AJGA junior Yana Wilson took home the 2022 U.S. Girls' Junior championship at The Club at Olde Stone. Wilson already has an impressive golf resume, and now makes room in the trophy case for the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.
Through the stroke-play portion of the event, Wilson was tied for third after two rounds. In round one, Yana made on bogey on the par-4 No. 10, but had five birdies to counteract that hole. She finished round one with a 4-under-par 69. In the second round, Wilson made a bogey on the par-4 No. 4, but had three consecutive birdies on Nos. 10-12. She finished the round with a 2-under-par 71. With a two-day total of 6-under-par 140, Yana was the No. 3 seed for the match-play portion of the event.
In the round of 64, Wilson faced No. 62 seed, AJGA junior Morgan Smith. Smith and Wilson each won a hole through the par-5 No. 2, but Yana quickly won the par-3 No. 3 to stay 1-up. Yana won her third hole of the day on the par-5 No. 9 to bring the match to 2-up in her favor. Smith brought the match back to all-squared after winning the par-5 No. 11 and par-4 No. 15. However, Yana took the match 2&1 after winning the par-3 No. 16 and par-4 No. 17 with two pars.
In the round of 32, Yana faced No. 35 seed, AJGA junior Morgan Ketchum. Ketchum and Wilson battled back and forth in this match. Wilson won the par-5 No. 2 and the par-3 No. 3, but Ketchum proceeded to win the par-4 No. 4 and par-4 No. 5 to keep the match at all-squared. Wilson took the match in her favor on the par-4 No. 6 to go 1-up. Ketchum then went on to win the par-5 No. 9 and par-4 No. 10 to turn the match in her favor for the first time. It was short-lived as Yana won the par-3 No. 13 and ultimately the par-5 No. 18 to win the match 1-up.
Yana faced No. 19 seed, Ting-Hsuan (Tiffany) Huang. Huang, fresh off her North & South Junior Championship win, only won two holes during the match. Wilson went on to win six holes, including three consecutive wins on the par-3 No. 13, par-4 No. 14 and par-4 No. 15. She ended the match on No. 15, 4 & 3. Yana's largest victory margin came during the quarterfinals where she faced No. 43 seed, Nicole Gal. Yana quickly took control of the match, winning four consecutive holes from the par-5 No. 2 to the par-4 No. 5. She recorded another win on the par-5 No. 7 to go 5-up. Nicole won the par-5 No. 9 and the par- 3 No. 13, but Wilson recorded more wins on the par- 4 No. 10 and par-4 No. 14. The match ended on No. 14, with Yana winning 5&4. Wilson competed against No. 18 seed, AJGA junior Sara Im in the semi-finals. After early wins on the par-5 No. 2 and par-4 No. 6 for Im, Wilson found herself 2-down. Wilson quickly won back-to-back holes on the par-5 No. 7 and par-3 No. 8. She proceeded to win three more holes on the back nine, and won the match on the par-3 No. 16 to end the match 3&2 in her favor.
Competing in her first final at the U.S. Girls' Junior, Yana faced No. 16 seed, AJGA junior Gianna Clemente. Clemente and Wilson both recently participated in the Wyndham Cup where they were on the East and West teams, respectively. Gianna won the first of 36 holes in the match, but Wilson was 1-up after 18 holes. After lunch, Clemente won the 19th hole to bring the match to all-squared, but Wilson was able to secure the win on the 34th hole, 3&2. In total, Clemente won six holes throughout the match while Wilson won nine.
Currently ranked at No. 7 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, Wilson most recently won the 2022 Hilton Grand Vacations ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex and the 2022 Wyndham Cup with the West team. She was a 2021 Rolex Junior All-American, and has represented the USA in the 2021 PING Junior Solheim Cup.