Young Anna in Spotlight at Old Chatham

Durham, North Carolina, United States: Jet-setting Anna Iwanaga will be aiming to add to her trophy collection when she tees-off in the 77th US Girls’ Junior Championship.

A member of the Japan team that triumphed in the Queen Sirikit Cup in Indonesia in April, the 17-year-old is the highest ranked player in the 156-strong starting line-up at Old Chatham Golf Club in North Carolina, where she will be making her third tournament appearance in America this year.

Iwanaga was runner-up in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in March and narrowly missed the cut in in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at the start of April. 

In a busy and productive 2026 schedule, Iwanaga has also competed in Australia, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia, as well as winning the Toyota Junior World Cup on home soil and placing third in the Japan Women’s Amateur.

In January, she was third in the Women’s Australian Masters of the Amateur and runner-up at the following week’s adidas Australian Women’s Amateur. A month later she finished 23rd in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific at Royal Wellington in New Zealand before joining forces with Yurina Hiroyoshi and Ai Goto to help Japan win the Asia-Pacific Women’s Amateur Team Championship for the Queen Sirikit Cup in Indonesia, where she was third individually.

Currently 16th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Iwanaga has enjoyed an outstanding run of form over the past two years. In 2025, Iwanaga recorded seven victories in WAGR-counting events.

Iwanaga can expect to face stiff opposition from a high-quality field that includes 22 players from the Asia-Pacific region, representing eight countries and territories – Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

Among them are three other high-profile Asian players – China’s Liu Yujie (20th in the WAGR), Korean Kim Seo-ah (30th) and Hong Kong, China’s Arianna Lau (32nd).

Other standouts include Singaporean Chen Xingtong, who is aiming to go one better than her runner-up performance in the US Girls’ Junior Championship last year, Australian Amelia Harris, a six-time winner in 2026 to date, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Jie-en, fifth individually at the Queen Sirikit Cup, and Hong Kong, China’s precocious 14-year-old Sabrina Wong.

Following 36 holes of stroke play (July 13-14), the low 64 scorers will advance to match play. If necessary, a play-off will be conducted to cut down to 64 players. The final is scheduled for Saturday.