Denisa Vodickova ties women’s competitive course record at Brampton Golf Club
Brampton, Ont. –Team Canada 1, Team United States (USA) and South Korea will enter Saturday’s final round all tied for the lead at even par at the eighth annual World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms at the Brampton Golf Club in Brampton, Ont.
Overnight rain brought about more seasonal conditions for Friday’s third round with players battling the wind and cooler temperatures. Friday also saw numerous changes to the team leaderboard throughout the day and as the final putt dropped, three teams find themselves tied for first.
Team Canada 1 was led by the play of Anna Huang of Vancouver who shot a 1-under 70. Huang also finds herself in second place in the individual championship at 3-under for the tournament. Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto shot a 2-over 73 and Vanessa Zhang of Vancouver shot 9-over 80. Team Canada 1 Coach Jeff MacDonald of Chester, N.S. is proud of how his team has battled all week heading into Saturday, “It’s a good spot to be in and when we started the week this is where we wanted to be, and the girls are just really battling. We’ve had a couple tough breaks here and there and a couple things happen out there, but I am really proud of how much they’ve fought each day. It’s really tough out there, it’s really windy and the greens are really tricky, so some things are going to happen that you have to deal with, and they’ve just dealt with it so well to get into the position and give them a chance to win tomorrow.”
Team USA held the lead through the opening two rounds of the world championship but are now tied. Chloe Kovelesky of Boca Raton, Fla. led the way on Friday with a 2-under 69, teammates Mia Hammond of New Albany, Ohio and Molly Brown Davidson of Springville, Ala. both shot rounds of 5-over 76. Coach Mo Martin is looking forward to Saturday’s final round, “Couldn’t ask for a better finale tomorrow on Canadian soil. This is the first unified front for the U.S. Development program, and we’re really excited about. I know all three players are honoured to be the face of that and I think they are carrying that with a lot of pride and a lot of passion.”
Two-time champions, South Korea were led by Hyojin Yang who fired a 1-under 70 on Friday. Teammates, Soomin Oh and Seojin Park both recorded rounds of 1-over 72 to grab a piece of the team lead. Coach Naon Min said she hopes her team enjoys the final round, “I’m really proud of them. It’s their first time in Canada and first time playing for Korea and for that I am really proud of them.”
The three countries take a three-shot lead into Saturday with the Czech Republic in fourth at 3-over and Sweden sits fifth at 5-over.
Team Canada 2 is at 32-over and features 14-year-old Miranda Lu of Vancouver (5-over 76),
16-year-old Luna Lu of Burnaby, B.C. (6-over 77) and 14-year-old Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. (9-over 80).
World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms, team standings:
| T1 | United States | E (139-142-145) |
| T1 | Canada 1 | E (141-142-143) |
| T1 | South Korea | E (143-141-142) |
| 4 | Czech Republic | +3 (145-142-142) |
| 5 | Sweden | +5 (140-147-144) |
| 6 | Spain | +10 (143-144-149) |
| T7 | Mexico | +11 (144-144-149) |
| T7 | Belgium | +11 (142-149-146) |
| 9 | England | +12 (141-148-149) |
| 10 | Italy | +16 (146-144-152) |
| 11 | Germany | +18 (148-147-149) |
| T12 | Denmark | +19 (151-147-147) |
| T12 | Poland | +19 (148-147-150) |
| T14 | Finland | +21 (146-147-154) |
| T14 | Chinese Taipei | +21 (148-153-146) |
| 16 | Switzerland | +27 (148-147-158) |
| 17 | Colombia | +28 (153-150-151) |
| 18 | Canada 2 | +32 (154-151-153) |
| T19 | Iceland | +36 (152-156-154) |
| T19 | Austria | +36 (149-154-159) |
| 21 | Peru | +38 (151-155-158) |
| 22 | Wales | +43 (155-158-156) |
Click here for the full team competition leaderboard.
In the individual competition, there is a new leader as Denisa Vodickova of the Czech Republic tied the women’s competitive course record at Brampton Golf Club, shooting a 5-under 66 to move to 7-under for the tournament. The record was previously set by Brooke Henderson during the 2014 Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship.
Vodickova had the low round for the second consecutive day and recorded seven birdies in her round. The 18-year-old credited her putting and a change just before the tournament that has helped her this week, “I changed my grip recently and it’s working really well so I think that’s what has helped me the most. My putting was really good and also my irons into the green were great as well.”
Vodickova takes a four-shot lead into Saturday’s final round over Anna Huang. Savannah de Bock of Belgium is in third place at 2-under with Nora Sundberg of Sweden and Soomin Oh of South Korea tied for fourth at even par.
Click here for the third round individual leaderboard.
This year marks the largest field in tournament history, with a total of 66 athletes comprising 22 teams and representing 21 countries competing for the team and individual titles. This year’s field for the World Junior Girls Golf Championship, presented by Sargent Farms is highlighted by eight competitors currently ranked inside the World Golf Amateur Rankings (WAGR) top-100 including the tournament’s top-ranked player, Spain’s Rocío Tejedo Mulet (no. 23). Spain and South Korea both feature two players ranked inside the WAGR top-100, with Spain’s Andrea Revuelta Goicoechea (no. 33) and South Korea’s Hyojin Yang (no. 60) and Soomin Oh (no. 67).
Defending champions Spain (2017 & 2022) is tied with South Korea (2015 & 2019) for the most victories in the event’s seven-year history, with two each. Other team winners include the United States (2014), Philippines (2016), and Italy (2018). South Korea and Sweden are tied with the most podium finishes in tournament history with four each. Canada’s best finish in the team competition was third in 2014 and fourth in 2018. A history of past individual and team winners is available here.
Several players who have competed in the World Junior Girls Golf Championship have gone on to have great success on the LPGA Tour, led by Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 13-time LPGA winner and Canada’s winningest professional golfer, 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 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand who won back-to-back World Junior titles in 2018 and 2019 as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines who won the 2016 World Junior title. The 2023 CPKC Women’s Open winner, Megan Khang of the United States competed in the inaugural tournament in 2014. 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.
The individual champion will receive an exemption into the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open being held at Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary from July 22 – 28, 2024.
For Saturday’s final round tee times, please click here.