Sixty-six players from twenty-one countries will compete in the eighth playing of the prestigious world championship
Brampton, Ont. – Canada will once again host a global showcase of the world’s best junior golfers as the eighth edition of the World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms will be contested October 2-7, 2023, at the Brampton Golf Club in Brampton, Ont.
This year marks the largest field in tournament history, with a total of 66 athletes comprising 22 teams and representing 21 countries – including two teams from host nation Canada – competing for the team and individual titles.
“Together with our partners at Golf Ontario and Sargent Farms, Golf Canada is extremely proud to host the eighth edition of this prestigious international championship at Brampton Golf Club,” said Dan Hyatt, Golf Canada Tournament Director. “This championship has become a world-class showcase featuring some of the most promising young athletes from around the world. It is an honour to welcome these talented juniors to Canada—many whom we know will go on to great success in the professional game.”
“Golf Ontario is excited to partner in bringing the World Junior Girls Championship to Brampton and there is great excitement in welcoming this outstanding group of athletes from around the world,” said Golf Ontario CEO Kyle McFarlane. “Brampton Golf Club has proven itself time and again to be a world-class host and a championship-worthy venue that will be ready to challenge the world’s best junior golfers. We look forward to seeing the Brampton golfing community rally around this wonderful event.”
Canada’s lead coach will be Jeff MacDonald of Chester, N.S. who is currently the Assistant Coach of the Team Canada – NextGen Squad. MacDonald is a three-time PGA of Atlantic Canada Coach of the Year recipient. Supporting MacDonald will be Ann Carroll of Mississauga, Ont. who is currently the Head Teaching Pro at Lambton Golf Club. Carroll was a member of the national team coaching staff from 2012-2017 and now runs the Ann Carroll Golf Academy which supports competitive junior golfers.
As the host country, Canada will field two teams competing for the championship.
Team Canada 1 will feature 17-year-old Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto along with 14-year-old Anna Huang and 16-year-old Vanessa Zhang, both of Vancouver. Borovilos, who earned a direct exemption and is currently ranked no. 210 in the (World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), finished fourth in the 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship presented by BDO and competed at the 2023 CPKC Women’s Open. Huang and Zhang earned their spots in a 54-hole qualifying tournament during the NextGen Selection Camp earlier this month at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ont. Huang was part of Team Canada 2 at the 2022 World Junior Girls Championship and Zhang is currently ranked no. 293 in the WAGR.
Team Canada 2 will feature 14-year-old Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. who earned a direct exemption onto the team and is currently ranked no. 369 in the WAGR. Park won the 2023 Canadian Junior Girls Championship presented by BDO in July. Park’s teammates will be 16-year-old Luna Lu of Burnaby, B.C. and 14-year-old Miranda Lu of Vancouver. Luna finished as runner-up in the 2023 Canadian Junior Girls Championship and qualified for the 2023 CPKC Women’s Open through the final Monday Qualifier. Miranda won the UHY Albany Junior tournament in August. Both Luna and Miranda Lu earned their spots through the same qualifying tournament as Huang and Zhang.
This year’s field for the World Junior Girls 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). Belgium’s Savannah de Bock (no.40) returns this year after finishing T5 in the individual championship in 2022. For the final field of all teams and competitors, please click here.
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 Championship have gone on 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 prestigious Brampton Golf Club is the gracious host for the 2023 championship. Brampton has hosted a number of high profile provincial and national championships, most recently the 2014 Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship. Brampton Golf Club was also most recently named the Club Management Association of Canada (CMAC) Club of the Year in 2023 and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021.
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.
The following is a list of competing countries in the eighth annual World Junior Girls Championship, presented by Sargent Farms:
Austria
Belgium
Canada (2)
Chinese Taipei
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Finland
Germany
Iceland
Italy
Mexico
Peru
Poland
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United States
Wales
Practice rounds for the 72-hole competition will take place October 2-3 with the first round of play set for Wednesday, October 4. The tournament’s closing ceremony will immediately follow the conclusion of play on Saturday, October 7. Admission to the competition is free. For more information on the tournament, please click here.