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 44th 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 15th 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 14th 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 10th place. Janelle
Valera of Piscataway, N.J. was alone in 11th 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.
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