Amelia Sets Blistering Pace at US Girls’ Junior

Durham, North Carolina, United States: Australian Amelia Harris recorded a blistering first-round nine-under 63, which included a historic back-nine 28, to take the solo lead at the 77th US Girls’ Junior at Old Chatham Golf Club.

A dreary day in Greater Raleigh didn’t stop Harris and the rest of the field from going low, as 53 of the 156 players posted sub-par rounds on the 6,491-yard, par-72 Rees Jones design.

None, however, played better than Harris, a University of South Carolina incoming freshman who entered the second nine at one-under 35 before unleashing what was the most dominant nine-hole stretch in US Girls’ Junior stroke play history.

Following her opening nine, which included a bogey-five on the ninth hole, Harris carded birdies on eight of her final nine holes, including six in a row from the 13th. The lone par came on the 191-yard, par-three 12th.

The catalyst for her 63, just the fourth in US Girls’ Junior history and one off the championship record held by four players, was an exceptional day with the putter.

Harris needed just 24 putts (1.33 per hole), including the shot of the day: a 40-footer from the fringe just off the back of the 18th green that struck the flagstick and dropped into the hole, drawing a loud roar from the spectators.

Only two other known 28s have been posted in a USGA championship, both in the US Senior Open – by Tom Kite (2012) and Kenny Perry (2015).

Harris’ feat is also the lowest known nine-hole score in a women’s USGA championship, surpassing the 29 Christina Kim shot in 2001 at the US Girls’ Junior at Indian Hills Country Club, in Mission Hills, Kansas, en route to the first-ever 62 shot in the championship, and Chella Choi’s 29 in the 2015 US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club.

Harris, aged 18, said: “I just couldn’t miss a putt on the back nine. Coming through the turn, I had missed a really short putt on nine and thought to myself: ‘I don’t want to do that anymore.’ I don’t really have many words other than I putted really well and got lucky on some shots.”

For Harris, competing at such a high level is nothing new. The reigning Australian Junior Amateur champion has six victories in 2026 and recently finished fifth at the 2026 Toyota Junior World Cup in Japan, where she carded an eight-under 64 in the second round. She is also no stranger to the US Girls’ Junior. This is her third start after advancing to the Round of 32 of last year’s championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

“Making match play, obviously,” Harris said of her goals for the rest of the week. “I think that’s the goal for everyone ... keep my head on straight, stay steady and see how far I go.”

Another Toyota Junior World Cup competitor, notably the tournament’s 2026 individual champion, Anna Iwanaga, was one of three competitors to post six-under 66. Joining the 17-year-old from Japan was 2025 US Girls’ Junior runner-up Chen Xingtong of Singapore, and Canada’s Clairey Lin.

For Iwanaga, the top-rated player in the field at 16th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), birdies came early and often.

More than 6,000 miles from her hometown of Amagasaki, which sits across the Yodo River from Osaka – Japan’s third-most populous city – Iwanaga went the opposite of Harris, carding a five-under 31 on Old Chatham’s front nine.

Iwanaga added additional birdies on 10 and 13 to reach seven-under for the day before bogeying 15.

“I didn’t think the pin positions were that hard, so it was easy to make birdies,” said Iwanaga. “I made a lot of birdies and on 14 I missed a birdie putt, and my rhythm started to get bad.”

Singaporean Chen, who fell to Canada’s Aphrodite Deng, 2&1, in last year’s 36-hole finale in Georgia, matched Lin and Iwanaga with eight birdies. Since her runner-up finish a year ago, Chen owns three top-10 finishes, the most recent of which came at The Royal Junior in Japan, where she placed eighth.

Kim Seo-ah, one of the younger players this week, finished four back of Harris with a bogey-free 67, the only one on day one. The 14-year-old Korean is a neophyte to American golf.

A relative newcoming to golf – she took up the game four years ago – Kim has made huge strides and it showed in round one with a flurry of early birdies to post three-under 33 after nine.

Overall, the course’s longer holes proved to be no issue for Kim, who reportedly was hitting 280-yard drives as a 12-year-old. She played Old Chatham’s four par-five holes in three-under, including the course’s longest hole, the 549-yard 11th. 

The second and final round of stroke play takes place on Tuesday. Following the round, the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers for match play, which begins on Wednesday. Match play will continue each day until Saturday’s 36-hole championship match.

Among the notable Asia-Pacific contingent well positioned to progress are China’s Liu Yujie (68), Hong Kong’s Arianna Lau (70) and Chinese Taipei Lin Jie-en (71).