Gianna Clemente crashes in final round of USGA Women’s Junior Championship

Gianna Clemente’s first experience at the US Girls’ Junior Championship is not one she will soon forget.

The 14-year-old Estero resident fought her way to Saturday’s 36-hole final at the Club at Old Stone in Bowling Green, Ky. where she lost 3-2 to Henderson’s Yana Wilson , Nevada.

Clemente was 1-up after 26 holes when she hit the flagstick on her third shot on the par-5 9th hole with the ball ricocheting off the edge of the green into the rough. She sank a long putt to tie the hole, but Wilson’s birdie tied the game before the final nine.

Still, it seemed like an ideal position for Clemente, who had lost just four holes in the back nine in five rounds ahead of Saturday’s final, a place she freely admitted she hadn’t expected. to be achieved when the tournament started.

However, on the par-4 10th hole, Clemente’s second shot found the greenside bunker, leading to a bogey. Wilson was able to even the holeshot to take the lead, the one she wouldn’t give up.

Wilson, 15, a quarter-finalist in last year’s championship and 87th in the world women’s amateur golf rankings, won four of the last eight holes of the match. Along with hitting the mast, Clemente also took out two putts that could have tightened the game.

“I think I really need to putt,” Clemente said in a Golf Channel interview after the final. “But I played well. I can’t complain about winning five games. I’m just going to move on to the next one.”

Clemente is slated to play next in the PGA Junior Championships August 2-5 at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Palos Park, Illinois.

Following her runner-up finish, Clemente also received a bye into next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington. This tournament saw Clemente receive national fame in 2019 when she qualified at the age of 11. , the third youngest golfer to compete in the event.

“I’m super excited,” Clemente said of her return to amateur women. “I will definitely have a very good preparation for that.”

From 2019:11-year-old Gianna Clemente makes history at US Women’s Amateur

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A native of Warren, Ohio, Clemente began playing competitive golf at age 5. With her family spending part of the year in Estero, she began working with instructor Spencer Graham at the Quail Creek Country Club in Naples when she was 7 years old. The family recently moved full time to Estero.

Clemente, No. 167 in the World Women’s Amateur Rankings, reached Saturday’s final thanks to one of the best runs of her career. She birdied eight over 13 holes to knock out 16-year-old Colombian Maria Jose Marin, 6th and 5th in the semifinals. Earlier on Friday, Clemente beat 18-year-old Justice Bosio of Australia 3 and 2 in the quarter-finals.

Clemente became the second Southwest Florida-bound golfer to reach the U.S. Junior Women’s Championship. In 1998, Brittany Straza of Fort Myers also finished second in the 50th edition of the tournament, losing 2-down at Merion (Pennsylvania) Golf Club.

Gianna Clemente’s road to the US Girls Junior final

Rounds 1-2: Shot 71-73 to qualify as the 16th seed
64th final: Defeated Jessica Guiser (Hartland, Wisc.) 3&2
Round of 16: Defeated Adrian Anderson (Murrell’s Inlet, SC) 2
Round of 16: Defeated Kiara Romano (St. Jose, CA) 6&4
Quarter-finals: Defeated Judge Bosio (Australia) 2&1
Semi-finals: Defeated Maria Jose Marin (Colombia) 6 and 5

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