Yermish's run in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at the U.S. Air Force Academy halted in the quarterfinals

 

   Sidney Yermish’s run at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship came to an end Friday morning when Leigh Chien, a 17-year-old from Irvine, Calif., rallied to win their quarterfinal match on the 19^th hole at the U.S. Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course in Colorado Springs, Colo.

   Yermish, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Lower Merion, identifies as they/them pronoun-wise and I’m trying to honor their preference.

   When Chien, who will join the program at Pac-12 power Stanford in the summer of 2024, won the 19^th hole with a par, it was the only time she led in the match. It was the first time that Yermish, who will join the program at Big Ten power Michigan, trailed in any of their four matches.

   Regardless of the disappointing finish, it was a remarkable run in the U.S. Girls’ Junior for Yermish, who had qualified for the event as a 12-year-old in 2018 at the Poppy Hills Golf Course on California’s Monterey Peninsula, but had been unable to get back until this year.

   Included in that stretch was the coronavirus pandemic year of 2020 when the U.S. Girls’ Junior wasn’t played.

   But Yermish got there this year and proved that they can compete at the highest level of junior golf and, don’t kid yourself, that level is very high. There were eight girls in the U.S. Girls’ Junior who teed it up in the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

   I didn’t have time to recap Yermish’s long, long day Thursday when they won two matches around a three-hour rain delay. Pretty sure darkness was descending on Colorado Springs when Yermish finally finished off a 1-up victory over Kennedy Swedick of Albany, N.Y. at about 10:30 in Philadelphia and 8:30 in the Mountain time zone.

   I’ll get back to that, but it looked for a long time Friday that Yermish was headed for the semifinals.

   Yermish, as had been their habit at the U.S. Air Force Academy, got the jump on Chien, grabbing a 2-up lead by winning the second and third holes with birdies.

   Chien cut her deficit in half by taking the fourth hole with a bogey, but Yermish again rattled off back-to-back wins with birdies at five and six to take a 3-up lead.

   Chien won the seventh hole with a par to get within 2-down, but Yermish restored their 3-up advantage by winning eight with a birdie.

   Chien, who reached the quarterfinals of last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., wasn’t done yet.

   Chien won the 11^th hole with a par, the 12^th with a birdie and the 13^th with a par to get back to even in the match.

   When Yermish won the 15^th hole, they were 1-up with just three holes to play.

   Chien, however, sent the match to extra holes by winning the 18^th hole with a birdie and then booked her spot in the semifinals by taking the 19^th with a par.

   Chien dropped a 4 and 2 decision to Rianne Malixi, a 16-year-old from the Philippines, in a semifinal match Friday afternoon.

   Kiara Romero of San Jose, Calif. pulled out a 2-up decision over Gianna Clemente of Estero, Fla. and No. 40 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) in the other semifinal. The 15-year-old Clemente had fallen in the final a year ago at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky.

   Yermish began the day Thursday with a 3 and 1 victory over Alba Richmond of Glendale, Calif. in a second-round match.

   Yermish struck first when they won the sixth hole with a birdie. Richmond bounced back by taking the seventh hole with a par.

   Yermish, however, got wins at the ninth hole with a par and at 11 with a birdie to take a 2-up lead. Richmond cut her deficit in half by winning the 12^th hole with a par, but Yermish put the match away by winning at 16 with a birdie and at 17 with a par.

   After the three-hour rain delay, Yermish headed out for a round-of-16 match with Swedick, who will join the program at ACC power Virginia in the summer of 2024.

   Yermish again got the jump in the match with wins at the first and fourth holes with pars. Swedick cut her deficit in half by taking the fifth hole with a par.

   But Yermish took command in the match with three straight wins at the eighth, ninth and 10^th holes, all with birdies that gave them a 4-up lead.

   Swedick won the 11^th hole with a birdie, but Yermish restored their 4-up advantage by taking 13 with a par. When the 14^th hole was halved, Swedick was dormie, 4-down with four holes to play.

   Swedick battled back valiantly, taking the match to the 18^th hole by winning 15 with a par, 16 with a birdie and 17 with a par. A half at the last enabled Yermish to pull out a 1-up victory and advance to the quarterfinals. Lot of refreshing of the USGA website by the Sidney Yermish fans in the Philadelphia area during those last four holes.

   Yermish admitted they were feeling the pressure during the final holes of the match.

   “Toward the end, definitely yes,” Yermish told the USGA website. “I have not been down and I, for the most part, have gotten bigger leads. I was 4-up going into 14. And we tied 14 and going into 15, I just played a sloppy hole.

   “So that’s kind of how it ended up being today. And that’s really when I started to feel the pressure. Because I was forced to make shots versus just let things happen.”

   I’m not really sure how much match-play experience Yermish has, but they certainly excelled in the tricky format in Colorado Springs. Yermish didn’t learn how to play from behind in match play in the U.S. Girls’ Junior, but they’ll learn eventually.

   The match of the day, probably of the tournament, was a round-of-16 showdown between Clemente and Anna Davis, the No. 4 player in the Women’s WAGR from Spring Valley, Calif.

   Clemente opened the round by winning the first three holes, the first with a birdie and two and three with pars and Davis answered with three straight wins at five, six and seven, all with birdies, to even the match.

   Clemente regained control of the match by winning the eighth hole with a birdie and nine and 10 with pars to again take a 3-up lead on her way to a 3 and 1 victory.

   Earlier in the day Thursday, Davis, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship in 2022, reached the round of 16 by ousting Aphrodite Deng of Canada, 4 and 3.

   A couple of weeks after winning the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Girls’ Championship at the Moorestown Field Club, there was the 13-year-old Deng squaring off against one of the best amateur players in women’s golf.

   And Deng certainly didn’t embarrass herself. Deng had Davis’ full attention when Deng made a birdie at the 10^th hole to square the match. Davis proceeded to win four of the next five holes to put away the match.

   Deng’s experience at the U.S. Air Force Academy will only serve to accelerate the development of the youngster.

   As I was finishing up this post, Saturday’s scheduled 36-hole final between Romero and Malixi was playing out, so I figured I’d hang in there and get the result.

   Romero, who will join the program at Pac-12 power Oregon next month, capped a really solid week by gutting out a 1-up victory over Malixi.

   Romero played well the whole week, opening the U.S. Girls’ Junior by going 4-under over the Blue Course, a 6,788-yard, par-72 Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, in qualifying to finish two shots behind the qualifying medalist, Yana Wilson, the defending champion from Henderson, Nev., and a shot behind Davis, Romero’s pal and fellow Cali girl.

   Romero put a nose in front by winning the 31^st hole with a par and then grinded out five straight halves against the talented 16-year-old from the Philippines to claim the title.