USGA

1999 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship Notes

Following are some notes of interest from the 1999 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, which will be conducted August 2-7 at Green Spring Valley Hunt Club in Owings Mills, Md.

Oldest competitors: Three players, coincidentally, share the distinction of being the oldest competitor in the field - Elizabeth Burden of Lake Bluff, Ill., Candie Kung of Fountain Valley, Calif., and Miranda Smith of Hideaway Hills, Ohio (all 17) were all born on August 8, 1981 and will be 18 the day after the conclusion of the championship.

Youngest competitor: Taylor Leon, 12, of Dallas, Texas is the youngest competitor in this year's field. She was born on March 10, 1987. According to Texas records, she is the youngest competitor in the state's history to play in a USGA championship.

Sukjin Lee, 12, of Toms River, N.J. is the other pre-teen in the field. Her birthdate is September 14, 1986. Both will be entering seventh grade in September.

Sister Act: Five sets of sisters are represented including the 13-year-old Wongluekiet twins, Aree and Naree, of Brandenton, Fla. Alejandra (13) and Daniela Diaz-Calderon (15) of Guadalajara, Mexico; Anna (14) and Laura Grzebien (17) of Saunderstown, R.I.; Mallory (14) and Whitney (16) Code of Tampa, Fla.; and Hana (16) and Ina (15) Kim of Encino, Calif. are the 10 sisters playing at the '99 Girls' Junior.

International Flavor: Of the the 156 players in the championship, nine reside outside the United States. A total of five players, including four from Guadalajara Country Club -- the Diaz-Calderon sisters (see above), Alejandra Martin Del Campo and Lorena Ochoa -- are from Mexico. The fifth Mexican player is Violeta Retamoza from Cerco Del Laurel. Canada (Jennifer Jaszek of Ancaster, Ontario), New Zealand (Aimee Cho of Lower Hutt), the Philippines (Aileen Yao of Mandaluyong City) and Puerto Rico (Janice Olivencia of Gurabo) all have one representative. Cho, however, attends school in Wesley Chapel, Fla.

Biggest Contingents: California has the largest number of players at the championship with 31, followed by Florida with 12 and Texas with 10.

Been There Before: Defending champion Leigh Anne Hardin of Martinsville, Ind., Kim Kouwabunpat of Upland, Calif. and Kim Rowton of San Antonio, Texas are playing in their fifth U.S. Girls' Junior, making them the most experienced players in the field in this event.

Taking It To The Next Level: A total of nine players from the 1999 Girls' Junior have qualified for this year's U.S. Women's Amateur, which will be conducted at Biltmore Forest CC in Asheville, N.C. on August 9-14. Defending champion Leigh Anne Hardin is exempt and eight others earned their spots in qualifying.

Kim Kouwanpunpat, Candie Kung, Angela Rho, Yunny Cho, Kristi Larsen and Lorena Ochoa earned their way through qualifying at Mesa Verda CC in Costa Mesa, Calif. Aimee Cho qualified at Terravita G&CC in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Sandy Kim qualified at Columbia Edgewater CC in Portland, Ore.

Up One More Level: Two competitors, Jeanne Cho and Candie Kung, played in the 1999 U.S. Women's Open at Old Waverly GC in West Point, Miss. Both failed to qualify for the weekend but Kung shot 73-73 and Cho shot 79-75.

Getting Global, Getter Better: Jeanne Cho, who lists Winter Springs, Fla. as her hometown, could not break 90 four years ago. However, in 1999, he qualified for and played in the U.S. Women's Open. A quarterfinalist at the 1998 Girls' Junior, Cho is of Korean descent. She was born in Paris and lived in Paris before moving to Florida (by herself) to attend the Leadbetter Academy. An incoming freshman at the University of Florida, she is fluent in four languages.

Who's Back: A total of eight players who advanced to the round of 16 in last year's Girls' Junior return for the 1999 version. Tai Perry of Kennett Square, Pa., Ina Kim of Encino, Calif., Kristin Thompson of Napa, Calif., Leigh Anne Hardin of Martinsville, Ind., Jeanne Cho of Bradenton, Fla., Deb Means of Burnsville, Minn., and Candie Kung of Fountain Valley, Calif are the round of 16 returners.

CHIP INS

Whitney Wade, 13, of Glascow, Kent. became the youngest winner in 73 years at the Kentucky Women's Amateur last month.

May Wood, 15, of Signal Mountain, Tenn., eagled the first playoff hole at Belle Meade C.C. in Nashville, Tenn. to qualify for this year's event.

Mary Jan Fernandez, 17 of Henderson, Nev. has more than a budding interest in the field of architecture. She recently entered a house design contest and won $1,200 in savings bonds and three awards.

Lori Hatcher, 17, of Wheeling, W.Va., made a hole in one on 18th hole at Alliance, Ohio site to qualify, with an 80. Her ace and resulting 80 gave her the third and final qualifying spot.

Shannon Johnson, 16, of Sioux Falls, S.D. was the starting left wing on the under 19 girls state hockey title in 1998-99. She scored four goals in the championship game (Need details)

Courtney Jones, 15, of Lake Quivira, Kan. travels to golf tournaments in a fully equipped van that has mood lights, TV and a playstation. The license plate is ONATRIP.

Sandy Kim, 16, of West Linn, Ore., was the first freshman to win the Oregon state high school title in 1997.

Kim Kouwabunpat, 17, of Upland, Calif. was a semifinalist at the 1996 U.S. Girls' Junior at Sioux Falls, S.D. as a 14-year-old.

Candie Kung, 17, of Fountain Valley, Calif. was the runnerup at the 1997 U.S. Girls' Junior at the Legends Club of (Franklin) Tennessee. She played in this year's U.S. Women's Open.

Shayna Miyajima, 17, of Wailuku, Hawaii, scored her only hole-in-one at last year's Girls' Junior at Merion GC in Ardmore, Pa.

Angela Rho, 16, of Fullerton, Calif. was the winner of the 1999 Junior World Championships at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego, Calif., shooting 70-75-70-69.

Aileen Yao, 17, of Mandaluyong City, Philippines won the Junior World Championship in 1995.

Kristen Shew, 16, of Hockessin, Del. scored a double eagle in winning the state Junior Girls Amateur on July 7.