Five Australians likely to advance at US Junior Girls
Sarah Hammett during today’s second round – image USGA
Five Australians appear likely to advance to the match play phase of the US Junior Girls Championship being staged at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia.
Despite a total of 24 players still to complete the 36 holes of qualifying after darkness stopped play in round two, Queensland’s Sarah Hammett, Rachel Lee, Amelia Harris, Raegen Denton and Shyla Singh are all guaranteed a place in the final 64 who will advance to the opening round in the knockout phase tomorrow.
18 year old Hammet, from the Emerald Lakes Golf Club on the Gold Coast, but soon to join the University of Southern California roster, is playing the event for the second occasion, having also made it through to the match play phase last year, and she shares 22nd place with Lee and Harris.
Current Australian Amateur Champion, Lee, from the Avondale Golf Club in Sydney, the same club as this week’s major winner, Grace Kim, is tied with Victorian Harris, who still has two holes to play of her second round but appears safe.
Harris was a runner-up in the World Junior Championships last week in California and was also runner-up at last year’s Australian Amateur Championships.
South Australian Denton is a prolific winner of junior titles in Queensland, Victoria and NSW in recent times and finds herself in a share of 46th place after a struggling second round of 75.
Singh, from the Southport Golf Club on the Gold Coast, was the Australian Junior Champion in 2024.
The Australians will be trying to match the efforts of the previous win in the event by fellow Australian Minjee Lee in 2012.
