July 22, 2011 - Unlike last year, when Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., won the U.S. Junior Amateur and broke the record for youngest champion set by Tiger Woods, the Met Area will not be home to the winner of either the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls' Junior Championships. Sixteen-year-old Karen Chung of Livingston, N.J., who won two matches on Thursday at Olympia Fields Country Club outside Chicago, lost her quarterfinal match on Friday morning to Yu Liu of China by a decisive 6 & 5 margin.

During Thursday's Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches, Chung never trailed either of her opponents. The tables were completely turned in the quarterfinals, as Chung never led. Liu won the first two holes and scarcely looked back, even after a more than two-hour rain delay during the midpoint of the match. Chung, who was runner-up to Alexis Thompson in the 2008 U.S. Junior, heads back home with yet another good showing in this most prestigious of national junior championships.

Still, it was an exciting week for the 11 Met Area teens (four boys, seven girls) who competed in either the U.S. Junior or U.S. Girls' Junior. The following is a recap of their performances.

U.S. Girls' Junior: Four Met Area girls advanced to match play following 36 holes of stroke play qualifying, and three of them, including Chung, advanced to the Round of 32. Caroline Araskog of Locust Valley, N.Y., defeated Janie Jackson of Huntsville, Alabama in 19 holes in that Round of 32 contest, setting up a Round of 16 matchup against Gabriella Then of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Unfortunately for Araskog, her tournament would end there with a 5 & 4 defeat. Annie Park of Levittown, N.Y., lost to Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale, Georgia, in the Round of 32 by a 4 & 3 margin.

The 2010 WMGA/MGA Women's Public Links champion, Nicole Morales of South Salem, N.Y., tied for fourth place in the stroke play portion of the championship but lost her first-round match, 5 & 3, to Bryana Nguyen of Columbia, Maryland. The three remaining Met Area girls who competed in the stroke play portion of the championship but didn't make match play were Alice Chen of Princeton, N.J., Cindy Ha of Demarest, N.J., and Hana Ku of Basking Ridge, N.J.

U.S. Junior Amateur: The site of the boys championship was Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington, and reigning U.S. Junior champion Jim Liu, 15, of Smithtown, N.Y., will have to wait at least another year before he has a chance to join Tiger Woods as the only multiple winners of this championship. Liu ran into a tough opponent in Chelso Barrett of Keene, N.H., and suffered a 2-up defeat in the Round of 32.

Reigning MGA/MetLife Boys champion Matthew Lowe, 15, of Farmingdale, N.Y., advanced to match play but lost, 2-up, to Yi Keun Chang of Walnut, Calif.  Two other local teens, Jeremy Wall of Brielle, N.J., and John Yu of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., competed in the stroke play portion of the championship but didn't make match play.