79th National Junior Championship begins today
Published 3:57 am Monday, July 25, 2005
By Staff
In anticipation of the Women's Western Golf Association's 79th National Junior Championship, players from 23 states, Canada and Hong Kong are descending upon Granger, Ind. for today's start at Knollwood Country Club.
Knollwood previously hosted this event in 1993, when Grace Park, now a member of the LPGA Tour, bettered Kellee Booth, now a member of the Futures Tour, to win the Championship.
Thirty-five Indiana players are entered including Julia Potter and Laura Ormson, Gran-ger; Britt Knutson, South Bend; Brittany Kelly, Fishers; Michelle Morgan, Muncie; Ellen Mueller, Evansville; and Sarah Prascsak, Fort Wayne.
Another Hoosier, Jennifer Hong, formerly of Mishawaka, now living in Windemere, Fla., is also entered. Hong, an incoming Freshman at Northwestern University, recently won the WWGA's 105th
National Amateur Championship in June at Pete Dye's Kampen Course at Purdue University's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.
History could be made this week if Hong wins the Championship. Never in the history of the WWGA has the same person won both the National Amateur and National Junior Championships in the same year.
In 1995, Cristie Kerr, now a member of the LPGA Tour, won the National Amateur Championship, but lost to Candy Hanneman, also an LPGA player, in the finals of the National Junior Championship.
In 1972, it was reversed when LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez lost to Debbie Massey in the finals of the National Amateur Championship but Lopez came back to win the National Junior Championship defeating Brenda Goldsmith in the final.
Ten sets of sisters have registered for the event, including four pairs hailing from Indiana: Laura and Ann Ormson as well as Jacqueline and Jillian Speece from Granger; and Molly &Sarah Burpo as well as Carleigh &Chelsea Silvers from Martinsville.
Other entries include: Lindsay Caljouw, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada;
Rachel Carpenter, Fayettes-ville, Ga.; Brenda Chhuor, Cerritos, Cal.; Katie Detlefsen, Eagan, Minn.; Jessica Hauser, Hartland, Wisc.; Emma Jandel, Dayton, Ohio; Sydney Liles, Phoenix, Ariz.; Piper Miller, Laguna Beach, Calif.; and Ashley Smith, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Last year's winner, 14 year old Alina Lee, of Evans, Ga, was the youngest Champion ever. She defeated Amanda Blumenherst, formerly of Fort Wayne, now of Scottsdale, Ariz., 2 up in the finals at The Hawthorns Golf &Country Club in Fishers, Ind.
Over the winter, Lee completed her last two years of high school in one year, and is planning to enter the University of Georgia in the fall at age 15 and three months.
Blumenherst is set to join the defending NCAA Women's Division 1 Championship golf team at Duke University this fall.
Other recent past winners include current LPGA players Malinda Johnson (1999); Candie Kung (1998); Candy Hannemann (1995, 1996 and 1997); and Cristie Kerr (1994).
Other past winners also include LPGA Hall of Fame members Nancy Lopez, Carol Mann and Jo Anne Gunderson Carner.
The format of this tournament is match play, unlike most of the competitions available to Junior golfers. On Monday, July 25th, all players will play an 18 hole Qualifying Round. The low 32 qualifiers will advance to Championship Flight, while the other players will be placed in respective flights according to their qualifying scores.
For the rest of the week, the girls will be playing single elimination Match Play rounds to determine the flight winners. The 18 hole Championship Match as well as all Flight finals will take place on Friday, July 29.
This is the 79th time the ladies of the WWGA have sponsored the Junior Championship. Their first National Amateur Championship was in 1900, sponsored by the Western Golf Association. A year later, the women decided to do it on their own and founded the Women's Western Golf Association. The rest is history.
The Women's Western Golf Foundation is an integral part of the WWGA. This foundation provides college scholarships for girls who are interested in the game of golf.
At present, over 70 young women are attending the college of their choice thanks to the financial aid they receive from the Foundation.
The tournament is open to the public free of charge.