Li Drops Round of 32 Match in U.S. Girls' Junior
U.S. Girls' Junior Trophy. Photo: USGA
UPDATE (July 21, 2022) -- Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J., and her opponent Sarah Im of Duluth, Ga., combined for nine birdies in their Round of 32 match, Thursday, at the U.S. Girls' Junior at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling, Green., Ky., with Li coming up short by a 3-and-2 margin.
Related: U.S. Girls' Junior Home | Scoring
Li took the first lead of the day with a birdie-two on the third hole, but Im answered back with consecutive birdies of her own on the par-4 fourth and fifth holes. After four ties, including matching birdies on the par-3 eighth, Im pushed her lead to two with a bogey as both faced trouble on the par-4 10th.
Li responded with a birdie on the par-4 10th to trim Im's advantage to one, but Im wins on Nos. 13 and 15 and a tied par-3 16th with birdies led to the 3-and-2 final.
UPDATE (July 20, 2022) -- Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J., earned a convincing 5-and-4 victory in the opening round of match play in the U.S. Girls' Junior, Wednesday, to keep her quality play going at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky.
Related: U.S. Girls' Junior Home | Scoring
Li stood tied with Claire Henson of Jackson, Tenn., through four holes, but reeled off three consecutive wins with pars on Nos. 5-7 to gain control of the match. While Henson won the eighth, wins for Li on Nos. 10 and 11 and then a birdie on the par-4 14th closed out the match for the 15th-seeded Li. She'll return to action on Thursday at 9:21 a.m ET, facing No. 18 seed Sara Im of Duluth, Ga.
Meanwhile, fellow New Jerseyans Megan Meng of Pennington and Angela Tolentino of Mount Laurel were both defeated in their Round of 64 matchups. Meng dropped four of her first six holes against Macy Pate of Winston Salem, N.C., and while she won four holes the rest of the way, fell by a 3-and-2 margin. Tolentino also fell behind early, dropping four of her first seven holes. She also continued to grind and a win on the par-3 16th brought her within two with two to play. However, her opponent Tiffany Huang of Chinese Taipei used a birdie on the following hole to close out the match, 3-and-1.
Two rounds of match play are scheduled for Thursday, with the field getting trimmed from 32 to 16 players by day's end. The quarterfinals and semifinals follow on Friday before the 36-hole championship match on Saturday.
UPDATE (July 20, 2022) -- A trio of New Jerseyans secured spots in match play at the 73rd U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, Tuesday, continuing play at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky.
Related: U.S. Girls' Junior Home | Scoring
Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J., posted her second consecutive round of 1-under 72, finishing tied for 14th after 36 holes. She had a steady second round, registering three birdies to two bogeys. She garners the No. 15 seed in match play, squaring off against Claire Henson of Jackson, Tenn., in the Round of 64.
Following a 1-under 71 of her own to start the championship, Megan Meng of Pennington, N.J., carded a 3-over 76 to finish at 1-over and tied 24th. She faces Macy Pate of Winston Salem, N.C., in the opening round, holding the No. 28 seed.
Angela Tolentino of Mount Laurel, N.J., followed up a 1-under 72 opening round with a 4-over 77. Her 3-over total allowed her to easily secure a match play position. She takes the No. 46 seed into match play, opening against Tiffany Huang of Chinese Taipei.
Natalie Vo of San Jose, Calif., and Saki Baba of Japan shared medalist honors with 7-under 139 scores. A 9-for-7 playoff including those who came in at 5-over 151 took place Wednesday morning to decide the flinal slots for match play. The Round of 64 takes place Wednesday, while the Rounds of 32 and 16 take place Thursday. The quarterfinals and semifinals follow on Friday, with the 36-hole championship match falling on Saturday.
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 19, 2022) -- Following Monday's opening round of the 73rd U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, six New Jerseyans are eyeing match play spots at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky.
Related: U.S. Girls' Junior Home | Scoring
Megan Meng of Pennington, led the Jersey contingent with a 2-under 71 on Monday. Meng had an early double-bogey on the par-3 third, but bounced back nicely with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6-7. Meng then tallied four birdies in a five-hole stretch en route to a 3-under 33 on her inward nine for a her 71.
Angela Tolentino of Mount Laurel and Katie Li of Basking Ridge recorded matching 1-under 72s on the Arthur Hills design. Birdies were for the taking on the day, with Tolentino tallying six in her round and Li carding five in her round.
Sammie Dolce of Florham Park posted a 1-over 74 in her round, while Rayee Feng of Short Hills, N.J., and Sarah Shao of Green Brook shot 2-over 75s, placing all in good position to earn a spot in the 64-player bracket that will be decided on Tuesday.
New York City's Sophia Li is also in the field and registered a 6-over 79 in the opening round.
Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J., was also looking to be a top competitor in the championship this week, but was disqualified following the opening round after signing her scorecard for a lower score. "She came to us shortly after realizing her mistake," said the USGA in a statement. Ganne stood as the second-highest-ranked player in the field at No. 16 in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking. This was her fourth and final U.S. Girls' Junior, but she's set to compete in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship next month at Chambers Bay.