Inside the Numbers from the 72nd U.S. Girls Junior Championship

One hundred years after hosting the 1921 U.S. Open, Columbia Country Club is set to host the 72nd U.S. Girls Junior Championship.

Columbia C.C. will be set up at 6,116 yards and will play to a par of 35-35–70.

COLUMBIA COUNTRY CLUB HOLE BY HOLE

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

Par 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 35

Yards 369 396 344 190 536 376 317 177 388 3093

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total

Par 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 35

Yards 409 407 520 164 377 348 151 287 360 3023

Note: Yardages subject to change.

ABOUT COLUMBIA COUNTRY CLUB

The championship course at Columbia Country Club is widely recognized as a Walter Travis design. Travis, a pioneer in golf course architecture, amended the course in 1916 from the original design by Herbert Barker and Walter S. Harban.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Columbia hosting the 1921 U.S. Open Championship, won by Jim Barnes. The 1921 U.S. Open was the first USGA championship held at Columbia, and the club has gone on to host a number of state, regional and national golf championships, including the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur, won by Brian Harman. The 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior will be the third USGA championship played at Columbia.

The club has counted among its members former President Barack Obama and five-star generals Omar Bradley and Henry H. “Hap” Arnold. Martin West, a two-time USA Walker Cup competitor who competed in 19 U.S. Amateurs and made the cut in the 1976 U.S. Open, has won the club championship multiple times.

This marks the 15th time that a site has hosted both the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Girls’ Junior.

ENTRIES

The championship is open to female amateur golfers who will not have reached their 19th birthday on or before July 17, 2021, the final day of the championship, and have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 9.4.

Entries for the 2021 championship closed on May 19. The championship received 1,484 entries, marking the 11th consecutive U.S. Girls’ Junior to surpass 1,000.

QUALIFYING

Qualifying, played over 18 holes, was conducted at 45 sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico, between June 1-July 1. This was the first time the championship held international qualifying. To view qualifying results, visit usga.org/girlsjunior.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD

A starting field of 156 players will compete in the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Following 18-hole rounds of stroke play on July 12-13, the field will be cut to the top 64 players for match play. Five 18-hole rounds of match play will determine the finalists who will square off in a 36-hole championship match.

EXEMPT PLAYERS

There are 11 players who are fully exempt into the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior:

Amari Avery (top 40 age-eligible points in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®)

Savannah Barber (2021 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball champion)

Zoe Antoinette Campos (top 40 age-eligible points in the WAGR)

Caroline Canales (2019 U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinalist)

Giovanna Fernandez (top 40 age-eligible points in the WAGR)

Xin Kou (top 40 age-eligible points in the WAGR)

Maria Jose Marin Negrete (top 40 age-eligible points in the WAGR)

Alexa Pano (2018 U.S. Girls' Junior runner-up; top 40 age-eligible points in the WAGR)

Alexa Saldana (2021 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball champion)

Paula Schulz-Hanssen (2020 European Ladies Amateur champion; top 40 age-eligible points in the WAGR)

Rose Zhang (2019 U.S. Girls' Junior quarterfinalist; returned 72-hole score in 2019 U.S. Women's Open; 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur champion; top 40 age-eligible points leader in the WAGR)  

SCHEDULE OF PLAY

Practice rounds will take place July 10-11, and the championship schedule is as follows:

July 12 (Monday): First round, stroke play

July 13 (Tuesday): Second round, stroke play, field reduced to 64 players for match play

July 14 (Wednesday): Round of 64, match play

July 15 (Thursday): Round of 32/Round of 16, match play

July 16 (Friday): Quarterfinals/semifinals, match play

July 17 (Saturday): 36-hole championship final, match play

TELEVISION COVERAGE

Golf Channel/Peacock will broadcast the final two days of the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior. All times EDT.

Friday, July 16 (semifinals) - 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Peacock

Saturday, July 17 (final match) – 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Golf Channel

WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES

Exemption from qualifying for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open Championship at Pine Needles

A gold medal and custody of the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy for one year

Exemption from qualifying for all U.S. Girls’ Juniors prior to her 19th birthday

Exemption from qualifying for the 2021 and 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships

Exemption into the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur

2019 CHAMPION – LEI YE

Lei Ye became the second player from the People’s Republic of China to win a USGA championship by defeating Jillian Bourdage, of Taramac, Fla., 1 up, in the 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at SentryWorld. Ye joined 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links winner Alice (Fumie) Jo as the only players from China to claim a USGA championship. She is the 13th international player to have her name engraved on the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy, joining the likes of major champions Inbee Park (Korea), Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) and I.K. Kim (Korea).

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship was established in 1949, one year after the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Philadelphia (Pa.) Country Club, one of the oldest clubs in the nation, hosted the first championship on its Bala Course, which opened in 1891, three years before the founding of the USGA. Girls’ Junior champions have won the U.S. Women’s Amateur seven times and the U.S. Women’s Open six times. Additionally, 19 champions have gone on to represent the USA on the Curtis Cup Team through 2018.

Considering the age limitations on a junior golf career, Hollis Stacy’s record of three consecutive Girls’ Junior Championships (1969-1971) is among the most remarkable accomplishments in USGA history. In 2016, Eun Jeong Seong joined the elite club of back-to-back U.S. Girls’ Junior winners, the first since 1971, and followed her victory by winning the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur, making her the first player to win the two prestigious championships in the same year and just the third female to win multiple USGA championships in the same year.

Kay Cornelius, the 1981 winner, is also among the noteworthy champions. Her mother, Kathy Cornelius, won the 1956 U.S. Women’s Open, making them the only mother-daughter tandem to have captured USGA championships. Other notable winners include Amy Alcott (1973), JoAnne Gunderson Carner (1956), Heather Farr (1982), Pat Hurst (1986), I.K. Kim (2005), Nancy Lopez (1972, 1974), Inbee Park (2002), Lexi Thompson (2008) and Mickey Wright (1952).

The 2020 U.S. Girls' Junior was canceled due to health concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic.

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT COLUMBIA COUNTRY CLUB

1921 U.S. Open: Jim Barnes

2003 U.S. Junior Amateur: Brian Harman

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MARYLAND

The 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior will be the 24th USGA championship in Maryland, and third U.S. Girls’ Junior held in the state. The last time the U.S. Girls’ Junior was held in Maryland was in 1999 at Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, when Aree Wongluekiet defeated Nancy Abiecunas, 2 up, in the championship’s final match. The U.S. Girls’ Junior was also held at Manor Country Club in Rockville in 1959.

The most recent USGA championship in Maryland was the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, where Rose Zhang outlasted defending champion Gabriela Ruffels in 38 holes, the second-longest match in U.S. Women’s Amateur history.

FUTURE U.S. GIRLS’ JUNIOR SITE

July 18-23, 2022: The Club at Olde Stone, Bowling Green, Ky.