Storylines From The 57th U.S. Girls' Junior

Fourteen-year-old Marina Alex of Wayne, N.J., played her freshman year (Wayne Hills High School) on the boys’ golf team. More impressive is that she was First Team All Country Boys; First Team All League Boys; First Team All State Girls and qualified for the Boys’ State Finals. If she makes a bogey, she always washes her ball to erase any bad luck.

Lauren Archer, 17, of Boise, Idaho, is obviously a local product. She attends the nearby Borah High School. She played in the event last year but did not qualify for match play. Her brother, Andrew, who serves on the BanBury maintenance crew, will caddie for her.

Molly Aronsson, 17, of Shelburne, Vt., traveled 11 hours to her qualifier in Ohio. Playing in her first Girls’ Junior, she is an accomplished athlete. She was a AAA Boys Vermont All-Star hockey goalie for three years, on the New England national champion Team HNIB as a hockey goalie; she made the 2004 All State Vermont Soccer and placed third in the 2003-04 Vermont State High School Girls Tennis Championship.

Sixteen-year-old Jillian Brodd of Knoxville, Tenn., is happy to be playing again after breaking her pinky finger playing softball March 1. She subsequently had four screws inserted to put it back together. This is her first Girls’ Junior.

Sydney Burlison, 15, of Salinas, Calif., is no stranger to USGA championships. This is her fourth Girls’ Junior; she’s qualified for match play every year. Last year she lost in the first round at Mira Vista Country Club to Marika Lendl. She’s also played in one Women’s Open (when she was 13) and one Women’s Amateur.

Esther Choe, 15, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is a grizzled U.S. Girls’ Junior player. This will be her fourth championship; she made the quarterfinals in 2003 and ’04, losing to eventual winner Julieta Granada 3 and 2. Choe also has played in the 2003 Women’s Amateur (missed cut) and in this year’s Women’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. She missed the cut with an 80-78. She does list having to make three putts in a row on the putting range before playing a round as a superstition.  

Mari Chun, 17, of Pearl City, Hawaii, is coming off the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, where she shared in medalist honors and made it to the quarterfinal round. This year she will be making her second Girls’ Junior appearance. In last year’s championship Chun shot 67-71 in the first two days of stroke play to earn medalist honors. She lost in the first round, 2 and 1, to Stephanie Sherlock.

Seventeen-year-old Stephanie Connelly of Pasadena, Md., will be playing her fifth Girls’ Junior. Last year she lost to Ya-Ni Tseng, 6 and 5, in the first-round match. Her best finish is the round of 16. Coming off her third Maryland State Girls’ Championship victory this year, Connelly is also a three-time Maryland High School champion (2002, ’03 and ’05).

Jacqui Concolino, 17, of Orlando, Fla., has made match play in the Girls’ Junior every year since she’s played, since 2002. Last year she lost to Mallory Hetzel in 20 holes in the first round. Her brother, Anthony Concolino, is her caddie. In 2004 she won the Florida Girls’ Championship. This past January she had surgery on both feet.

Sixteen-year-old Kaitlin Conway of Wading River, N.Y., can boast of making a USGA trifecta this year. She qualified for this event, the U.S. Women’s Public Links and U.S. Women’s Amateur, which will be held in August. A junior-to-be at Shoreham-Wading High School, Conway has been named All-League (2003, ’04), All Conference (’04) and All Country (’04) as the captain of the Boys Varsity team.

At 14, Lindy Duncan of Plantation, Fla., is a bit of an entrepreneur. That’s because she started her own Internet business, creating Web sites for businesses. This is her first Girls’ Junior championship.

Jessica Fleming, 17, of Enid, Okla., cites her 51-year-old dad, Jim, has a golf influence. As a .token of good luck, the two will knock fists together so their rings touch before each round. It’s significant because it represents the two sticking together through his cancer.

Megan Gockel, 17, of Dallas, Texas, almost didn’t make it to her first Girls’ Junior. While playing in the qualifier, her caddie, who also is a high school golf teammate, accidentally stepped on her ball. It resulted in a one-stroke penalty and bumping her into a four-for-one-spot playoff. Fortunately for Gockel, and her caddie, she won on the third playoff hole.

