Eight AJGA members compete in U.S. Open Championships

Will Grimmer is the only AJGA boy who qualified for the U.S. Open Championship . The 2014 U.S. Open Championship is being played at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club on Course No. 2 from June 12-15 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

This will be Grimmer’s first U.S. Open Championship. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native won the Memorial Junior in 2013. He also finished second at the 2013 Coca-Cola Junior Championship at Boyne Highlands and T6 at the 2014 Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club. Grimmer is a verbal commit to Ohio State. In 2013 at the North & South Junior Championship, Grimmer shot a second-round score of 11-under-par 59 . He took fourth overall with a six-under-par 204.

Seven current AJGA players qualified to play in the U.S. Women’s Open  while five current players are alternates. A current AJGA player has never won the coveted championship trophy. Jessica Korda came the closest after finishing T19 in 2008. The 2014 U.S. Women’s Open Championship will be played at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club on course No. 2 from June 17-22 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Mathilda Cappeliez of Publier, France, currently No. 86 in the Polo Golf Rankings, qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Open Championship. She posted top finishes in 2014 at the ANNIKA Invitational and Thunderbird International Junior, placing T6 and 15th, respectively.

Currently T80 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Madison Kerley of Scottsdale, Arizona, qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Open. The 16-year-old has had seven top-10 AJGA finishes since 2013 and has verbally committed to Arizona State University.

“Going into the qualifier I wasn’t expecting anything,” Kerley said. “But I was playing well and I knew that if I just played to my ability and how I was playing recently I knew I would do well, and I did.”

For the second time in three years, 16-year-old Megan Khang of Rockland, Massachusetts, qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open. Currently No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings, the Rolex Junior All-American claimed the 2013 PING Invitational title for her first AJGA victory and tied for second at the 2014 ANNIKA Invitational. She has played in four U.S. Girls’ Junior Championships.

“Since this isn’t my first time qualifying, I am not as star struck as I was the first time and I feel more prepared,” Khang said. “It still means a lot to me, it is the U.S. Women’s Open.”

No. 1-ranked Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, California, a three-time Rolex Junior All-American, qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time. The 2014 Thunderbird International Junior runner-up and two-time Wyndham Cup participant has verbally committed to Stanford University.

Rolex Junior All-American Kathleen Scavo of Benicia, California, qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Open after being an alternate in 2013. The 2013 Wyndham Cup participant is currently No. 42 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to the University of Oregon.

“I played in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship when I was younger at Pinehurst for five straight years,” Scavo said. “When I left there at the age of 12 I said to myself, ‘In 2014 you are going to come back for the U.S. Women’s Open when you are a junior in high school.’ I feel like I have accomplished a goal of mine and it shows that my hard work and dedication to the game has paid off.”

At No. 32 in the Polo Golf Rankings, China’s Yuting Shi, the 2014 ANNIKA Invitational runner-up, also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open.

Bailey Tardy of Norcross, Georgia, a three-time AJGA champion, qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Open. The Rolex Junior All-American recently tied for third at the Thunderbird International Junior. Tardy currently sits at No. 12 in the Polo Golf Rankings and has verbally committed to the University of Georgia.

Isabella DiLisio: Winner of 2011 Junior All-Star at Penn State, University of Notre Dame commit

Mariel Galdiano: Rolex Junior All-American, qualified for Women’s U.S. Open in 2011 and 2013, UCLA commit       
Maria Fassi: Tied for fifth at 2014 Under Armour® / Hunter Mahan Championship, runner-up at 2013 Genesis Shootout presented by the Valero Texas Open, 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship participant

Yoonhee Kim: 2014 Preseason Junior at Diablo Grande medalist

Clare Amelia Legaspi: Winner of 2014 PING Phoenix Junior at ASU Karsten