MARKHAM, Ont. – Cold and wet conditions at Angus Glen Golf Club couldn’t cool down Team Spain Thursday as the early tournament favourite jumped out to a two-shot lead in the team competition through 36 holes at the seventh annual World Junior Girls Golf Championship, presented by Sargent Farms.
Spain, which came into second-round action tied for the team lead with Canada 1, rode a 2-under 70 by Cayetana Fernández as well as a 1-over 73 by teammate Paula Martin to count a team score of 143 on the day (140-143—283) to sit at 5-under for the tournament.
The pair were joined by teammate Andrea Revuelta who shot a (non-counting) 76 for Spain, winners of the 2017 World Junior Girls Championship who came into this year’s event as the only country with all three players ranked inside the Top-100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Spain heads into Friday’s third round with a two-shot lead over Sweden (147-138—285) who vaulted from T8 into solo second at 3-under for followed by Colombia (145-146-291) in solo third at 3-over.
The Canada 1 squad of opening-round individual leader Angela Arora of Surrey, B.C. (68-80—148) along with Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C.(72-76—148) and Michelle Liu of Vancouver (72-77—149), who came into Thursday’s second round with a share of the opening-round lead with Spain, fell back into fourth position at 5-over (140-153—293).
The Canada 2 squad of Anna Huang from Vancouver (72-77—149), Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam, B.C. (73-75—148) and Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont. (74-83—157) sit T6 with Germany at 9-over through 36 holes.
The following are second round team results at the World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms:
1 Spain -5 (140-143—283)
2 Sweden -3 (147-138—285)
3 Colombia +3 (145-146—291)
4 Canada 1 +5 (140-153—293)
5 Chinese Taipei +6 (144-150—294)
T6 Canada 2 +9 (145-152—297)
T6 Germany +9 (147-150—297)
8 Mexico +10 (146-152—298)
9 Denmark +12 (150-150—300)
T10 Belgium +13 (144-157—301)
T10 England +13 (150-151—301)
12 France +14 (156-146—302)
13 Ireland +20 (150-158—308)
14 Italy +22 (154-156—310)
15 Wales +23 (152-159—311)
T16 Austria +26 (156-158—314)
T16 Switzerland +26 (156-158—314)
18 Finland +27 (154-161—315)
Click here for a link to the full team competition leaderboard.
In the individual competition, Meja Őrtengren of Sweden shot the low round of the day (4-under 68) to sit at 5-under for the tournament (71-68—139), good for a 1-shot lead. Spain’s Cayetana Fernández (70-70—140 sits at 4-under followed by a pair of players – María José Marin of Colombia (72-71—143) and Ting-Hsuan Huang of Chinese Taipei (70-73—143) – tied for third at 1-under. Rounding out the top-five are a pair of players 1-over through 36 holes – Savannah De Bock of Belgium (69-76—145) and Marie-Agnes Fischer of Germany (72-73—145).
A trio of Canadians sit T10 at 4-over through 36 holes including reigning Canadian Junior champion Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam, B.C. (73-75—148), opening-round leader Angela Arora of Surrey, B.C. (68-80—148), and Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C.(72-76—148).
The following are Top-10 results in the individual competition at the World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms:
1 Meja Őrtengren, Sweden 71-68—139 (-5)
2 Cayetana Fernández, Spain 70-70—140 (-4)
T3 María José Marin, Colombia 72-71—143 (-1)
T3 Ting-Hsuan Huang, Chinese Taipei 70-73—143 (-1)
T5 Savanah De Bock, Belgium 69-76—145 (+1)
T5 Marie-Agnes Fischer, Germany 72-73—145 (+1)
T7 Andrea Revuelta, Spain 70-76—146 (+2)
T7 Larissa Carrillo, Mexico 71-75—146 (+2)
T7 Nora Sundberg, Sweden 76-70—146 (+2)
T10 Yeji Kwon, Canada 2 73-75—148 (+4)
T10 Angela Arora, Canada 1 68-80—148 (+4)
T10 Lauren Kim, Canada 1 72-76—148 (+4)
Click here for a link to the full individual leaderboard.
In total, 54 athletes on 18 teams representing 17 countries—including two teams from host nation Canada—are competing Oct. 12-15 at Angus Glen for the team and individual titles. The event marks the celebrated return of the prestigious global competition after two years of cancellation due to the pandemic.
The third round of the 72-hole competition gets underway Friday morning at 8:30am with the final groups teeing off at 9:50am. Admission to the competition is free.
This year’s field for the World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms is highlighted by 11 competitors ranked inside the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) top 100. A full list of competitors including their WAGR position is here.
With two victories (2015 & 2019) in the event’s six-year history, Korea has won the most team competition titles followed by USA (2014), Philippines (2016), Spain (2017), and Italy (2018). A history of past winners is available here.
A number of players who have competed in the World Junior Girls Championship have gone on great success on the LPGA Tour, led by Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 12-time LPGA winner and world no. 6 who finished fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural championship hosted in 2014.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include world no. 2 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand who won back-to-back World Junior titles in 2018 and 2019 as well as world no. 35 Yuka Saso of Philippines who won the 2016 World Junior title. Other former World Junior competitors who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Hannah Green of Australia and Maja Stark of Sweden.
In addition, 12 players who competed for the 2022 CP Women’s Open at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club are alumni of the World Junior Girls Championship.
Angus Glen Golf Club, which is hosting the World Junior Girls Championship for the third time, is home to two 18-hole championship golf courses in Markham, Ontario. The North and South courses offer variety, beauty, and challenges. Angus Glen has been ranked as one of the top 80 golf courses in the world outside of the United States. It was home to the 2002 and 2007 Canadian Open and an official host of the 2015 Toronto Pan/Parapan American Games. The 2022 World Junior Championship will be contested on the South course.