AJGA juniors and alumni to compete in LPGA major

Three players, Nelly Korda of Bradenton, Fla., Angel Yin of Arcadia, Calif., and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ontario, are active members of the AJGA. Korda, a 15-year-old high school sophomore from Bradenton, Fla., made headlines at the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open when she made the cut alongside her sister, Jessica. Yin is the only current AJGA player who competed at the 2013 Kraft Nabisco Championship. She made the cut in 2013 and did so as the youngest player in the field at 14 years old, finishing T-55.

Along with Yin, AJGA alumnae Alison Lee of Valencia, Calif., and Ashlan Ramsey of Milledgeville, Ga., will return to the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Lee played as a high school junior in 2012, while Ramsey finished T48 at the 2013 tournament.

Of the nine current and former AJGA players invited, only one, Minjee Lee, will make her major championship debut.

Other AJGA alum competing include University of Alabama’s Emma Talley and USC sophomore Annie Park. Also receiving an invitation was Stanford sophomore Mariah Stackhouse, who declined the offer in order to compete at the PING/Arizona State Invitational.

Brooke Henderson, Smiths Falls, Ontario (Class of 2015)
Henderson, a 2015 graduate, has played in six AJGA events, and won the 2011 Genesis Junior at White Beaches and the 2012 Ravenwood Junior Championship. Henderson played in the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open where she finished T-59. The 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship will be her second LPGA major and her fourth LPGA TOUR event, having played in the 2013 Manulife Financial LPGA Classic and the Canadian Women’s Open.

Nelly Korda, Bradenton, Fla. (Class of 2016)
Korda, a Rolex Junior All-American, is a 2016 graduate in her third AJGA season. Korda finished in a tie for second at the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook hosted by Sean O’Hair. In 2013, Korda appeared in the ANNIKA Invitational, Rolex Girls Junior Championship, The PING Invitational and the Polo Golf Junior Classic. Korda made the cut at the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open, finishing T-64. Korda will play in her first Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Alison Lee, Valencia, Calif. (Class of 2013)
Lee, a six-time Rolex Junior All-American, won a total of nine times throughout her AJGA career. In her final junior golf season, Lee won all three events she played in, competed for the victorious United States squad at the PING Junior Solheim Cup, helped the West team win the Wyndham Cup, and earned the No. 1 spot in the Polo Golf Rankings. A 2013 graduate of Valencia High School, Lee totaled four prestigious wins at AJGA Invitationals: 2013 Rolex Tournament of Champions, 2013 Rolex Girls Junior Championship, 2012 The PING Invitational and 2012 ANNIKA Invitational. By winning the Rolex Tournament of Champions and Rolex Girls Junior Championship, Lee became the first girl since Kellee Booth in 1993 to win both tournaments in the same year. Currently a freshman at UCLA, Lee has won two collegiate events and placed in the top 10 in six of her first seven starts. Lee will play in her second Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Minjee Lee, Perth, Australia (Class of 2013)
Lee, 17, finished her only AJGA event in 11th place at the 2011 Thunderbird International Junior. In her national junior golf career, she put together four top-15 finishes, including a victory at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Lee also won the 2013 and 2014 Australian Women’s Amateur and captured her first professional event victory in February at the Victorian Open. Lee will play in her first Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Annie Park, Levittown, N.Y. (Class of 2013)
Park put together 16 top-five finishes in her national junior golf career including wins at the 2011 Lessing’s AJGA Classic, 2008 AJGA Cliffs Championship and 2008 CNL Lifestyle Company Junior Championship. Park, a sophomore at USC, led University of Southern California to its third NCAA team title and won four individual events in her freshman year. She earned WGCA and Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Year honors. She also won the NCAA Women’s golf individual title in 2013 as a freshman. Park will compete in her first Kraft Nabisco Championship. 

Ashlan Ramsey, Milledgeville, Ga. (Class of 2013)
Ramsey compiled 19 top-five finishes in her national junior golf career, including wins at the 2012 Sea Pines Junior Heritage, the 2010 Burgett H. Mooney, Jr. Rome Classic presented by State Mutual Insurance Company and a runner-up showing at the 2013 Thunderbird International Junior. A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, she was also part of winning PING Junior Solheim Cup teams in 2011 and 2013. A freshman at Clemson University, Ramsey was named ACC Co-Golfer of the Month for October 2013 and won her first individual collegiate title at the Tar Heel Invitational. Ramsey will play in her second Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Mariah Stackhouse, Riverdale, Ga. (Class of 2012)
Stackhouse, a three-time Rolex Junior All-American, finished her AJGA career in 2012 with four AJGA victories under her belt. In 2011, Stackhouse represented the victorious United States at the PING Junior Solheim Cup in Ireland and acted as Player Representative on the AJGA Board of Directors. Stackhouse is currently a sophomore at Stanford, where she has finished in the top 10 in eight of her first nine collegiate events. Stackhouse won the Peg Bernard Invitational, where she set a course record at Stanford Golf Course with a 10-under-par 61, after a front-nine score of 9-under-par 26.

Emma Talley, Princeton, Ky. (Class of 2012)
Talley was named a Rolex Junior All-American from 2008-11 and tallied 10 AJGA career victories. While playing with the AJGA, Talley played in the U.S. Women’s Open and made the trip to Ireland to help the United States claim victory at the PING Junior Solheim Cup. Talley, a 2012 graduate, has since gone on to play for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, where she recorded her first collegiate victory at the 2013 PING/ASU Invitational. In 2013, Talley won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Talley will play in her first Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif. (Class of 2017)
Yin, class of 2017, has 11 top-10 finishes in national junior golf competition including a runner-up finish at the 2012 Polo Golf Junior Classic. She qualified for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the age of 12 and became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2012. Yin was named a Rolex Junior All-American in 2012 and 2013 and will play in her first Kraft Nabisco Championship.