Lau and Wooster Seeking Hollywood Hills Spotlight

Los Angeles, United States: The Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Girls champion and the APGC Women's Senior Championship runner-up are in the starting line-up for this week’s 123rd US Women's Amateur Championship.

Hong Kong China’s Arianna Lau won the 2023 APGC Junior Girls title in the Philippines in May while Australian Sue Wooster was runner-up in last year’s inaugural APGC Women’s Senior Championship in Kuala Lumpur.

At the age of 61, Wooster is the eldest competitor in the 156-strong field at Bel-Air Country Club where the average age is 20½.

Lau, aged 16, is the highest-rated player from Hong Kong China, currently in 155th place in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Joining Wooster and Lau among the Asia-Pacific contingent are Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, runner-up in last month’s US Girls Junior and fourth at the IMG Academy Junior World Championship.

This year, she’s also placed third in the individual standings at the Queen Sirikit Cup in February and The Royal in Japan and fourth in the Southeast Asian Games. Heading into the US Amateur, she’s 75th in the WAGR.

Also lining up in Bel-Air are Malaysian Jeneath Wong, and Australians Justice Bosio and Caitlin Peirce, who flew to the US on Saturday night after representing the APGC in the Patsy Hankins Trophy team match play event against the European Golf Association in Spain.

Japan has a five-strong representation led by Rin Yoshida, 17th in the WAGR. Conspicuous by her absence is Saki Baba, the 17-year-old who thrashed Canadian Monet Chun 11&9 in last year’s 36-hole championship match at Chambers Bay in Washington.

Baba became the second player from Japan to win a USGA title, joining Michiko Hattori, who also claimed the US Women's Amateur in 1985.

The US Women’s Amateur consists of 36 holes of stroke play today and tomorrow, after which the 156-player field will be reduced to the low 64 scorers. There will be six rounds of match play, starting on Wednesday. The championship is scheduled to conclude with a 36-hole final on Sunday.

Located in the heart of Los Angeles and in the shadows of the Hollywood Hills, Bel-Air is a private club with an 18-hole course originally designed by George Thomas and recently renovated by Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf Design.

The project focused on updating the course while restoring its archetypal integrity. Bel-Air is known for its dramatic topography and one of golf’s most famous suspension bridges, which spans a canyon on the 205-yard par-three 10th and serves as a stunning backdrop for the 18th hole.

The course previously hosted the 1976 US Amateur, which was won by Bill Sander, and the 2004 US Senior Amateur, with Mark Bemowski taking home the trophy. It most recently served as the stroke-play co-host course for the 2018 US Amateur at The Riviera Country Club.