The 30th Rolex Girls Junior Championship will take place June 14-18 in Gainesville, Virginia. The all-girls Invitational brings the top-ranked junior golfers in the world to compete at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club for a 72-hole, stroke-play tournament.
The Rolex Girls Junior Championship, organized in partnership between Rolex, the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, will challenge the 72 AJGA golfers invited to play through the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
About the Field
- 28 college commits
- Two Virginia natives
- Seven international countries represented
About the Course
- Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
- Jones is referred to as "the father of modern golf course architecture"
- He built and remodeled over 450 courses in the US and throughout the world during his career
- Jones considered the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club his masterpiece and envisioned a championship course that would provide a retreat in the Washington, D.C. area
- The club hosted the first four Presidents Cup tournaments held in the United States
AJGA Champion Highlights
There are several notable AJGA champions in the field at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship:
- Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston, New York, is the top-ranked player in the field this week at No. 5 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. She's had quite the start to 2021 with wins at the Kathy Whitworth Invitational and the Sung Hyun Park Junior Championship. Shoemaker is committed to the University of Southern California.
- Yunxuan (Michelle) Zhang of Plano, Texas, enters the week at No. 6 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. The Southern Methodist University commit has won an AJGA tournament in each of the last three years. Zhang won the 2019 AJGA Junior All-Star at Squaw Creek, the 2020 Under Armour® / Jordan Spieth Championship, and the 2021 Sergio and Angela Garcia Foundation Junior Championship.
- Sara Im of Duluth, Georgia, is a six-time AJGA champion. She already has one win this year at the AJGA Carolina Trace Junior. Im is No. 21 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
- Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Florida, is seeking her second Rolex Girls Junior Championship title this week. Pano's 2019 victory propelled her into a spot on the victorious U.S. Team at the PING Junior Solheim Cup that fall. In addition to those victories, Pano won the 2020 Kathy Whitworth Invitational. She's No. 39 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Tournament History
The Rolex Girls Junior Championship has occurred annually since 1992.
Welcoming the AJGA for the first time, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is the latest in a line of iconic venues to host the storied tournament.
Noteworthy host courses have included:
- LPGA International – Champions and Legends Courses
- Long Cove Club
- The Country Club of North Carolina – Dogwood Course
- Promontory Club – Dye Canyon Course
- Dalhousie Golf Club
Notable past champions
include:
- Rose Zhang (2020)
- Rachel Heck (2017)
- Alison Lee (2013)
- Ariya Jutanugarn (2011, 2012)
- Morgan Pressel (2005)
- Paula Creamer (2003)
- Inbee Park (2002)
- Brittany Lang (2001)
- Kellee Booth (1992, 1993)
14 of the Top-25 Players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings
5 Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston, New York
6 Yunxuan (Michelle) Zhang of Plano, Texas
8 Brooke Biermann of Wildwood, Missouri
11 Catherine Rao of Camarillo, California
14 Anna Davis of Spring Valley, California
15 Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada
16 Leigh Chien of Irvine, California
17 Avery Zweig of McKinney, Texas
19 Sophie-Zhang Murphy of Saratoga, California
20 Casey Weidenfeld of Pembroke Pines, Florida
21 Sara Im of Duluth, Georgia
22 Kynadie Adams of Nashville, Tennessee
24 Jaclyn LaHa of Pleasanton, California
25 Lynn Lim of Gallatin, Tennessee
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