SITE INFORMATION
usgirlsjunior.org
July 20-25, 2015
Tulsa (Okla.) Country Club
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FREE ADMISSION
Admission is free. Tickets are not required and spectators are encouraged to attend.
PAR AND YARDAGE
Tulsa Country Club’s course will be set up at 6,076 yards and play to a par of 35-35–70. Please note: yardages are subject to change.
TULSA COUNTRY CLUB HOLE-BY-HOLE
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Par 4 4 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 35
Yards 389 372 540 418 356 137 300 386 190 3,088
Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Par 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 35
Yards 385 366 393 327 160 367 535 122 333 2,988
ARCHITECT
Originally designed by A.W. Tillinghast and opened for play in 1920, Tulsa Country Club's golf course was restored in 2011 by Rees Jones.
WHO CAN ENTER
The championship is open to amateur female golfers who have not reached their 18th birthday on or before July 25, 2015, and who have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4.
ENTRIES
Entries closed at 5 p.m. EDT on June 3. The USGA received a record 1,191 entries for the 2015 championship, 73 more than the previous record set in 2014. It was the sixth consecutive year entries surpassed 1,000.
SECTIONAL QUALIFYING
Sectional qualifying, played over 18 holes, will be conducted at 34 sites from June 15 through June 30.
2014 CHAMPION
Princess Mary Superal, 17, of the Philippines, claimed a 37-hole victory against Marijosse Navarro, 17, of Mexico, at Forest Highlands Golf Club’s Meadow Course in Flagstaff, Ariz. Despite leading for the majority of the match, Superal went to the par-5 36th hole 1 down. Needing to force extra holes with a birdie, Superal converted a 10-foot uphill putt and when Navarro missed, the match went to extra holes. Navarro’s tee shot on the first extra hole – the par-5 14th – found the water, and Superal made par to claim the title. Visit usga.org for the full recap.
FIELD AND EXEMPT PLAYERS
A field of 156 golfers will compete in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Information on exempt players will become available at the close of entries. 2014 champion Princess Mary Superal and runner-up Marijosse Navarro have turned 18 and are no longer eligible for the championship.
SCHEDULE
Monday, July 20 – First round, stroke play
Tuesday, July 21 – Second round, stroke play (field reduced to 64 players for match play)
Wednesday, July 22 – First round, match play
Thursday, July 23 – Second and third rounds, match play
Friday, July 24 – Quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, match play
Saturday, July 25 – 36-hole championship final, match play
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES
- 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 18th birthday
- Exemption from qualifying for the next two U.S. Women's Amateur Championships
THE TROPHY
The U.S. Girls’ Junior championship trophy was presented in 1949 by Glenna Collett Vare, who won a record six U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships between 1925-1935. The trophy is named in her honor.
THE USGA AT TULSA COUNTRY CLUB
This will be the third USGA championship conducted at Tulsa Country Club. The club previously hosted the 2008 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, won by three-time Senior Women’s Amateur champion Diane Lang, and the 1960 U.S. Women’s Amateur, won by JoAnne Gunderson Carner. Carner’s win at Tulsa marked the second of five women’s amateur titles for the World Golf Hall of Famer, who also won the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1956 and U.S. Women’s Open in 1971 and 1976.
THE USGA AND OKLAHOMA
The 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior will be the 22nd USGA championship conducted in Oklahoma and 14th in Tulsa. The first championship contested in Oklahoma was the 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club, won by Babe Didrikson Zaharias. The most recent was the 2014 U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree National in Edmond, won by three-time U.S. Open runner-up Colin Montgomerie, who prevailed in a three-hole playoff against Gene Sauers. This will be the second U.S. Girls’ Junior conducted in the state – the first was in 1960 at The Oaks Country Club in Tulsa, won by Carol Sorenson.
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 11 times and the U.S. Women’s Open 12 times. Additionally, 19 champions have gone on to represent the USA on the Curtis Cup Team through 2014.
Considering the age limitations on a junior golf career, Hollis Stacy’s record of three consecutive Girls’ Junior Championships (1969-71) is among the most remarkable accomplishments in USGA history. Stacy, however, never made it easy. The final matches of her first two championships went 18 holes. In her last victory, Stacy needed 4-under-par golf to eventually defeat Amy Alcott in 19 holes. From the third through the 17th holes, neither player made a bogey and they combined for nine birdies. The match is regarded as one of the best in USGA championship history.
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 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).
MEDIA CREDENTIALS / PHOTO MEDIA SERVICE
Apply for credentials at mediacredentials.usga.org/media. The USGA will offer daily, complimentary high-resolution photographs during the U.S. Girls’ Junior strictly for editorial use. For more information and to register for the USGA’s digital photo archive, email photorequests@usga.org.
USGA MEDIA CONTACT
Please contact Vanessa Zink for more information regarding U.S. Girls’ Junior coverage at vzink@usga.org. Additional media information is available at usga.org/media.html.