Colorado, United States: China’s Xiao Kaili and Thai Tarapath Panya enjoyed flying starts at the 74th US Girls’ Junior Championship.
The 14-year-old Xiao and 16-year-old Tarapath both fired three-under-par 69s at the United States Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Golf Club’s Blue Course to share third place after the first-round of the stroke-play portion of the championship.
The Asian duo are just one shot off the pace being set by Americans Anna Davis and Kiara Romero.
All 156 competitors will play their second round of stroke play on Tuesday. Following the round, the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers for match play, which commences on Wednesday.
Among other Asia-Pacific players well placed to progress are China’s Alice Zhao Ziyi (70), Grace Quintanilla of the Philippines and China’s Nancy Dai Yufai (both 71) and Japan’s Chizuru Komiya (73).
In a large group of players tied for 31st place on two-over 74 are Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, China’s Liu Yujie, Japan’s Yuina Yogo, Malaysian Jeneath Wong and Thai Pimpisa Rubrong.
Japan’s Nika Ito, Australian Shyla Singh, Chinese Taipei’s Sophia Lin, China’s Flora Zhang Caiyu and Thais Alisa Inprasit and Zoe Jiamanukoonkit are in joint 42nd place on 75.
Among those who will need to improve on their opening-day showing if they’re to progress are New Zealander Fiona Xu and Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan, both of whom will represent the Asia-Pacific in next month’s Patsy Hankins Trophy in Spain.
Hong Kong, China's Arianna Lau, winner of this year's APGC Junior Girls Championship, carded a 78.
Xu managed just one birdie in her 77, while Huang, the 2022 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion, had double-bogeys at two of the par-fives as she signed for a 79.
Left-handed Xiao, who played in the recent US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, managed a bogey-free round, holing a clutch 10-foot par putt on the ninth – her 18th of the day.
Xiao, a member of the Class of 2027, was one of two 14-year-olds in the field at Pebble. In June, she won the AJGA Colorado Springs Junior presented by Centura Health at King’s Deer Golf Club in Monument.
Following her 69, Xiao said: “This course is not easy. It’s hard. It’s really long. The greens are harder than Pebble Beach. It’s really hard to look at the break [of the putt] and [judge] the green speed.”
Panya, a recent semi-finalist in the Colorado Golf Association Women’s Match Play, twice reached four-under par on her second nine, only to suffer bogeys on 15 and 18 in shooting a 69. She qualified for her first US Girls’ Junior at nearby Country Club of Colorado.
Alongside 14-year-old Chinese Zhao, the 2022 US Women’s Amateur co-medallist, at two-under-par are Mexican Claris Temelo and Americans Yana Wilson, the 16-year-old defending champion, 2022 runner-up Gianna Clemente, 15, 2023 US Women’s Open qualifier Angela Zhang, 14, and Helen Yeung, 17.
