A berth in the Sweet Sixteen isn’t the only prize up for grabs Thursday morning when the lone North Carolina player remaining in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship plays in the Round of 32 at Old Chatham Golf Club.
Anna June Hannant of Pikeville held a commanding four-hole lead when Savera Sandhu of Ashburn, Virginia, conceded with four holes left to play.
Hannant’s opponent at 9:27 a.m. is Keya Niak of … believe it or not, Ashburn, Virginia, a suburb of Washington with a population of about 50,000. So, Hannant, who lives on a farm, could win impressive bragging rights in a booming area near the nation’s capital.
Hannant dominated Sandhu from the start, winning the opening hole then stretching the advance to 4-up after six holes. Sandhu fought back to win three straight beginning at 8 to cut the lead to one hole. But Hannant won Nos. 11, 12 and 14 before Sandhu conceded.
Jenna Kim of Raleigh dropped a 3 and 2 first-round outcome to Jade Lee of Walnut, California. Eight of the top 10 seeds won first-round matches.
In perhaps the day’s biggest surprise, Juliet Oh of Diamond Bar, Calif., who earned one of the two final spots in the bracket through a 6-for-2 morning playoff, defeated No. 2 seed Yujie Liu of China 1-up.
