Clemente's star keeps rising as she captures title in The Sally, McCrery finishes third

   Gianna Clemente, the transplanted Ohioan who resides in Estero, Fla., has been coming to the South Atlantic Women’s Amateur Championship, the venerable stop on the unofficial Orange Blossom Tour known better simply as The Sally, for years.

   Which makes it easy to forget she’s still only 14. Clemente has been a star in the making ever since she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. as an 11-year-old in 2019.

   You really want to make an impression, though, you’ve got to get yourself on TV. So, when Clemente showed up The Golf Channel in a determined bid in the final of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky. last summer that ultimately came up a little short, the golf world really took notice.

   Which was quickly followed by: She’s how old? Yeah, still just 14.

   And Clemente was still just 14 when she held off a typically strong field at The Sally, an event that dates to 1926, to capture the title by a shot with an even-par 288 total over Oceanside Country Club layout in Ormond Beach, Fla. that has hosted The Sally for each of its 97 editions. The 72-hole stroke-play event wrapped up Saturday.

   Not sure if Clemente is going to high school in Florida, but if she was, she’d be a freshman. She is a Class of 2026 kid and is No. 72 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   When the scheduled 36-hole U.S. Girls' Junior final against Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nev. was slipping away in the 100-degree heat and humidity in Kentucky last summer, Clemente retained a poise and focus that belied her youth. She took the match to the 35^th hole before falling 3 and 1.

   Clemente has plenty of time before she decides whether she wants to go to college or turn professional in a few years. She made three straight appearances on the LPGA Tour last summer via Monday qualifiers, so there’s that. In the meantime, she can continue playing the kind of tremendous golf she displayed at Oceanside last week.

   Clemente took control of the championship with a stunning burst of six birdies in an eight-hole stretch of Friday’s third round. It enabled her to fire a 3-under 69 and gave her a two-shot advantage over the field heading into Saturday’s final round.

   Clemente stumbled a little on the way to the clubhouse in Saturday’s final round, but, poised as always, put together a 3-over 75 that enabled her to hold off a hard-charging Morgan Ketchum, a freshman at Virginia Tech, by a shot.

   After opening with a 1-over 73 in Wednesday’s opening round, Clemente, a native of Warren, Ohio, carded a solid 1-under 71 in Thursday’s second round.

   Clemente started quietly enough in the third round with a bogey at the first hole. And then she went off. Clemente ripped off four straight birdies at the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holes and added birdies at nine and 11 to get it to 5-under for the round. She cooled off with bogeys at the 13^th and 17^th holes. There weren’t many sub-70 rounds at Oceanside, but her 69 was one of them.

   Clemente started slowly in the final round with bogeys at the second and third holes, but righted the ship a little with a birdie at seven. She made a bogey at the 10^th hole, had a birdie at 12 and made bogeys at 13 and 17.

   Ketchum, who was a scholastic standout at North Carolina powerhouse Reagan High School in Pfafftown before joining the Hokies, made four birdies on the back nine in the final round as she closed with a 1-under 71 to finish a shot behind Clemente with a 1-over 289 total.

   Have to admit I was a little surprised by the third-place finish by Tower Hill sophomore Avery McCrery, who finished up with a 2-under 70 that left her two shots behind Ketchum with a 3-over 291 total.

   McCrery has been steadily improving and finished in 25^th place in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the marquee event on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) schedule, Thanksgiving week at TPC San Antonio in Texas.

   And maybe I shouldn’t be surprised with the steady parade of talented girls who keep emerging from the First State in recent years. McCrery, who, I’m pretty sure, plays out of Wilmington Country Club, took a big step forward with her showing at Oceanside.

   After adding a 4-over 76 in the second round to her opening round of 2-over 74, McCrery made her move with a solid 1-under 71 in Friday’s third round.

   After a birdie at the fourth hole, McCrery made a bogey at nine. But she got it into red figures for the round again with birdies at the 15^th and 17^th holes before making a bogey at the closing hole.

