Sunday, July 26, 2009

B.C. looks to take top honours at 2009 Girls Junior America's Cup

LOGAN, UTAH - Earning a spot in this week’s Girls Junior America's Cup is a huge honour – and B.C.’s four-girl team is a force to be reckoned with.

Last year’s event held at Willow Park Country Club in Calgary, Alberta saw Team B.C. finish in second and team member, Christine Wong finish as low medalist – best finish ever for a Canadian team.

The annual event, in which 18 teams from multiple western states, Canada and Mexico form four-person squads to compete in a 54-hole team tournament, will be held at Logan Golf and Country Club, July 28-30. It is only the second time in the 32-year history of the event that the tournament will be held in Utah.

Last year’s low medalist, Christine Wong of Richmond, B.C. and Port Coquitlam’s Soo Bin Kim, the 2008 Canadian Junior and Juvenile Girls’ champion join Jennifer Yang of Coquitlam, B.C. and Lauren Taylor of Nelson, B.C. form a solid provincial team prepared to take on top juniors from Utah, Mexico, Alberta, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming and California.

“I’ve really been looking forward to this” says Wong. “We have another great team this year and I want to bring home the gold.”

Wong recently returned from San Diego after playing in the Callaway Junior World Championships at Torrey Pines Golf Course and finished tied for fourth. Kim finished runner-up in the B.C. Women’s Amateur and the B.C. Junior Girls’ earlier this month.

The Girls' Junior America's Cup is a showcase team event in the western portion of the country for girls, ages 17 and under. The tournament features seventeen association teams from eleven western states, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Representing each association are four junior girls. Team members exemplify not only outstanding skill, but also true sportsmanship, discipline, courtesy and character.

The tournament passes to a different host association each year. Hosting this year’s girls' competition is the Utah Golf Association, July 28 -30 at Logan Golf and Country Club in Logan, Utah.

Lorena Ochoa, the LPGA’s top-rated player, is a three-time champion of this event. Other former competitors in the Girls Junior America’s Cup include six-time LPGA winner and Solheim Cup competitor Pat Hurst and LPGA star and fellow Solheim Cup competitor Natalie Gulbis.

The last time the Girls Junior America’s Cup was played in Utah was in 1991 at Ogden Golf and Country Club.

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