Iwanaga and Chen Suffer Painful Exits at Old Chatham

Durham, North Carolina, United States: Anna Iwanaga and Chen Xingtong suffered painful exits as Asia-Pacific interest in the 77th US Girls’ Junior Championship was ended at the Round of 16 stage.

Japan’s Iwanaga was ousted on the 22nd hole of a marathon contest against Ella June Hannant whose fellow-American Amelie Zalsman eliminated Singaporean Chen by the narrowest of margins.

Earlier on Thursday in the Round of 32 at Old Chatham Golf Club, Iwanaga swept aside the challenge of Hong Kong’s Arianna Lau 6&5 while Chen beat American Madeleine Conser by a similarly wide margin.

Iwanaga, the top-rated player in the field at 16th in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) was widely favoured to reach the last eight by making her way past Hannant, a lowly 1,371st in the standings.

With seven of the eight quarter-final spots already secured, the spotlight shifted to their clash after the North Carolinian made the biggest shot of her young golf career, nailing a five-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to extend the match.

The pair then traded pars on holes 19, 20 and 21 (Old Chatham’s first, second and third), sending the match to the 414-yard, par-four 22nd.

Hannant, with the honour, found the fairway off the tee with driver, a shot matched by Iwanaga. The American then seized the advantage with her approach which came to rest 20 feet from the flag while Iwanaga came up just short of the green.

Iwanaga’s birdie attempt from the fringe sped past the hole, leaving Hannant – surrounded by fellow US Girls’ Junior competitors, family and a gallery of supporters – with a chance to win. Making the most of the moment, she calmly converted, igniting the crowd and closing out the match, which matched the longest for a Round-of-16 encounter in the championship’s history.  

“I’d say that’s probably the craziest match play I’ve ever had,” said Hannant. “We ended up going 22 holes and I don’t think I’ve ever gone that far before. It was really exciting. The whole day just kept getting more exciting as it went. To be able to walk away with a win is pretty awesome.”

Chen, runner-up in the US Girls’ Junior last year, appeared set fair for a place in the quarter-final when she raced into a four-up lead through five holes against Zalsman, who is competing in her fifth US Girls’ Junior, the most by anyone in the field.

However, Zalsman, a Wake Forest verbal commit, battled back to clinch victory on the final hole.

She said: “I’m not going to lie, it was really tough. I was four-down through five. Honestly, I knew I had it in me, even though I wasn’t playing too great early. I just kind of locked in and found a feeling in my swing, and I was able to start sticking shots and making putts.

“I’ve experienced almost everything in match play, and I think that’s just given me more motivation. The experience helps. Being four-down through five, I’ve been in that situation before, and it didn’t work out my way. So, I think learning from that is what really helped me.” 

Australian Amelia Harris, who set the opening-day pace in stroke play with a 63 on Monday, bowed out in the Round of 32. She was edged out at the 19th hole by Canadian Shauna Liu.