   McCrery made back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes to get on a roll in Saturday’s final round before bogeys at seven and 10 dropped her back to even for the round. But she finished strong with birdies at the 12^th and 18^th holes to grab third place, finishing ahead of a ton of talented players.

   Mia Hammond of New Albany, Ohio was another Class of ’26 player who made some noise at Oceanside. Hammond, winner of the Girls 14-15 division in last spring’s Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club, closed with the best round of the week, a sparkling 5-under 67, to get a share of fourth place with Arizona freshman Julia Misemer, each landing on 4-over 292.

   Misemer of Overland Park, Kan. carded back-to-back 1-under 71s in the middle two rounds after opening with a 2-over 74 and only trailed Clemente by three shots heading into the final round, but struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 76 to end up in the tie for fourth place.

   Another talented player who calls New Albany, Ohio home, Ohio State freshman Kary Hollenbaugh, finished in a tie for sixth place with Molly Smith, a Central Florida recruit from Westfield, Mass.

   Hollenbaugh, who worked her way into the head coach Lisa Strom’s starting lineup as a freshman with the Buckeyes in the fall, opened with a solid 1-under 71 and was solid the rest of the way, adding a 3-over 75 in the second round and a 73 in Friday’s third round before closing with a 74.

   Smith, who will join the UCF program at the end of this summer, surged into contention with a sparkling 3-under 69 in Friday’s third round before finishing up with a 4-over 76.

   Smith was coming off a solid fifth-place finish in the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational at the Sun ’N Lake Golf Club’s Deer Run Course in Sebring, Fla. in another Orange Blossom Tour event the week before the calendar flipped to 2023.

   I’ll have more on the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational, which has replaced the old Harder Hall Invitational on the Orange Blossom Tour circuit, later in this post. Gathering intel from the Citrus Trail Invitational was a bit of a challenge, but I’ll give you what I was able to pick up.

   Ryleigh Knaub, another talented Florida youngster from DeBary, closed with her best round of the tournament, a 1-over 73, to finish alone in ninth place with a 6-over 294 total. Knaub, a Class of ’25 competitor, is a sophomore on the Lake Mary Prep team.

   Kaitlyn Schroeder, AJGA’s 2022 Rolex Junior Player of the Year from Jacksonville, Fla., bounced back from a tough start to get a share of 10^th place with Kate Owens, a fifth-year senior at James Madison from Suwanee, Ga., each ending up with a 7-over 295 total.

   Schroeder, an impressive winner of the Girls Junior PGA Championship last summer at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in suburban Chicago, will join the program at Southeastern Conference power Alabama at the end of this summer.

   After opening with an 80, Schroeder ripped off back-to-back 1-under 71s in the middle two rounds before closing with a 2-over 73. Schroeder had shared fourth place with Clemente in The Sally a year ago.

   Owens was Clemente’s closest pursuer through three rounds as she posted a sparkling 4-under 68 in the second round after opening with a 1-over 73 and added a 2-over 74 in Friday’s third round that left her at 1-under entering Saturday’s final round. Owens struggled with an 80 in the final round, but still got a share of 10^th place with Schroeder.

   Katie Li, the Basking Ridge, N.J. resident who is headed for Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke at the end of the summer, struggled a little in the final round with a 77 to finish among the group tied for 12^th place with a 9-over 297 total. Li sandwiched a 2-over 74 in the second round with a pair of 73s in the first three rounds.

   Li made a run to the round of 16 in last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

   It was a solid showing for Penn State’s Isha Dhruva, a senior from Katy, Texas who finished in the group tied for 15^th place with a 299 total. After opening with a 4-over 76, Dhruva matched par in the second round with a 72 and added a 74 in the third round before closing with a 77.

   Beatriz Arenas, a native of Guatemala who resides in Florida, was the runaway winner of the The Sally’s Rockefeller Division with a 325 total.

   From what I can surmise, Arenas, an accomplished artist, is 74ish and still playing great golf. She added an 80 in the second round to her opening-round 81 and carded an 85 in Friday’s third round before closing with her best round of the week, a 79.

