Day one of competition for the World Junior Golf Championships at The Marshes Golf Club could not have gone any better, even more so for the team from the Republic of Korea.
Perfect weather conditions greeted the players from fourteen nations on the final day of Summer. The result was exceptional scoring for many players representing various nations.
The Korean team, making their first appearance in this championship, have the lead after the first round of play.
The team was led on Tuesday by 2015 Korean Women’s Amateur Champion Hye-jin Choi who is tied for the individual lead after a two under par, 70. Her round included five birdies. Her team-mate, Eun-Soo Jang, shot even par while the third member of their squad, Shin Hye Kim, turned in a 76. The two lowest scores (the format for the team portion of the event) resulted in a -2 total score for the Korean team.
“It is hard to pinpoint one particular strength of my game today. I finished with five birdies, but could have had more,” said 16 year-old Choi via her coach as her english is limited. “I missed a few chances that could have led to two or three more birdies. Having a share of the lead is nice because it makes me comfortable heading into the rest of the tournament. I just have to play even better tomorrow now that everyone is warmed up.”
Korean coach Sang-Won Ko says the team can still improve but have all the inspiration required to make them want to play even better. “I told the team that they were leading at lunch, but that they could have been playing even better. I think all three can work on their putting heading into the second round. It is always a great experience to be a member of a team that represents Korea, it’s all the motivation they need.”
Gold and silver medalists from last year, United States and Sweden, respectively, share second place after day one of competition at even par.
American Elizabeth Wang co-holds the individual lead with Choi.
“I started out pretty well with my putting really helping me out,” noted Wang. “I got a little tired on the back nine and my putting suffered. This is a very beautiful course, the greens are pretty firm, each hole is unique and you can definitely score on the course.”
Two teams that will be looking to improve greatly over the next 54 holes will be the squads from Canada.
Team Canada Two made up of B.C. natives Euna Han (Coquitlam), Alisha Lau (Richmond) and Katherine Chan (Richmond) finished at 7-over 151 while Team Canada One consisting of Grace St-Germain (Orleans, Ont.) Hannah Lee (Surrey, B.C.) and Tiffany Kong (Vancouver) were 8-over.
Team Canada Two coach Mike Martz sees positives to be taken from his team’s performance. “I think they did a good job today. They didn’t have the greatest start, but they fought really hard on the back nine to come back two or three shots. They could have just folded, but they pulled everything together and fought back. We will put some work in today and hopefully they will be able to continue to improve tomorrow.”
Individual Scoring Thru 18 Holes
| T1 |  Hye-jin Choi Korea |
-2 | F | -2 | 70 | 70 | ||||
| T1 |  Elizabeth Wang United States of America |
-2 | F | -2 | 70 | 70 | ||||
| 3 |  Carolina Caminoli Italy |
-1 | F | -1 | 71 | 71 | ||||
| T4 |  Anais Meyssonnier France |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 | Eun-soo Jang Korea |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Inci Mehmet England |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Ana Paula Valdes Mexico |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Cecilie Bofill Denmark |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Hannah Green Australia |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Sandra Nordaas Norway |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Anna Backman Finland |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Paz Marfa Sans Spain |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 |  Frida Kinhult Sweden |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T4 | Filippa Moork Sweden |
E | F | E | 72 | 72 | ||||
| T15 | Renate Grimstad Norway |
+1 | F | +1 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| T15 | Puk Lyng Thomsen Denmark |
+1 | F | +1 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| T15 | Line Toft Hansen Denmark |
+1 | F | +1 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| T15 | Elin Esborn Sweden |
+1 | F | +1 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| T19 | Maria Fassi Mexico |
+2 | F | +2 | 74 | 74 | ||||
| T19 | Isabella Fierro Mexico |
+2 | F | +2 | 74 | 74 | ||||
| T19 | Elisabeth Codet France |
+2 | F | +2 | 74 | 74 | ||||
| T19 | Rebecca Kay Australia |
+2 | F | +2 | 74 | 74 | ||||
| T19 | Elena Hualde Zuniga Spain |
+2 | F | +2 | 74 | 74 | ||||
| T19 | Alyaa Abdulghany United States of America |
+2 | F | +2 | 74 | 74 | ||||
| T25 | Pauline Roussin-Bouchard France |
+3 | F | +3 | 75 | 75 | ||||
| T25 | Carlotta Ricolfi Italy |
+3 | F | +3 | 75 | 75 | ||||
| T25 |  Euna Han Canada |
+3 | F | +3 | 75 | 75 | ||||
| T25 | Tiffany Kong Canada |
+3 | F | +3 | 75 | 75 | ||||
| T29 | Shin Hye Kim Korea |
+4 | F | +4 | 76 | 76 | ||||
| T29 |  Wang Ziyi China |
+4 | F | +4 | 76 | 76 | ||||
| T29 | Alisha Lau Canada |
+4 | F | +4 | 76 | 76 | ||||
| T29 | Karis Davisdon Australia |
+4 | F | +4 | 76 | 76 | ||||
| T33 | Maria Herraez Galvez Spain |
+5 | F | +5 | 77 | 77 | ||||
| T33 | Courtney Dow United States of America |
+5 | F | +5 | 77 | 77 | ||||
| T33 | Hannah Lee Canada |
+5 | F | +5 | 77 | 77 | ||||
| T36 | Hollie Muse England |
+6 | F | +6 | 78 | 78 | ||||
| T36 | Angelica Moresco Italy |
+6 | F | +6 | 78 | 78 | ||||
| T36 | Sophie Lamb England |
+6 | F | +6 | 78 | 78 | ||||
| T36 | Daniella Barrett Finland |
+6 | F | +6 | 78 | 78 | ||||
| T36 | Grace St-Germain Canada |
+6 | F | +6 | 78 | 78 | ||||
| 41 | Kathrine Chan Canada |
+7 | F | +7 | 79 | 79 | ||||
| T42 | Jin Man China |
+8 | F | +8 | 80 | 80 | ||||
| T42 | Karoline Lund Norway |
+8 | F | +8 | 80 | 80 | ||||
| 44 | Katri Bakker Finland |
+12 | F | +12 | 84 | 84 |
