Yao matches par at the Steel Club to earn medalist honors in U.S. Girls' Junior qualifier

   Recent Conestoga graduate Samantha Yao will get two turns on the national stage to close out her junior career this summer.

   A couple of weeks ago Yao, who will continue her academic and golf pursuits at Dartmouth, was the medalist in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood Country Club, which earned her a spot in the field at the 44^th Girls Junior PGA Championship, which tees off next week at Keney Park Golf Course in Hartford, Conn.

   Tuesday, Yao matched par at the Steel Club in Hellertown with a 72 and was once again the medalist, this time in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, which tees off July 22 at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis.

   Four other players finished a shot behind Yao at 1-over 73 to grab the final four berths available to SentryWorld, including Tower Hill junior Rylie Heflin, an Avondale resident who plays out of Hartefeld National Golf Club, and Episcopal Academy junior Lauren Jones, a Newtown Square resident who plays out of Merion Golf Club.

   Virginie Ding of Hong Kong, who will join the Vanderbilt program at the end of the summer, and Jana Ni of China also ended up at 73 to earn a trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior as the Steel Club qualifier drew an international field.

   Yao was a two-time District One Class AAA champion and a top-five finisher in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in each of the last three years at Conestoga. She had been to the Steel Club qualifier and come up short the last two years. But Tuesday, with high school behind her and Ivy League golf in front of her, the third time proved to be the charm for Yao.

   “I just wanted to keep trying and now that I know the course, I felt comfortable out there,” Yao, who plays out of White Manor Country Club, told the GAP website. “There were definitely some jitters to begin, but I’m obviously happy with the way I ended.”

    The nerves showed up early when Yao chunked a chip at the first hole, which led to a bogey. But she quickly got that shot back when her 6-iron approach at the 379-yard, par-4 third hole finished 20 feet from the hole and she drained the long birdie putt.

   Yao stiffed her approach to the 521-yard, par-5 ninth hole and had a tap-in for birdie and she bombed a 3-wood to the front fringe at the 460-yard, par-5 15^th hole and two-putted for the third birdie on her scorecard.

   Heflin was coming off a fourth-place finish in last week’s Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship, a title she won in 2017, at Hershey Country Club’s East Course. Earlier this spring, Heflin helped Tower Hill roll to its fourth straight DIAA team crown in the First State.

   It was her fourth crack in the qualifier at the Steel Club and Heflin’s knowledge of the course helped her offset three bogeys with a pair of birdies.

   Jones has been one of the Inter-Ac League’s top players the last three springs and led the Churchwomen to their second straight unbeaten run through the league this season.

   Jones finished in a tie for 14^th in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls last week at Hershey and then helped Team Philadelphia to a victory in the Junior Inter-City Matches at Whitford Country Club. She has been on the verge of a breakout performance in a big moment and Jones made it happen Tuesday.

   After struggling a little on the Steel Club’s front nine, Jones settled down with a pair of birdies and seven pars for a 2-under 34 coming home. Jones will get to represent Episcopal Academy and Merion on a national stage in Stevens Point, Wis.

   The first alternate is Christine Shao, a recent graduate of The Pingry School who will be an Ivy League rival of Yao’s at Columbia. Shao had advanced out of the Steel Club qualifier each of the last three years, but her 2-over 74 left her in a group of four players tied for sixth.

   Shao, however, prevailed for first alternate, which means she’ll be anxiously watching her phone for some good news from the USGA the next couple of weeks.

   The second alternate is Kiera Bartholomew of Westampton, N.J., who also carded a 74. Bartholomew appears regularly on Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour leaderboards, but she took it up a notch with her performance at the Steel Club.

   Another Junior Tour veteran, Angelina Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J., was also in the foursome at 2-over 74. It’s not the last time you’ll see this talented youngster at a U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier.

   Rounding out the quartet that just missed earning a ticket to SentryWorld at 2-over 74 was Emma Shen of Tenafly, N.J.

   Siqin Yu of Windermere, Fla. was another shot behind the foursome at 74 with a 3-over 75 that left her alone in 10^th place. Janelle Valera of Piscataway, N.J. was alone in 11^th place with a 4-over 76.

   Scanning through some of the other qualifiers on the USGA website, I noticed that one of Heflin’s scholastic rivals in Delaware, Archmere senior Phoebe Brinker, earned a return trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior with a 76 in a qualifier last week at Owensboro Country Club in Owensboro, Ky.

   Brinker, who captured the DIAA individual title in May at Cripple Creek Country Club, qualified for match play in last summer’s U.S. Girls’ Junior at the Poppy Hills Golf Course on northern California’s foggy Monterey Peninsula.

   Brinker suffered a 2-up loss at the hands of Colombian Valery Plata, who went to have a solid freshman season at Michigan State, in the opening round of match play.