RAH CLAIMS TITLE AT ROLEX GIRLS JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Harigae takes second, Wallace holds on to third

EVERGREEN, Colo. — Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., battled the course to finish with a 4-over-par 74 to become champion at a 3-day total of 217 Friday at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship.

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Rolex Girls Junior Championship was a 54-hole, stroke play event held at Hiwan Golf Club. The 83-player field featured juniors from 24 states, Canada, Mexico and Japan. The course was played at 6,361 yards.

Rah began the round one stroke behind Mina Harigae of Monterey, Calif., but quickly took a one-stroke lead on the second hole which she never relinquished, finishing the tournament at 7-over-par 217.

“This course tests every part of your game.” Rah said of the up and down fairways and undulating greens set in the Rocky Mountains. “I was lucky to be in a position where I could stay patient and calm.”

Throughout the round, Rah, Harigae and Jessica Wallace of Langley, British Columbia, played and joked together in a relaxed nature not typically seen in a round with such high stakes involved.

“It was good to have someone out there to keep me going,” Rah said. “We're all going to take our shots seriously and everything, but we really just had fun out there goofing off between shots and waiting on the tee.”

Harigae took second place after a final-round 7-over-par 77 to finish at 9-over-par 219. Wallace entered the final round in third place and held her position with a 5-over-par 75 for a 10-over-par 220 three-day total. Ayaka Kaneko of Honolulu recorded a tournament-total 223 for fourth. Rounding out the top five, Kimberly Kim of Pahoa, Hawaii, and Allie White of Lancaster, Ohio, both carded 225 3-day totals.

Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. Along with sponsoring the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, Rolex is also the title partner of the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the proprietors of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 foreign countries.

Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.

For more information about the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, please contact National Headquarters at (877) 373-2542.