A year ago, sixteen-year-old Eun Jeong Seong, of the Republic of Korea, defeated Duke's Virginia Elena Carta, 1 up, to become the first player to win the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior titles in the same year. A few weeks earlier, Seong had defended her U.S. Girls' Junior title. Can 2019 Duke commit, Erica Shepherd, become the second player in history to pull off this double-USGA championship a few weeks? She, along with 155 other competitors, will have the opportunity to win the U.S. Women's Am this week at San Diego Country Club in Southern California.
Shepherd is one of over 60 players in the field that have yet to enroll in college. There are 47 players in the field that play a lot of junior golf in the United States, below is a list of these players ordered by their WAGR ranking:
| Player | State/Country | Year | WAGR | JGS | Rolex | GW | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Heck | Tenn. | 2020 | 38 | 3 | 2 | 3 | Stanford |
| Yujeong Son | Republic of Korea | 2019 | 53 | 11 | 11 | 9 | |
| Yuka Saso | Philippines | 2019 | 58 | 133 | 9 | ||
| Isabella Fierro | Mexico | 2019 | 84 | 17 | 38 | 11 | |
| Jennifer Chang | N.C. | 2018 | 87 | 19 | 9 | 15 | USC |
| Mathilde Claisse | France | 2019 | 102 | 372 | 12 | ||
| Elizabeth Wang | Calif. | 2018 | 113 | 18 | 21 | 8 | |
| Calista Reyes | Calif. | 2018 | 136 | 39 | 12 | 17 | |
| Brooke Seay | Calif. | 2019 | 162 | 25 | 10 | 22 | |
| Alexa Pano | Fla. | 2022 | 204 | 67 | 24 | 32 | |
| Youngin Chun | Fla. | 2018 | 207 | 14 | 7 | 11 | |
| Erica Shepherd | Ind. | 2019 | 226 | 12 | 6 | 7 | Duke |
| Lucy Li | Calif. | 2020 | 248 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Michaela Morard | Ala. | 2020 | 260 | 24 | 29 | 30 | Alabama |
| Hailee Cooper | Texas | 2018 | 284 | 15 | 49 | 31 | Texas |
| Sabrina Iqbal | Calif. | 2018 | 288 | 78 | 42 | 25 | TCU |
| Rose Zhang | Calif. | 2021 | 346 | 10 | 8 | 12 | |
| Tze Han Lin | Chinese Taipei | 2018 | 380 | 216 | 25 | ||
| Han Hsuan Yu | Chinese Taipei | 2018 | 449 | 486 | 234 | ||
| Elle Nachmann | Fla. | 2021 | 482 | 49 | 123 | 79 | |
| Hailey Jones | Texas | 2019 | 682 | 33 | 15 | 35 | |
| Kornkamol Sukaree | Thailand | 2018 | 766 | 52 | 59 | 74 | |
| Gurleen Kaur | Texas | 2018 | 823 | 20 | 32 | 21 | Baylor |
| Alyssa Lamoureux | Fla. | 2018 | 956 | 122 | 47 | 68 | Central Florida |
| Kathrine Chan | Canada | 2018 | 1077 | 116 | 109 | 88 | |
| Haylin Harris | Ind. | 2018 | 1111 | 65 | 31 | 41 | Michigan State |
| Siyan Chen | People's Republic of China | 2019 | 1211 | 115 | 123 | 105 | |
| Chia Yen Wu | Chinese Taipei | 2022 | 1403 | 372 | 167 | ||
| Siqin Yu | People's Republic of China | 2020 | 1603 | 154 | 75 | 104 | |
| Latanna Stone | Fla. | 2019 | 1734 | 259 | 140 | 126 | |
| Ramya Meenakshisundaram | Fla. | 2018 | 1826 | 193 | 597 | 110 | |
| Zoe Antoinette Campos | Calif. | 2021 | 1886 | 16 | 27 | 52 | |
| Annie Kim | Republic of Korea | 2018 | 1894 | 188 | 228 | 129 | |
| Kailie Vongsaga | Calif. | 2019 | 1933 | 55 | 64 | 55 | UCLA |
| Bohyun Park | Republic of Korea | 2021 | 2294 | 179 | 19 | ||
| Alexis Florio | R.I. | 2018 | 2302 | 389 | 479 | 310 | |
| Coco Chai | People's Republic of China | 2018 | 2382 | 597 | 98 | 139 | |
| Jingfan Deng | People's Republic of China | 2020 | 2418 | 89 | 143 | 130 | |
| Ruqing Guan | People's Republic of China | 2018 | 23 | 30 | 24 | Boston College | |
| Briana Chacon | Calif. | 2019 | 56 | 62 | 50 | Oregon | |
| Julia Gregg | Texas | 2019 | 103 | 99 | 80 | ||
| Alexa Rivas | Fla. | 2018 | 272 | 336 | 155 | ||
| Angela Garvin | Mass. | 2019 | 331 | 611 | 333 | ||
