Huang and Xu Face US Girls Junior Championship Test

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States: Patsy Hankins Trophy team-mates Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan and Fiona Xu will be vying to outdo each other when the 74th US Girls Junior Championship tees-off on Monday.

At the start of August, Chinese Taipei’s Huang and New Zealander Xu will join forces in Spain, attempting to help an Asia-Pacific team defeat their European counterparts in the third edition of the Solheim Cup-style team match play Patsy Hankins Trophy.

But over the next week at the United States Air Force Academy Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course, all their attentions will be focused on gaining individual glory.

Former Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion Huang and Xu are among a 24-strong Asia-Pacific contingent in the starting line-up in an event which has produced a host of famous victories for the region since the turn of the century – Koreans Park In-bee (2002) and Kim In-kyung (2005); Thai Ariya Jutanugarn (2011); Australian Minjee Lee (2012); Princess Mary Superal of the Philippines (2014) and China's Ye Lei (2019).

Along with her compatriot Liao Hsin-chun, Huang received an exemption into the main draw due to being among the top 40 age-eligible players in Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking, as did Xu, Malaysian Jeneath Wong and Rianne Malixi of the Philippines.

Other notable Asia-Pacific players who have secured their spots in the main draw via qualifying include Hong Kong China’s Arianna Lau, this year’s APGC Junior Championship winner, mainland China prodigies Liu Yujie, Xiao Kaili and Alice Zhao Ziyi and Thais Pimpisa Rubrong and Alisa Inprasit.

Open to female amateur golfers who have not reached their 19th birthday on or before July 22, and have a Handicap Index not exceeding 9.4, the winner will be exempt from qualifying for the 2024 US Women’s Open, exempt from qualifying for the next two US Women’s Amateur Championships as well as receiving a gold medal and custody of the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy for one year.

A starting field of 156 players will compete in the championship. Following 18-hole rounds of stroke play on July 17 and 18, the field will be cut to the top 64 players for match play. Five 18-hole rounds of match play will determine the finalists who will square off in a 36-hole championship match.

In total, there are 13 countries represented in the championship: Australia (1), Canada (10), Chinese Taipei (4), Hong Kong, China (2), Japan (3), Malaysia (1), Mexico (3), New Zealand (1), People’s Republic of China (5), Philippines (3), Thailand (4), the United States of America (118) and Venezuela (1).