There are lots of unknowns when it comes to the USGA Girls' Junior Amateur. You make it at the local qualifier (Brookside CC in Stockton) which is no easy task, only to be faced with hundreds of girls from all over the United States on the national level. Again you are faced with a qualifyng using stroke play format. You've done it before, why not now? Now proves to be difficult for some of our JGANCers as we lost Joy Kim, Samantha Esguerra, Emily Childs and Katrina Delen-Briones to national qualifying sending them home before reaching match play. Disappointing for Emily and Katrina, as this would be their last chance since they will turn 18 before the 2008 event.

Making match play were Alexandra Groetsema, Diane Kwon, Tessa The and Ashley Edwards. All these girls lost their first match except for Tessa The. And Tessa proved she had what it took. She went all the way to make the top 16, quite a feat when considering the competition. Losing all of our top girls seemed to put the JGANC banner on Tessa's shoulders. She carried it well and we are so proud of her.

Tessa's second match putting her in the top 16 was no ordinary match. It will be one she will remember her entire golfing career. Even the USGA wrote a story (see below) about it on their website.

Notebook: Tessa Has Quite The Comeback To Oust Okada
By David Shefter, USGA

Lakewood, Wash. – You could say Tessa The has had quite a week so far at Tacoma Country and Golf Club. Tessa The had the comeback of the championship in her 19-hole win over Elyse Okada. (Robert Walker/USGA)

On Monday, she was the playing marker for Kimberly Kim’s U.S. Girls’ Junior record-tying 62 that shattered the competitive course record by three strokes.

Then on Wednesday afternoon, the 15-year-old from Los Altos, Calif., created a little historic moment for herself. Five down with five holes to play in a second-round match against Elyse Okada of Kahului, Hawaii, The looked like she would be heading home to northern California earlier than she wanted.

But strange things can happen in match play, as The (pronounced Tay) and Okada found out. The pieced together a remarkable comeback, posting four birdies in a six-hole stretch to earn a 19-hole victory. The advances to play Haley Sanders of Rogers, Ark., in the third round Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. PDT.

“I wasn’t even thinking anything,” said The. “I couldn’t even think. Oh my goodness, it still hasn’t sunk in that I actually won.”

The rally started innocently, with a winning par at 14. Then The stuck her 6-iron tee shot to 15 feet for a birdie at the par-3 15th. At the par-5 16th hole, her 8-iron approach from 140 yards stopped 2 feet from the hole for another birdie. Now The was 2 down with two to play.

She thought it was over at 17 when Okada’s recovery shot on the par-3 hole stopped 5 feet from the flagstick.

“I was telling my caddie [before her putt], ‘OK, at least I had a good comeback,’ ” said The. “I was expecting her to make it because she was making all her putts.”

Not this time. The putt hit the edge of the hole and lipped out. Suddenly, The was headed to the 18th tee trailing by only one.

At the 499-yard par-5 hole, The’s approach stopped 7 feet from the flagstick. She made the birdie putt to square the match. And at the first extra hole, she made a 10-foot birdie putt to complete the comeback.

“Incredible,” said The, who plays at the same home club in Pleasanton, Calif. (Castlewood C.C.) that 2004 USA Curtis Cupper Paula Creamer grew up playing. “I didn’t even know I could pull this off.”

The has about 14 hours to refocus and rest up for her third-round opponent.

“I need to breathe,” she said. “That’s what my caddie [Mat Miller] tells me to do.”

 

QUALIFYING SCORES

Alexandra Groetsema 70-75=145
Diane Kwon 70-76=146
Tessa The 71-79=150
Ashley Edwards 71-79=150

 

MISSED CUT
Joy Kim 77-75=152
Samantha Esguerra 79-75=154
Emily Childs 73-82=155
Katrina Delen-Briones 80-80=160

 

MATCH PLAY

1st Round:
Brittany Altomare, Shrewsbury, Mass. def. Diane Kwon 20th hole

Tessa The def. Jane Rah, Torrance, CA 5-3

Mitsuki Katahara, Japan def. Alexandra Groetsema 2-1

Sue Kim, Canada def. Ashley Edwards 5-4

Second Round (Top 32):
Tessa The def. Elyse Okada, Kahuhui, Hawaii 19th hole (after winning last five holes!)

Third Round (Top 16)
Haley Sanders, Rogers, Arkansas def. Tessa The 3-1