| Victoria Hwang | Fla. | 2021 | 371 | 297 | 211 | ||
| Megha Ganne | N.J. | 2022 | 467 | 372 | 303 | ||
| Leila Raines | Ohio | 2020 | 514 | 251 | 289 | ||
| Antonia Malate | Calif. | 2018 | 569 | 821 | 332 |
WAGR = World Amateur Golf Rankings
JGS = Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings
Rolex = Rolex AJGA rankings
GW = Golfweek rankings
Shepherd won the U.S. Girls' Am just two weeks ago at Boone Valley Golf Club, in Missouri, with a gutsy 3-and-2 win over fellow U.S. Women's Am competitor Jennifer Chang. Chang is a 2018 commitment for Southern Cal. This followed a difficult night after her semifinal match ended with her opponent quickly sweeping back a putt on the 19th hole before it could be conceded. I spoke with Erica a few days after this, while she was watching her brother compete at the Boys PGA Junior Championship, and the abuse she took (along with her caddie/coach), especially from adults on Twitter and other social media outlets made for a very difficult Friday evening and Saturday. Comments from some college coaches that recruited her, hurt the most. When I met her, on that following Monday, you could tell it was still a championship filled with mix emotions for this young lady. (It's not a great consolation prize, but she made a huge fan out of me. She's a terrific young lady who also followed some of her Wyndham Cup teammates at the PGA Boys. She had a quick smile and was appreciative of all the congratulations she received from other spectators at that event).
Shepherd and Chang are just two of 27 players that competed at Boone Valley. The top ranked junior in the field is Lucy Li. The 2020 prospect was the medalist at the U.S. Girls' and qualified for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, becoming the youngest qualifier in history at 11 years, 8 months and 19 days old. She became the youngest competitor in U.S. Women’s Amateur history in 2013 at 10, a month after she became the youngest competitor in history to advance to match play in a USGA championship, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. This will be her third U.S. Women’s Amateur following 2013 and 2016, when she missed the cut and made it to the Round of 32, respectively.
Rachel Heck, 2020 commit to Stanford, finished tied for 33rd in the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, to earn an exemption for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Local fans should be familiar with 2019 prospect Brooke Seay, of San Diego, Calif., who hit the ceremonial first tee shot in the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in 2013. She earned an exemption by finishing tied for 60th at the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open.
Youth is served well this year, Elle Nachmann will be a 2021 high school graduate. A few years ago, when she was 12, she won 2 AJGA events, the youngest player to do so in the elite junior tour. (Her older brother, Alec, will be playing next week in the U.S. Amateur at Riviera). Then there is Alexa Pano, a 2022 player who has a bright future in golf. You've seen her at the Drive, Chip & Putt (a 2-time champion) and in the documentary, "The Short Game". As the youngest competitor in the field, she is coming off a loss in the round of 16 at the U.S. Girls'. This is her second U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Be sure to tune into FS1 for television coverage beginning with Wednesday's first round of match play. Today and tomorrow, stroke play will determine the top 64 players who will then battle it out over 5 rounds of 18 hole match play, then a 36 hole final on Saturday.
