Gillian Vance has had a junior golf season to remember so far in 2015, but with college golf on the horizon in the fall, the end of the line is near, so she wants to wring every bit she can out of the remainder of her junior experience.
The 17-year-old from Lakewood took another step toward fully accomplishing that goal on Monday by earning co-medalist honors in U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifying at Valley Country Club in Centennial and earning a spot in that national championship for the second and final time.
The 5A state high school champion shot a 2-over-par 74 to land one of the four available berths in the Girls’ Junior, which this year is set for July 20-25 in Tulsa, Okla.
“It means a lot because it’s also my last year,” said Vance, who was medalist in the Colorado U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier for the second consecutive summer. “And it will be one of my last big junior tournaments. I just want to go there and have a blast.”
Fellow 17-year-old Coloradan Morgan Sahm of Centennial likewise shared medalist honors and qualified. The other golfers landing national berths out of a field that originally numbered 36 were Emily Sumner of North Tustin, Calif., and Aiko Leong of Honolulu, Hawaii. (The medalists are pictured above, from left: Sumner, Vance and Sahm.)
Sahm and Sumner matched Vance’s 74, while Leong carded a 75 and made a 10-foot birdie on the first playoff hole to earn the final national berth. Amy Chitkoksoong of Aurora and Delaney Elliott of Superior also shot 75, but Chitkoksoong ended up first alternate after parring the playoff hole, while Elliott is the second alternate after three-putting the extra hole for bogey.
It will be the third USGA championship for Vance, the second for Sahm and Leong, and the first for Sumner.
Actually, for Vance (left), it’ll be her second of 2015 as she and Jennifer Kupcho advanced to the round of 32 at the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in Oregon. Since then, she’s won the 5A state high school title and finished second in the CWGA Junior Stroke Play. And now the U.S. Girls’ Junior will be one of her final junior events before beginning her college career at the University of Colorado.
“Hopefully this year I’ll go deep in match play (in Tulsa),” she said. “That’s the goal.”
Vance made 16 pars and two bogeys on Monday, finishing with a run of 11 consecutive pars.
“I was pretty happy,” she said. “There was nothing too bad to complain about. I missed a lot of putts that I wish I could have made, but I’m not complaining.”
Sahm (below), a 17-year-old senior-to-be at Grandview High School, will be going to her first USGA championship since qualifying in 2012 as a 14-year-old for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links — a tournament that no longer exists.
“This means a lot,” said Sahm, who recently won the girls 15-18 title at the Colorado/Wyoming District Optimist Junior Golf Championships. “I’ve never made it in this tournament so it’s exciting.
“The last time I went (to a USGA championship), I was going to be a freshman in high school. I played really awful, but I had a good time outside of the course.”
Sahm, who finished third at the 5A state high school meet behind Vance, made three birdies and five bogeys on Monday. One of the birdies came on the first hole, where she hit the flagstick with her approach and then sank the putt she had left.
Sumner, 16, had never attempted to qualify for the U.S. Girls’ Junior before, but she made the most of his first opportunity on Monday by playing her final six holes in 2 under par. She birdied both of the final two par-5s, Nos. 13 and 15, making a 30-foot putt on the latter. And voila, she’s headed to the national championship.
“That will be fun,” she said.
Meanwhile, Leong (left) said she’s been first alternate more than once before in U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifiers. And that could have been the case again on Monday had the 2014 Michelle Wie Tournament of Champions winner not prevailed in the playoff in her final chance to make the Girls’ Junior.
“This is my first time — and my last too because I’m going to be too old next year,” said the 17-year-old, who’s committed to play college golf at Brigham Young University starting in 2016. “I’ve been first alternate too many times. I thought about that a little bit on the tee but I tried to push it out of my mind.
“This is a big deal for me because I’ve done a lot of qualifiers so it feels good to make one.”
For all the scores from qualifying, CLICK HERE.
