Grace Carter, 15, of Jupiter, Fla., continued her strong play at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside Course with a pair of victories on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the 76th U.S. Girls’ Junior.
Carter opened the day with a 3-and-2 win over Lucinda Wu, 16, of Monterey, Calif., in the Round of 32, and then eliminated Clairey Lin, 15, of Canada, 1 up, in the Round of 16.
“I’ve played 36 before, so I knew what that experience was [like],” said Carter, who recorded just one bogey during stroke play in posting a 36-hole total of 6-under 136. “I tried to keep my head down, just keep grinding and acting like it’s 18.”
She is joined in the quarterfinals by Xingtong Chen, of Singapore, Shyla Singh, of Australia, 2025 U.S. Women’s Open qualifiers Katelyn Kong, of Los Angeles, Calif., and Rayee Feng, of Short Hills, N.J., Aphrodite Deng, of Canada, Emerie Schartz, of Wichita, Kan., and Chloe Kovelesky, of Boca Raton, Fla.
Carter, who just turned 15 in June, became the youngest medalist since Northern Californian Lucy Li earned honors in both 2017 and 2018 as a 14- and 15-year-old. On Thursday, Carter was quick to build her lead in both matches, going 4 up by the time her morning encounter reached No. 7, and 3 up by the fifth hole in the afternoon.
She began the day by holing out for an eagle 2 on AAC’s par-4 second, with the remainder of her winning holes coming by way of pars. In the afternoon, Carter made another eagle 2 – this time on No. 4.
“I saw it bounce on the green, and then it was rolling, and I was like, ‘Okay, it’s going to be close,’ and all of a sudden I saw it disappear,” Carter said. “Then in the second [match], I had another 9-iron, and it went straight in the hole… I was just in shock.”
Lin would surge back on AAC’s inward nine, with birdies on Nos. 13 and 17 to cut the lead to 1 up as the match reached the par-5 18th hole before each recorded matching pars.
Kovelesky, 18, a Wake Forest University rising sophomore, produced her second extra-hole victory of the week late Thursday afternoon. She outdueled 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior quarterfinalist and U.S. National Junior Team member Anna Fang, 16, of San Diego, Calif., in 22 holes. It matched the longest Round-of-16 match in U.S. Girls’ Junior history.
She kept the match going with a 13-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole, then closed out the match with a par on the 22nd.
“It’s been a long, great day, but it’s been really fun. Definitely a lot of confidence going into tomorrow,” Kovelesky said. “When you’re playing really good players, [extra holes] tends to happen. We both were just hitting shot for shot and trying to match each other.”
Thursday’s Round of 16 also featured an all-Aussie showdown between 16-year-old Rachel Lee and 18-year-old Shyla Singh. Singh, a left-hander headed to the University of Oregon this fall, came out firing, racing to a 3-up lead through six holes before closing out a commanding 5-and-4 victory. Of the six Australians who teed it up this week, five advanced to match play, Singh remains the last one standing.
“It's very bittersweet,” said Singh. “I obviously really wanted to win this afternoon to make it through, but it was sad to beat Rachel. She's my friend, we're staying together. I just had to block that out and try to play my best golf. I think it will be really cool to have the rest of the Aussies supporting me on tomorrow.”
Fifteen-year-old Deng eliminated Mia Carles, 15, of Clinton, S.C., 2 and 1, in the morning, then rallied for a 19-hole victory over Yujie Lin, of the People’s Republic of China, by registering birdies on the 18th and 19th holes. This was a semi-rematch of their duel at this year’s Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, where Deng took the title ahead of Liu.
What’s Next
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be contested on Friday, beginning at 8 a.m. EDT and 1:15 p.m. ET, respectively. Saturday’s 36-hole championship match is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue following the lunch break.
Peacock will have live streaming of the semifinals on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. ET with Golf Channel re-airing the broadcast at 9 p.m. Peacock also has live streaming of the afternoon portion of the 36-hole championship match on Saturday at 3 p.m. EDT, and Golf Channel on a tape-delay basis at 9 p.m. Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Notable
Provided they are still age-eligible, the quarterfinalists are exempt into the 2026 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C.
The highest-ranked player to start the week, Asterisk Talley, 16, of Chowchilla, Calif., fell in the Round of 32 to Yujie Liu, 3 and 2. Liu began the round with three straight birdies to take a 3-up lead, one that she never relinquished.
The youngest player remaining in the field is 15-year-old Grace Carter, who is competing in her first U.S. Girls’ Junior.
The United States of America is well-represented in the quarterfinals, with five players remaining. Australia, Canada and Singapore round out the remaining field with one player each
With her win Thursday afternoon, Grace Carter became the first medalist to reach the quarterfinals of the championship since Rose Zhang, who went on to win the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.
David Ford, a member of the victorious 2023 USA Walker Cup team, is a member of Atlanta Athletic Club. He and his twin brother, Maxwell, are both former club champions.
Quotable
“I think I hit the ball quite well today. In the morning match [against Isabel Emanuels], I was 4 down through 7. I had to keep trying to fight it through, which I did. Then in the afternoon I started pretty well, like I got 3-up through maybe 6. So that was good. I think I just like continued that momentum for the rest of the round.” – Shyla Singh on her overall play on Thursday
“It's probably my favorite tournament I've ever played. It's really fun, and they have a bunch of fun activities, and the course is just amazing.” – Grace Carter on her experience so far at Atlanta Athletic Club
“It’s been really good and super fun. We balance each other so well with our personalities. I’m pretty calm, and she’s kind of a go-getter. She’s so good at getting me settled.” – Emerie Schartz on competing with younger sister Avery Schartz on the bag this week
“I’m going to go eat. I’m going to go to bed, and I’m going to get up and do it again.” – Chloe Kovelesky on her plan after playing 39 holes on Thursday and earning a spot in the Quarterfinals
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