Canadian Aphrodite Deng holds individual lead following a 5-under 67 on Wednesday
Mississauga, Ont. – The Republic of Korea sits atop the team leaderboard by one-shot over Team Canada 1 following the opening round of the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship at Credit Valley Golf & Country Club in Mississauga, Ont.
Sumin Hong and Soomin Oh both shot rounds of 3-under 69 to help lead the Republic of Korea (Korea) on Wednesday. Hong recorded four birdies before bogeying the 18th. Oh began her round with back-to-back bogeys but went on to record five birdies to help contribute to the team lead. Teammate Seojin Park shot a 1-under 71. The top two individual scores count towards the combined team score each day.
“They played well today but the start of the round wasn’t as good but they finished strong so that was a good part of today,” said Republic of Korea Coach Naon Min. “I told them not to think about the team but just think about their individual play and it will finish well for everybody,” said Min following the first round.
Defending champions, Team Canada 1 are one shot back of Korea. Aphrodite Deng of Calgary, Alta. shot a 5-under 67 to help lead her team and the individual standings. Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C. shot an even par 72 and Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont. shot a 3-over 75 on Wednesday.
“They got off to a really good start today, we were cruising early which was nice to see, lots of putts going in and it was awesome because they were sticking to the game plan just hitting to the right spot,” said Team Canada 1 Coach Jeff MacDonald. “It’s always nice in these events when all three players are playing well so it gives you more chances or opportunities and they did that today and it was fun to watch,” added MacDonald.
Belgium sits in third at 3-under with a trio of teams including Sweden, Colombia and Hong Kong, China tied for fourth at even par. Iceland and Italy are tied for seventh at 1-over with seven teams tied for ninth at 2-over, including Team Canada 2. Team Canada 2 is comprised of 14-year-old Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont. (Even par 72), 15-year-old Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. (2-over 74) and 17-year-old Lindsay McGrath of Oakville, Ont. (4-over 76).
The following are the opening round standings at the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship:
- Republic of Korea -6
- Canada 1 -5
- Belgium -3
- T4. Sweden E T
- T4. Colombia E T
- T4. Hong Kong, China E T
- T7. Iceland +1
- T7. Italy +1
- T9. Canada 2 +2
Click here for the team leaderboard following the opening round of the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship.
In the individual competition, Deng of Team Canada 1 leads by one shot over Sixtine De Cordes of Belgium. Deng’s 5-under 67 on Wednesday was highlighted by seven birdies in her round, including five on the front nine.
“I was just trying to play it safe and miss in the right spots,” said Deng. “I was able to hit my shots really close and make the putts today.”
De Cordes is alone in second at 4-under with Oh and Hong of Korea tied for third at 3-under. Arianna Lau (Hong Kong, China), Paris Appendino (Italy), Ebba Lundqvist (Sweden), Lu Valero (Colombia) and Alexis Lamadrid (Mexico) all tied for fifth at 2-under.
The individual champion will receive an exemption into the 2025 CPKC Women’s Open being held at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club in Mississauga from August 19 – 24, 2025.
Click here for the individual leaderboard following the opening round of the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship.
This year marks the largest field in tournament history, with a total of 72 athletes comprising 24 teams and representing 23 countries competing for the team and individual titles. Several players who have competed in the World Junior Girls Golf Championship have gone on to great success on the LPGA Tour.
Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 13-time LPGA Tour winner and Canada’s winningest professional golfer, finished fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural championship 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. 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 and Linn Grant of Sweden. Hye-Jin Choi from the Republic of Korea won both the 2015 team and individual championship at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship and has earned several top five finishes on the LPGA Tour.
For second round tee times, please click here.
