CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Birdies have been few and far between at Columbia Country Club so far this week at the U.S. Girls’ Junior, and the opening round of match play was no different.
Take stroke-play medalist Rose Zhang, for example. The 18-year-old incoming freshman at Stanford was first out Wednesday morning and made quick work of her opponent, winning 6-and-4 by claiming seven holes, only two with birdie.
“Overall I think I played pretty solid. I had a very solid game plan of just trying to minimize any mistakes,” said the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. “I know I am playing against another competitor, and in match play you can’t really think about the first two days. When you go out there you have to be able to bring out your game, and that’s what I tried to do.”
“I just played consistent, par golf, and that really helped me,” said Zhang, whose 8-under 62 on Tuesday was a course record.
Scores: U.S. Girls’ Junior
All business.
The No. 1 amateur in the world, Rose Zhang, is on to the #USGirlsJunior Round of 32 after a 6-and-4 victory on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/Kf6jbXx2Hn
— USGA (@USGA) July 14, 2021
That match set the pace for the day, with par being good enough to win a lot of the time at the hilly course just outside Washington, D.C. Caddies and members like to joke that there are only two flat lies at Columbia, on the tee and in your pocket.
Five of the top-10 seeds lost and four matches went to extra holes, including two that went to 21 holes. Rianne Mikhaela Malixi beat Kynadie Adams to set up a Thursday morning match against Zhang, while Isabella Van der Biest defeated Lion Higo.
Yunxuan Zhang birdied the 18th hole to take Lauren Sammon to a playoff, where she made another birdie for the win. The dramatic victory of the day came late in the afternoon, courtesy of local talent Bailey Davis. The White Plains, Maryland, native was back-and-forth with Chloe Johnson all match before holing out from 75 yards out for eagle to win on the first extra hole.
“That was probably my best shot of my golf career,” said Davis, who’s bound for Tennessee this fall. “I pretty much knew she was out of the hole at that point, she wasn’t going to make birdie, so I was really just trying to make par, so I said, ‘Just put it on the green, try to put it close if you can, but really we just want to walk away with a two-putt.’”
“My caddie said, ‘If you put it in the hole I’m giving you $500,’ and I put it in the hole.”
The big upset of the day was Avery Zweig’s 4-and-2 defeat of No. 2 seed Xin (Cindy) Kou. Zweig qualified for match play via a 9-for-4 playoff Tuesday night that she almost didn’t return for. The 14-year-old, who made her LPGA debut last week, was at the hotel eating Cheesecake Factory when she realized she had a shot.
“And then my caddie was like, ‘Well, if it’s more than a 4-for-1 I don’t think we’re going to go.’ And then at that time it was 9-for-1 or something, and I said, ‘Well, I at least need to try,’” explained Zweig.
Good thing she did.
Thursday’s Round of 32 matches begin at 7 a.m. ET, with the Round of 16 to follow in the afternoon. The full list of matches can be found here.
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