Over 130 of Canada’s top young golfers will be in Ottawa from Aug. 1 – 4 for the 2017 Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Camelot Golf and Country Club.
The impressive, international field is led by the Team Canada Development Squad, with 12 of Canada’s top-50 golfers in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) in the draw. At No. 244, New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori the highest ranked golfer in the field in the WAGR.
A Thomas McBroom design, Camelot Golf and Country Club celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 and was ranked 63rd in ScoreGolf’s Top 100 courses list that same year.
“We’re thrilled to be hosting the strong, international field at Camelot in the nation’s capital in a year that is special for our country,” said Greg Richardson, General Manager at Camelot Golf and Country Club. “The golf course is in tremendous shape and we look forward to showcasing its beauty as well as the great city of Ottawa.”
McBroom’s signature weaving of the local landscape into the course layout is evident in the natural beauty of Camelot. The course meanders through meadows and heavily wooded parkland, combining traditional and links style course features.
“Camelot Golf and Country Club is the perfect host for our national Junior Girls Championship,” said Tournament Director Adam Cinel. “It’s unique style and signature holes will provide a great challenge for the best junior golfers in Canada as they chase a national championship right in Canada’s capital.”
All four members of Team Canada’s Development Squad will be chasing the title in Ottawa: Mary Parsons (Delta, B.C.), Chloe Currie (Mississauga, Ont.), Monet Chun (Richmond Hill, Ont.), and Hannah Lee (Surrey, B.C.).
Currie is the defending champion in the Canadian Juvenile Girls division, which awards the title to the lowest scoring competitor under the age of 16.
Team Canada’s Naomi Ko (Victoria, B.C.) is the reigning champion. Ko’s 5-under-par 283 at The Links at Penn Hills in 2016, put her four strokes ahead of Currie.
A practice round will be conducted on July 31 prior to the championship’s opening round on Aug. 1. Following the first two rounds of play, the field will be reduced to the low 70 players and ties with the top ten juvenile’s and ties included in the final round.
A tie for the championship will be decided by a hole-by-hole playoff immediately following the conclusion of play.
The 2017 Canadian Junior Girls’ champion will receive an exemption into the 2018 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C.
The Canadian Junior Girls Championship has a long list of distinguished past champions including Canadian Golf Hall of Famer and major champion Sandra Post, and current LPGA superstar and 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Brooke Henderson.
Two-time defending team champions from B.C. will look to make it three in a row in the inter-provincial team competition, which takes place over the course of the first two rounds.
In rounds one and two the best two scores of the three golfers from each provincial team count towards the team’s score. The lowest aggregate score over rounds one and two determines the champion. British Columbia won the 2016 title with a two-day score of 290.
Additional information about the tournament, including the full field and tee-times is available here.
NOTABLES
Chloe Currie, Mississauga, Ont.
The 17-year-old is in her second year on the Team Canada Development Squad and is the defending champion in the Juvenile division of this event. She finished 5th at the 2017 Future Links driven by Acura Ontario Championship, was T5 at the 2017 Ontario Women’s Amateur. Currie will look to improve on her second-place finish in the main event in 2016. She is currently ranked No. 6 on the Future Links driven by Acura National Order of Merit.
Mary Parsons, Delta, B.C.
The 18-year-old Team Canada Development Squad rookie won her second consecutive Future Links driven by Acura Pacific Championship in 2017. She reached the round-of-32 at the 2017 Women’s Western Amateur Championship and finished T9 at the 2017 B.C. Women’s Amateur. In 2016 Parsons shared the 54-hole lead at this event finishing 3rd. She’s ranked No. 8 on the Future Links driven by Acura National Order of Merit.
Hannah Lee, Victoria, B.C.
The 17-year-old is in her second-year on the Development Squad. Lee finished 10th at the Future Links driven by Acura Pacific Championship and 9th at the prestigious 2017 Porter Cup. She finished 3rd at the 2017 B.C. Junior Girls Championship. Lee is ranked No. 9 on the Future Links driven by Acura National Order of Merit. Lee was T11 at this championship in 2016.
Monet Chun, Richmond Hill, Ont.
The 16-year-old Development Squad rookie won the 2017 Future Links driven by Acura Ontario Championship and the 2017 Investors Group Junior Girls’ Spring Classic. Chun finished 9th at the 2017 Porter Cup in June. Chun was 8th at this event in 2016. She is ranked No. 1 on the Future Links driven by Acura National Order of Merit.
Céleste Dao, Notre-Dame-de-L’Île-Perrot, Que.
The 16-year-old won the 2017 Future Links driven by Acura Quebec Championship and finished T3 at the 2017 Future Links driven by Acura Ontario Championship. Dao won the 2017 Quebec Women’s provincial Amateur Championship and won the 2017 Quebec Junior Girls Championship. Dao was T6 at this event in 2016. She is currently ranked No. 2 on the Future Links driven by Acura National Order of Merit.
Momoka Kobori, Rangoria, New Zealand
The 18-year-old was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the year in her inaugural season with Pepperdine University (NCAA Div I), recording two top-10 finishes and a season stroke average of 75.36. Before coming to the U.S., Kabori was a recipient of the Lydia Ko scholarship. In 2016 she was runner-up at the Australian Girls Amateur and won the Queensland Girls Amateur.
Alyssa DiMarcantonio, Maple, Ont.
The 14-year-old won the 2017 MJT Spring Invitational and was second at the 2017 Investor’s Group Junior Girls Spring Classic. DiMarcantonio finished in a tie for third at the Future Links driven by Acura Ontario Championship and was fourth at the 2017 Ontario Junior Girls’ Championship. She is currently ranked No. 7 on the Future Links, driven by Acura National Order of Merit.
FAST FACTS
A British Columbia golfer has won the individual event the last two years: Naomi Ko 2016 (Victoria, B.C.), 2015: Michelle Kim (Surrey B.C.).
Four-time LPGA winner and major champion Brooke Henderson, from nearby Smiths Falls, Ont., won this event in 2012 at River Spirit Golf Club in Calgary, Alta.
The lowest single-round score in the tournament’s history is a 66, Hannah Lee (2015), Elyse Archambault (2010), Karen England (1997), and Kristy Finlayson (1998).
British Columbia has won the inter-provincial team competition in back-to-back years.
Heather Kuzmich won four straight Canadian Junior Girls Championships from 1981-1984.
Four Canadian Golf Hall of Fame members are past champions of this event: Betty Stanhope-Cole (1956), Judy Darling Evans (1957), Gail Harvey (1958-60), and Sandra Post (1964-66).
Current LPGA golfer Alena Sharp was the 1999 Canadian Junior Girls Champion.
The 2017 Canadian Junior Girls champion will receive an exemption into the 2018 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C.
ABOUT THE COURSE
6, 161 yards, Par 72
Thomas McBroom design.
The first 150 members of Camelot were designated the Ladies and Knights by the club.
Camelot Golf and Country Club was ranked 63rd in 2016 ScoreGolf top-100 courses list, the highest ranking for any course in Eastern Ontario.
Features towering pine trees and stunning views of the Ottawa River and the Gatineau Hills.
For more information on the Canadian Junior Girls Championship click here.