Sixteen-year-old Ha Young Chang carded three birdies on the first nine holes and then rolled to a 4-under 68 in Monday’s opening round of the Canadian Junior Girls Golf Championship.
Chang, of Surrey, B.C., has a two-shot lead over Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., and three-shot lead over Addison Kartusch of Winnipeg, Man., and Vanessa Zhang of Vancouver.
“I think I played really well today, made a lot of birdies on the par 5s, but I made one bogey where I pulled my drive, but I kept strong,” said Chang after handling the humid conditions at Marine Drive Golf Club.
“I tried to stay calm by making more pars and keeping it steady and I just feel really amazing because I want to keep it up and play more steady golf heading into [Tuesday’s] round.”
Chang is enjoying a successful season highlighted by finishing as runner-up and breaking a course record with a round of 65 at last month’s 119th B.C. Women’s Amateur at Balfour Golf Course in Balfour, B.C. She also placed first in the amateur division of GolfBC’s Group BC Women’s Open.
Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C., is currently fifth at even par. Luna Lu of Burnaby, B.C., Swetha Sathish of Oakville, Ont., and Clairey Lin of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., are all heading into the second round tied for sixth place, five strokes back of Chang.
Team British Columbia, consisting of Chang, Amy Seung Hyun Lee of Langley, B.C., and Chelsea Truong of Victoria, B.C., leads the Inter-Provincial team competition at even par and takes a four-shot lead over Team Manitoba into Tuesday’s second round.
Team Manitoba is represented by Kartusch, Jeri Laflech of Winnipeg, and Cala Korman of Killarney, Man.
The 2024 Canadian Junior Girls champion will receive an exemption into the 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and 2025 U.S. Girls Junior Championship, if eligible. In addition, the winner will receive $1,200.