these qualifiers are tough.
Her Tower Hill teammate Heflin had a 76 and the precocious Beek, who should get
several more shots at making the U.S. Girls’ Junior, carded a 77.
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