   Merion Golf Club’s ageless Liz Haines, at 70-something, finished in a tie for third place with Christine Hunt at 342. The runnerup to Carolyn Creekmore in the 2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., Haines battled back from an opening-round 89 with a pair of 84s in the second and final rounds around an 85 in the third round.

   The runnerup was Denise Callahan, who finished a distant 16 shots behind Arenas with a 341 total. Looks like Callahan is a Canton, Ohio native who resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. these days. Callahan added an 86 in the second round to her opening-round 88 and added an 83 in Friday’s third round before finishing up with an 84.

   The Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational wrapped up Dec. 30^th and it was a battle between a couple of talented Asian teens as Thanana Kotchasanmanee of Thailand captured the title by two shots over Rianne Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines.

   Kotchasanmanee, a Class of ’25 competitor whose base in the U.S. is Rome, Ga., blew by the field with a remarkable final round of 7-under 65 over Sun ’N Lake’s Deer Run Course layout to finish with a 4-under 284 total.

   Couldn’t really locate the par for the Deer Run Course, but it was 72 a year ago when the old Harder Hall first passed the baton to the Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational. The common denominator is Sebring, a community that valued the Harder Hall tradition and wanted to continue to host an Orange Blossom Tour event.

   Kotchasanmanee had opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 74 in the second round before matching par in the third round with a 72 that left her three shots behind Malixi heading into the final round.

   Not that Malixi, also a Class of ’25 competitor who is based in San Bernardino, Calif. in the U.S., played poorly in the final round. She carded a 2-under 70, but just couldn’t keep up with Kotchasanmanee’s sizzling pace. Malixi finished with a solid 2-under 286 total.

   Malixi, the runnerup to Schroeder in last summer’s Girls Junior PGA Championship at Cog Hill, struggled a little in the opening round with a 6-over 78 over the Deer Run layout, but got it going in the middle two rounds to the tune of back-to-back 3-under 69s that gave her that three-shot lead heading into the final round.

   Vanessa Zhang, a Gonzaga recruit from Pasadena, Calif., finished in a tie for third place with Arkansas’ Fifion Tynan, a sophomore from Wales, each ending up four shots behind Malixi at 2-over 290 total.

   After opening with a solid 3-under 69, Zhang carded a 1-over 73 in the second round and a 78 in the third round before finishing up strong with a 70 in the final round.

   Tynan, winner of the Women’s Welsh Amateur Championship at Pennard last summer, saved her best for last, closing with a 3-under 69 to get her share of third place.

   Molly Smith, the UCF recruit who would finish in a tie for sixth place at week later in The Sally, closed with a 2-under 70 to finish alone in fifth place with a 292 total at the Deer Run Course, two shots behind Zhang and Tynan. Smith struggled in the opening round with a 78, but shaved 10 shots off that with a sparkling 4-under 68 in the second round. She carded a 4-over 76 in the third round.

   Heading a trio of players tied for sixth place at 294, two shots behind Smith, was Jersey girl Megan Meng, a junior at Hopewell Valley Central.

   Looks like Meng will join the program at Big Ten power Northwestern in the summer of 2024. Meng was steady in the Citrus Invitational, matching par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 1-over 73 and adding another 73 in the third round before closing with a 76.

   Joining Meng at 294 were another Thai junior player, Nattachanok Tanwannarux and Macy Pate, a Wake Forest recruit who is another product of North Carolina scholastic powerhouse Reagan High School.

   Tanwannarux was steady with 1-over 73s in the first, third and final rounds around a 75 in the second round.

   Pate gained quite a bit of notoriety when she recorded an astounding 14-under 57 in a state regional tournament in the fall of 2021. Pretty sure she was a teammate of Morgan Ketchum, the runnerup in The Sally, that fall.

   Pate bounced back from an opening-round 76 with a sparkling 3-under 69 in the second round. She added a 2-over 74 in the third round before finishing up with a 75. Pate came back a week later to finish in a tie for 12^th place in The Sally.