Tickets Punched to JGTA Invitational

A historic tournament week took place at The Southern Junior, hosted by Zhuhai Golden Gulf Golf Club. The week was filled with many achievements that had yet to be accomplished on the JGTA – achievements that were a long-time coming. Champions have been crowned and their tickets have been punched to the JGTA Championship Invitational; taking place June 16-19 at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China.

After 54 holes of play, three competitors from Taiwan found themselves in a sudden-death playoff to take home the hardware. Kai-Chun Hsu (2021), Jui Shen Lee (2020) and 2018-2019 JGTA Junior All-Asia Team Member Hsiao Che Yang (2021) headed back to the 9^th tee. Hsu hit his drive down the center of the fairway, Lee’s ball landed in the righthand rough, narrowly missing the fairway, and Yang found himself in a left-side fairway bunker. Hsu then miss hit his approach into a greenside bunker, Lee left himself an uphill 15-footer, and Yang left himself with a slippery 20 footer. Hsu got up and down for par, leaving the door open for Yang and Lee to take the trophy. Yang narrowly missed his put and Lee drained his for birdie, crowning him the first JGTA Champion from Taiwan.

“There were a lot of good players at this tournament and I am so glad to have this trophy. After the playoff hole I called my dad and teared up. Thank you TaylorMade for supporting us as well as Zhuhai Golden Gulf Golf Club.”

Taking home the trophy for the Girl’s Division is Jiabao Song (2022) of Shanghai, China, firing 77-71-74. Song had four birdies this week and this is her first JGTA victory. Her come from behind victory will put her atop the Junior Order of Merit rankings. Last season in The Southern Junior, she finished 10^th.

“I played very stable in the final round on the front-nine. I got nervous on the back nine but I didn’t give up. This is my first JGTA win and I am very happy to win. Thank you to my parents, thank you Golden Gulf Golf Club for supporting this event, and thank you TaylorMade.”

Finishing in second place in the Girl’s Division was Wenlu Su (2021) of Guangzhou, China, trailing Song by just one stroke. This is Su’s best JGTA finish to date, and it comes after spending her entire summer competing on the AJGA circuit. Finishing in third place was Surapa Janthamunee (2022) of Songhkla, Thailand.

The winners of this event will become the highest ranked players on the Junior Order of Merit, the official ranking system of the tour and source for AJGA PBE Status in Asia. To keep their ranking up, they will have to continue to play well on the JGTA.

Adding to today’s excitement, Honghong Zhou (2021) of Beijing, China made the first ever hole-in-one in JGTA history on the par-3 fifth.

“This was my third hole-in-one in my career. I was very excited to see it go in”.

It was a special week here in Zhuhai, stay tuned for more from the JGTA.