On Thursday, the U.S. National Junior Team defeated Australia in the two-day long competition that took place at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The match consisted of 12 person teams made up of some of the top junior golfers in the world. The tournament was the first of its kind in the new U.S. National Development Program, an initiative started in 2023 to foster generations of golf talent.
After the American team took the 9-3 lead on Tuesday, the format changed from fourball/foursome to singles matches on Wednesday.
Rachel Lee picked up a point for Australia with the 5-3 victory over U.S.’s Chloe Kovelesky. Lee’s point was Australia’s last, as the home team went on to win 10 out of the 12 matches.
Earlier in the match, Shyla Singh from Queensland, and the 2023 NSW Amateur Champion, was able to secure a win for the visiting team, and held a 6 to 4 lead over Ryleigh Knaub from Florida.
“It was a lot of fun to compete against the Americans and play at such a great course,” said Singh. “It’s a great concept that they’ve introduced and gives us a good chance to compare our games with the top golfers of America. It’s been a really great experience and a lot of good memories from it” (via Golf NSW).
Current JGH No. 1 ranked boy, Blades Brown, had a solid game all week, and won each of his matches, including a 3&2 singles win on Wednesday.
The United States proved difficult to overcome, as the final score for the remaining matches was 19-5.
“I thought the event was great,” remarked the U.S. Head Coach Chris Zambri. “The kids competed hard, which was really important to me that they came out here and cared. I really saw that, and I love that. The course was a great test, and we were fortunate to be able to come play here and grateful to our friends from Australia for making the long trip” (via Golf NSW).
Photo Credit: Logan Whitton/USGA
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