14 Sep 2022 | Amateur golf |
Junior stars win pro exemptions
by Dane Heverin
Two-time Australian Junior Amateur champion Jeffrey Guan and 14-year-old Victorian sensation Amelia Harris have earned professional playing opportunities for the upcoming summer by taking out the adidas Junior 6 Tour World Final at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
The tour, which was founded by former touring professional and now commentator Ewan Porter, wrapped up its 2021/22 season with Guan and Harris showing their class in a series of 6-hole match play finals after 54 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday.
Harris caught the eye of many observers last season with impressive showings at the Sandbelt Invitational and the Australian Interstate Teams Matches, as part of the victorious Victorian team, and once again proved that she is a star on the rise by defeating two-time Australian Junior Amateur champion Jeneath Wong in the final.
Courtesy of her performance, Harris has secured her place at the WPGA Tour of Australasia and the Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned 2023 Australian Women’s Classic Bonville.
Fresh off his Junior Players Championship win at TPC Sawgrass in Florida earlier this month, Guan earned himself the chance to mix it with professionals on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.
The 18-year-old also claimed the stroke play honours by shooting eight-under in wet and blustery conditions and as a result he has earned exemptions for the 2022 CKB WA PGA Championship presented by TX Civil & Logistics, the 2022 Gippsland Super 6 and the 2023 Play Today NSW Open, as well as for the 2022 Sandbelt Invitational.
Wong was the girls stroke play champion as she too shot eight-under and she gained exemptions for the 2022 Sandbelt Invitational, one Ladies European Tour event and a Ladies European Access Series event next year.
Guan will continue to accumulate frequent flyer points as he returns to the United States to represent the International Team in next week’s Junior Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.
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