Welsh Ladies Open Strokeplay Victory for Julie Yang

Sunday 02 May 2010 

14-year-old Korean Julie Yang of Loretto School won the GUW Open Strokeplay at Southerndown with a 6-under-par total of 216.

It took a sudden-death playoff to settle the title after Nikki Foster of Pleasington had fought her way into contention with a superb 5-under-par round of 69.  But on the first extra hole Nikki saw her second shot land on the bank just short of the green and roll down the slope away from the hole.  Julie responded with a confident iron to the heart of the green and had no difficulty in securing her par and a memorable victory.

Rachael Watton was 22nd 

Julie has played against Gullane twice with Houlston / Simpson having been proud to come away with a half in September whilst  the Houlston / Wilson combo lost in March to Yang / Munsey

Courtesy of Kirkwood Golf 

So Who is Julie Yang ? 

So who is Julie Yang? If she remains in this country, the 14 going on 15 year old may be about to make quite an impact on open tournaments.

Of South Korean extraction, Julie was based at Phoenix when she became the youngest ever winner of an American Junior Golf Association tournament in August 2007 - when she was only 12 years, 1 month and 8 days old!

In fact, in 2004, her CV credits her with winning the World Junior Masters in 2004. That would make her only eight years of age, so it must have been a Wee Wonders type of event.

If, like me, you might ask: "Why didn't Julie play in the Scottish Under-16 girls' open championship in early April because she enrolled at Loretto last September?" The answer to that one, very kindly supplied to me by Lesley Atkins' mother, is that Julie was in Thailand at that time.

The next question is: "Why didn't Miss Yang play in the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur championship at Troon last weekend?"

Again, Mrs Atkins provides me with the answer: " Julie couldn't play at Troon because she was down at Oulton Hall, near Leeds helping Loretto finished second to Millfield in the Grand Finals of the Independent Schools Golf Assocation champion on April 25 and 26."

So, now you know more than most people about Julie Yang the 14-year-old who is the new Welsh women's open amateur stroke-play champion. If she doesn't go home - wherever home is - for the summer months, Julie could make quite an impact on the European women's amateur golf scene. She is among the entries for next month's British women's open amateur championship at Ganton Golf Club, Yorkshire.

Could Julie play for Scotland during her time at Loretto? Short answer: No. She would have to live in the country for 10 years to qualify on residential grounds.