It's only February, but the second major junior event in girl's golf gets underway tomorrow in Valencia, California, at TPC Valencia. The American Junior Golf Association's inaugural Buick Shanshan Feng Girls Invitational features 72 of some of the top girl's in junior golf. This year, thanks to the AJGA's partnership with the Symetra Tour (which is the qualifying tour for the LPGA), the winner of the LPGA Tour pro Shanshan Feng's AJGA Invitational will receive an exemption into the Symetra Tour's IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont, California.
This will be the second such chance already this year for junior girls, as Angelina Ye (a 2019 Stanford commit) won last month's ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex, another AJGA Invitational that granted Angelina an exemption into the Symetra Tour's Natural Charity Classic at the Country Club of Winter Haven in Winter Haven, Florida, this March.
The highest ranked player is Isabella Fierro of Campeche, Mexico. She is ranked 54th in the WAGR and has committed to play college golf at Oklahoma State beginning in the fall of 2019. She has had a stellar junior career, having won Junior World's a few times in San Diego, as well as qualifying for the U.S. Women's Amateur. Her 2009 win at Junior World's got her a congratulatory letter from the President of Mexico.
Another top player is Zoe Antoinette Campos, a 2021 pledge to ULCA, who is ranked 118th in the WAGR, as well as being a concensus top 5 player in here graduating class. She participated in last years U.S. Girls' Junior and has a pair of AJGA tournament victories.
A pair of 2017 PING Junior Solheim Cup players for Team USA are in the field. Rose Zhang is the top ranked girl in the 2021 class, as well as ranking 156th in the WAGR. She is a two-time Rolex Junior All-American who was the 2017 winner of the Girls' Junior PGA Championship. She has 2 AJGA victories. Yealimi Noh of Concord, California ranks 183rd in the WAGR. The 2019 UCLA commit is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American. She also participated in the U.S. Women's Amateur last summer. Since 2014, she has played in every U.S. Girls' championship (that's four in a row).
Nicole Whiston is a top 10 player in the class of 2019 and is commited to the University of Tennessee. She has played in the past two U.S. Women's Amateur and last year's U.S. Girls' Junior. She was a member of last years West Wyndham Cup team, as well.
Knocking on the door of the top 5 in the class of 2020 is Sadie Englemann. She was a co-Medalist at the U.S. Girls' Junior in 2016 and played in last years U.S. Women's Am - having won her qualifier.
All in total, their are 20 players that rank inside the top 10 in their graduating class in the field. It should be a very competitve 54-hole event. You can follow live scoring at:
https://www.ajga.org/microsite/index.asp?tn=2018004#GolfGenius
