GRANITEVILLE, South Carolina — The Junior Invitational at Sage Valley had witnessed a number of firsts by the time the gold jacket ceremony arrived on Saturday.
A playoff was required for the first time in the tournament’s history to choose a champion. If that wasn’t enough, both the boys’ and girls’ fields were forced to compete in one-hole playoffs. Caleb Surratt of Indian Trail, North Carolina won the gold medal in the boys’ event, while Amalie Leth-Nissen of Denmark won the gold medal in the girls’ event.
Surratt made his first and last appearances in the Junior Invitational, as the University of Tennessee recruit will be attending college in the fall.
“I’m still trying to digest it.” Golf isn’t what defines me, and it doesn’t determine my self-worth or confidence,” he explained. “On the other hand, it has had a huge impact on my golf career and will undoubtedly boost my confidence going forward.” It just goes to show that my good golf is still good enough.”
Leth-Nissen, on the other hand, will go down in history as the first female winner of the Junior Invitational. After the award presentation, that realization was still settling in.
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for this, and it’s also my first international triumph,” she remarked.
“Unfortunately, I had to punch out, and I hit a pretty fantastic punch out where I could get a wedge in, but it nicked the last branch and landed in the rough.” From then, it was simply a matter of getting it into the playoffs.”
Many competitors will fold if they lose a lead and are forced to play in a playoff circumstance. Surratt stressed the importance of taking each shot one at a time and putting the past behind him.
“I simply kept reminding myself that I have to roll with the punches,” he explained. “That’s what I’ve been thinking all week, and ending bogey-bogey in regulation with one of them not being a horrible shot, it’s very easy to get caught up in that and carry it over.” I thought we did an excellent job of resetting. It was incredible to see how it all came together.”
Bailey Shoemaker, a University of Southern California recruit, appeared to be running away with it heading into Saturday. Leth-Nissen was on a roll after a Friday 68, but she started the day seven strokes back — that is, until she made a birdie putt on No. 18 and gave the first of two unforgettable fist pumps.
“I think I was seven strokes behind going into this round, and I didn’t even consider winning.” It was simply a matter of focusing on my own game and giving it my all. Going into 18 one shot behind and knowing I needed to make that birdie putt, my adrenaline was pounding. It felt so good to get things out of the way.”
The playoff on No. 18 got off to a similar start as the regular hole, but Leth-Nissen struggled to line up her approach shot. She stepped off the ball a couple times to swat away a few bugs, but she was unfazed when she landed the shot on the backside of the green, only 10 feet from the pin.
She was a champion after a putt and another fist pump.
Several of Leth-teammates Nissen’s raced out onto the green after the putt and drenched her with bottles of water in celebration. Among the heated competition, one of the finer parts of this tournament is the opportunity to form lifelong connections.
“It’s really good because hopefully we’ll see each other on tours and stuff in the future,” she added. “So making friendships here is extremely essential.” “It’s great that Sage Valley makes us feel at ease and takes care of everything for us.”
The second round on Friday was momentarily halted due to the prospect of rain in the afternoon. Because there was no lightning in the area, tournament officials felt it was safe to resume play. On the second-nine, however, golfers encountered whirling gusts, adding a new set of challenges to an already challenging course.
After finishing play on Friday, Leth-Nissen said, “It definitely grew longer.” The shots to the green were a little more challenging because it was impossible to tell which way the wind was blowing due of the trees and other obstacles, so you had to improve your short game.
The SVJI Sports Foundation had originally announced the inclusion of a girls’ field in 2019, therefore this event has been three years in the planning. The addition was intended to begin in 2021, however owing to COVID-19 issues, it has to be pushed back a year. The competition proved to be well worth the wait this week.
“Sometimes I wonder if I should be here at all.” “It’s insane to believe that only 24 females were invited,” Virginia commit Jaclyn LaHa remarked on Friday. “It’s a privilege to be one of the first 24 girls, and it’s incredibly great.”
Leth-Nissen (1st), Shoemaker (1st), Alexa Pano (3rd), Megha Ganne (2nd), Jeong Hyun Lee (1st), Shannon Tan (1st), and Avery Zweig (1st) will compete in the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur at the end of the month (1st).