Sixteen-year-old Megan Grehan of Mamaroneck, N.Y., is no stranger to USGA events. She played in the last two Women’s Opens, missing the cut in both. She also competed in the 2003 State Team championships. This marks her fifth Girls’ Junior.

Mina Harigae, 15, of Monterey, Calif., has played in six other USGA events. Harigae made the semifinals in 2003 and was a quarterfinalist last year. She is a three-time California State Women’s Amateur champion.

Vicky Hurst, 15, of Melbourne, Ill., the Florida Girls’ State champ and winner of two other junior events this year, was nearly born on a golf course. Her mother had to quit playing two hours before she was born.

Sara Hurwitch, 16, of Pontomac Falls, Va., is a natural lefty who plays right-handed. She has played in two other Girls’ Junior, making it into match play in 2003 but losing to eventual champion Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff.

Eun Jung Lee, 17, of Korea is coming off her victory at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links this past Saturday. Lee erased a five-hole deficit to beat Tiffany Chundy in 37 holes. She was the ninth-born Korean to win a USGA championship, joining Birdie Kim who won the Women’s Open several weeks ago.

Fifteen-year-old Marika Lendl is the daughter of tennis great Ivan Lendl. This will be her third (2003, ’04) Girls’ Junior. Last year she advanced to the third round before losing to Hsiao-Ching Lu, 1 up. Her sister Isabelle is also playing in the championship.

Coming off last season, when she missed the cut at the Girls’ Junior but then made it into match play at the Women’s Amateur, 13-year-old Isabelle Lendl joins sister Marika in the field.

Hsiao-Ching Lu, 17, of Chinese Taipei is a returning semifinalist from last year. Lu was dispatched by Jane Park, 4 and 2. She has also appeared in two Women’s Amateurs (top 32 in 2003 and ’04) and the 2004 WAPL. This is her third Girls’ Junior (quarterfinalist in 2003).

Sixteen-year-old Emily Ruth Mason of Highland, Calif., who lost in the first round of match play last year to Jane Park, has been playing in the San Bernardino Men’s Amateur the past three years. She was the first girl to do so in 37 years.

Kaitlen Miyajima, 15, of Wailuku, Hawaii, had one busy week the week she qualified for the Girls’ Junior. Not only did she qualify for this event, but also did so for the WAPL and Junior World.

Sixteen-year-old Angela Park of Torrance, Calif., has already played in two USGA events this year – the Women’s Open (missed cut) and WAPL (co-medalist). Interesting tidbit, she was born in Brazil.

In-Bee Park, 17, of Las Vegas, Nev., won the event in 2002 at age 14. The following year she finished runner-up to Sukjin-Lee Wuesthoff. And last year at Mira Vista Park was upended in the second round by Hsiao-Ching Lu in 22 holes. Park has also been a semifinalist in the 2003 Women’s Amateur and 2004 WAPL. Her 14-year-old sister, In-Ah, came to Boise as an alternate.

No longer under the radar, 17-year-old Morgan Pressel is fast becoming a household name in female golf. This year she finished runner-up to Birdie Kim at the Women’s Open, her third time playing in the event. She’s had a solid history in the Girls’ Junior, making it to the quarterfinal round in 2003 and ’04. In 2001, she was a semifinalist. Last year she became the youngest female champion at the North & South Women’s Amateur. She won the Rolex Junior Girls championship earlier this season. … Pressel’s grandfather, Herb Krickstein, travels frequently with her. Her uncle is Aaron Krickstein, the former world-ranked tennis pro. … Pressel has petitioned the LPGA Tour with the hope of going to Q-School later this year.

Ya-Ni Tseng, 16, of Chinese Taipei is another former USGA champion in the field. Tseng won the 2004 WAPL and made it to the semifinal round a week ago.

Allison Travis, 17, of Eagle, Idaho, is another local player in the field. BanBury is also her home course. What’s more, her father, Clint, is the course superintendent. Travis is coming playing in the WAPL last week. She was inducted into the Eagle High Hall of Fame for basketball and golf.

Grace Woo, 17, of Burbank, Calif., made it to the round of 16 last year at Mira Vista before losing to Paula Creamer, 5 and 3. The previous year she made it to the second round.