The Championship was played on the Hills Course, for the Girls 13-15 and 16-18, and consisted of 54 holes of individual stroke play. This is the 54th year for the Girls' Junior Championship and the second consecutive year the event is being hosted by LPGA International. Both defending Champions are in the field this year, Mary Janiga previous 16-18 Division winner and Morgan Baxendale past 13-15 Division Champion. Baxendale is competing in the 16-18 Division this year alongside Mary Janiga. After a nearly three hour rain delay in the final round, three Champions were victorious!
In the 16-18 Division, Sophie Liu started the tournament hot after a first round one-under par 71. Liu, of Melbourne, lead the field by two strokes over Emma Albrecht who posted a first round score of 73. Ella Woods heads into round two in third place at two-over par, 74. Round two was a repeat of day one for Sophie, who consistently shot another 71 to finish with a two-round total of 142. Morgan Baxendale made a jump up the leaderboard from tied for fourth place to second place after posting a second round two-under par, 70. Baxendale, who was Champion of the Girls’ Junior 13-15 Division in 2014, has momentum leading into the final round only three strokes behind Liu. Roanne Tomlinson follows Baxendale closely after shooting a 71 in round two finishing in third place, one stroke from Baxendale and four shots from the lead. Defending Champion, Mary Janiga, came back from a rough first round with a second round score of 71 going into the final round tied for seventh.
Sophie Liu never let the lead slip away from her the entire tournament and she sealed her victory with a two-under par, 70 in the final round. Sophie was the only player to shoot three rounds under-par (71-71-70), finishing at four-under par, 212, to win by nine strokes. Morgan Baxendale remained in second place
after shooting a 76 in the final round and was followed by Roanne Tomlinson in third place with a tournament total 224. Mary Janiga finished tied for fourth with Ella Woods and Emma Albrecht who posted a tournament total 225. Sophie won a Florida Junior Tour event in May of this year at Eagle Creek Golf Club, but this is her first FSGA Championship victory.
Huize (Nancy) Lian, of Lake Mary, stayed in first place all three rounds clenching her win with an even-par final round. Huize shot a first round one-under par, 71, followed by an even par, 72, in the second round. She held onto her lead of three strokes over Sophie Guo heading into the final round. Alyssa Lamoureux, last year’s Junior Match Play 13-15 Division Champion, sat in third place four strokes away from first with a two-round total of 143. Lian was the only girl in her division to finish under par with a tournament total 215, one-under par. She remained steady all three rounds never shooting above even-par with rounds of 71-72-72. Alyssa Lamoureux moved up from third place after an impressive final round of one-under par, 71, for a tournament total 218. Ramya Meenakshisundaram finished in third place after finishing strong in the final round with a 71, tournament total 219.
Izzy Pellot, of Apopka, captured the 12 and Under Division with two impressive rounds of 34 for a tournament total 68. After her win, Pellot stated that “a lot of practice rounds were worth it” and when asked what the best part of her game was she answered confidently, “pretty much everything”. The top three finishers played very consistently at the Jones Course. Sisters, Victoria and Caroline Hwang took second and third place respectively. Victoria fired rounds of 35-35--70 to come in second place by two strokes over Caroline who shot 36-36—72. Juliana Camargo, of Windermere, posted rounds of 37-36 to finish fourth with a tournament total 73. The 15 girls’ played the front nine on Monday and the second nine on Tuesday.
