Kay Cornelius

Kay Cornelius, 14, of Scottsdale, Arizona, became the youngest champion in USGA history when she won the Girls' Junior Championship at the Illahe Hills Country Club, Salem, Oregon. Cornelius defeated Kim Simmons of Charleston, S.C., in the final, 2 and 1. Kay is the daughter of Kathy and Bill Cornelius, both golf professionals.

Mrs. Cornelius was the 1956 U.S. Women's Open Champion. Cornelius, who won the Girls' Junior in her third attempt, still has three more years of eligibility before reaching her 18th birthday. Medalist honors were shared by Jamie De Weese, of Rochester, New York, and Kathy Kostas, of Palmdale, California. Both players were at 151.

Cornelius reached match play with a 156 and Simmons also made it easily with 159. Cornelius had a very tough road enroute to the final. She defeated Juanita Drinnon of Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2 and 1; Sammie Souza of Honolulu, Hawaii, 4 and 3; Leslie Price of Ontario, Canada, 1 up; Debra Burris of Modesto, California, 1 up, 20 holes, after dropping a 40-foot putt for a birdie; and Heather Kuzmich of Ontario, Canada, who was hoping to become the first foreign player to win the Girls' Junior, 4 and 3.

Simmons didn't have an easy time either. She defeated Diedra Bailey of Sapula, Oklahoma, 4 and 2; Deborah Moss of West Palm Beach, Florida, 1 up, 19 holes; Renee MacDonald of Grants Pass, Oregon, 1 up; Jamie DeWeese, 3 and 2; and Page Dunlap of Sarasota, Florida, 4 and 3.

In the final match, Cornelius opened her round par-birdie and was 2 up on the third tee. Simmons won the sixth with a birdie but Cornelius won the 9th and 10th holes with pars to go 3 up. Simmons got one hole back at the 16th with a par. When the 17th hole, a par-3, was halved in pars, the match was over. The Championship was played in hot, humid weather as temperatures rose to 100 degrees and above. The USGA accepted 131 entries, far short of the record 176 in 1979.