Lei Ye won the 2019 U.S. Girls’’ Junior Golf Championship at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point Saturday, July 27. (USGA/Steven Gibbons photo)

Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

In a tournament that went down to the final hole, Lei Ye, 18, of the People’s Republic of China, won the 71st U.S Girls’ Junior Golf Championship at SentryWorld in Stevens Point Monday through Saturday, July 22-27.

Ye took on Jillian Bourdage, 17, of Tamarac, Fla., in the Championship Match Saturday, where Bourdage had a five-foot putt on the 36th and final hole that would’ve sent the match into extra holes.

However, Bourdage’s putt was just off the mark, while Ye sank a three-foot putt to close out a 1-up victory and claim the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship Title.

“This tournament is the ultimate achievement of junior golf, so yeah, it’s been a perfect ending,” said Ye, who will be a freshman at NCAA Division 1 Stanford University this fall.

“I just under-read it, but I felt really good when I walked over the ball and my aim looked great from where I was standing, and I just gave it my best shot, but that’s golf sometimes,” said Bourdage, who will be a freshman at The Ohio State University in 2020. “They don’t all drop.”

Jillian Bourdage (left) and caddy Scott Bonikowske of Stevens Point react after Bourdage’’s five-foot birdie putt on the 36th hole, which would’ve forced extra holes, didn’’t fall during the final match of the 2019 U.S. Girls’’ Junior Golf Championship at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point Saturday, July 27. (USGA/Steven Gibbons photo)

In the second United States Golf Association (USGA) Championship held at SentryWorld, which also hosted the 1986 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, the U.S Girls’ Junior Golf Championship started play Monday, after severe storms hit the area Friday, July 19, and Saturday July 20, and dumped 3.02 inches of rain on the property.

In the first round of stroke play Monday, 18-year old Yuka Saso of the Philippines shot a 7-under par 65 to lead Ye (68), 15-year old Duke University commit Sophia Bae (68) of Norwood, N.J.; and 17-year old Nicole Adam (68) of Pinehurst, N.C.

“If I wasn’t here (Saturday), I wouldn’t have believed there had been a storm,” said Ye after the opening day. “This course was such in pristine conditions. It’s amazing.

“We had a tornado watch sitting in the locker room,” said Ye. “And today it was in such beautiful condition. They had it perfect for us.”

The second and final day of stroke play took place Tuesday, July 23, and Saso followed with a five-under 67 to earn medalist honors in stroke play and earn the top seed in match play over 17-year old Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (137) of Australia, Bae (139), YoonMin Han (141) of the Republic of Korea, Bourdage (141), Sabrina Iqbal of San Jose (142) and Ye (142).

“The course has been amazing,” said Hinson-Tolchard. “I love it. The greens are really, really pure. You can pick a line and trust it. The fairways are immaculate; they are so nice to play off of. And the 16th is my favorite hole. Just standing there on the tee box and looking at all the flowers, it’s so pretty.”

Following the first two rounds, the field of 156 golfers was cut down to 64 for match play Wednesday, July 24, which began with a series of upsets.

Second-seeded Hinson-Tolchard lost to 63rd-seeded Caroline Hodge of Larchmont, N.Y., in 19 holes; fourth-seeded Han lost to 61st-seeded Kendall Todd of Goodyear, Ariz., 3 and 1; and 56th-seeded Kelly Xu of Claremont, Calif., won 3 and 2 over ninth-seeded Duke University recruit and 2017 U.S Girls’ Junior Champion Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Ind., while 50th-seeded and 2018 U.S Girls’ Junior Runner-up Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Fla., fell 4 and 3 to 15th-seeded Grace Kim of Australia.

Match play continued with the Round of 32 and Round of 16 Thursday, July 25, while the Quarterfinals and Semifinals were held Friday, July 26.

Seventh-seeded Ye, who was born and raised in Shanghai and moved to Florida when she was 16, advanced with a 1-up win in the Quarterfinals over 34th-seeded Brooke Seay of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and then followed with a 3 and 2 win in the Semifinals over 46th-seeded University of Tennessee recruit Nicole Whiston of San Diego, Calif., to advance to the Championship Match Saturday.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Bourdage continued to move through the upper half of the bracket, as she beat 29th-seeded Lauren Beaudreau of Lemont, Ill., 2 and 1 in the Quarterfinals.

Bourdage, whose mother Rita is a Manitowoc native, also has family that lives in Appleton and two cousins who graduated from UWSP, and followed with a 2-up victory over top-seeded Saso in the Semifinals Friday afternoon to advance to the Championship Match.

“I’ve heard the name Sentry World before, but I didn’t realize it was located in Stevens Point, and both my cousins graduated from here,” said Bourdage Friday. “I was telling my cousin, like ‘hey, I think I just got into the U.S. Girls’ Junior, and it’s located at Sentry World in Stevens Point, do you know that course?’ He’s like, ‘oh, that’s an awesome golf course; they have a great flower hole.’

“This place is so amazing, and the chipping greens are phenomenal,” said Bourdage, whose caddy during the tournament was Scott Bonikowske of Stevens Point. “The range is outstanding. The putting greens are so smooth, and just the whole staff here, everyone is so nice and supportive. It’s just a wonderful place to be.”

The 36-hole Championship Match wrapped up the tournament Saturday, and Ye held a 3-up lead over Bourdage going into lunch after the first 18 holes.

Bourdage came back to tie the match by the 26th hole, while Ye won the next hole and never trailed the rest of the way, although she never led by more than 1 up.

Ye birdied the 35th hole to maintain a 1 up lead heading into the 36th and final hole, where Bourdage had a chance to tie the match and force extra holes, but her five-foot putt trailed off to the left and just missed the cup.

Ye followed by sinking a three-foot putt to win 1 up and capture the 71st U.S. Girls’ Junior Golf Championship over Bourdage, who had extended family on hand to watch her tournament run.

“This means so much to me, and my family has been so supportive, they’ve been cheering me on all day and encouraging me, even though I had a rough start,” said Bourdage. “But it’s just nice that they’re always by my side, and it’s amazing to be here and get to spend time with them, too.”

“That last putt, it was three feet, but I was definitely nervous,” said Ye. “It’s a big putt.

“I just told myself, you know, you’ve practiced this thousands and thousands of times, you could do it in your sleep,” she said.