The championship matches are set at the Ralph Lauren Junior Classic

June 27, 2024 | by American Junior Golf Association

Jackson Byrd (AJGA Photo)

Top junior players like Jackson Byrd, Blades Brown moved on, while top seed Wheaton Ennis was upset in 19 holes

The championship match is set at the 46th RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic. will take on, for the Girls Division title. On the Boys Division side will face .

Thursday's play began with the Quarterfinal matches and concluded with the semifinal matches in the afternoon.

The first match of the Quarterfinals between Wheaton Ennis of Litchfield Park, Arizona, and Pennson Badgett of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, reached an extra hole.

Ennis, the No. 1 seed, trailed Badgett from the very beginning and never gained the upper hand in the match. Ennis won the par-4 No. 18 to force the match into overtime, but Badgett ended it on the 19th hole.

In match two, Jackson Byrd of Saint Simons Island, Georgia, beat Sterling Hurd of Austin, Texas, 3&2. Byrd quickly got up to 3 up by the par-4 No. 5.

In match three, Blades Brown of Nashville, Tennessee, beat Eric Yun of Menlo Park, California, 2 up.

In the fourth match of the Boys Division Quarterfinals, Mason Howell of Thomasville, Georgia, built momentum on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 to go 3 up after four holes against Will Hartman of Marvin, North Carolina. Howell finished out the match on No. 13 and won the match at 5&4.

On the Girls Division side, Clara Ding of White Rock, British Columbia, Canada, played against Lisa Herman of Jenks, Oklahoma. Ding won the first two holes of the day, but Herman won Nos. 3 and 6 to bring the match to all squared. Ding responded by winning Nos. 8, 10 and 11. Herman won the par-5 No. 13 but Ding won back-to-back holes on Nos. 14 and 15 to close out the match at 4&3.

Jude Lee of Walnut, California, played against Yujie Liu of Beijing, China. Lee closed out the match by winning the par-4 No. 18 and finished at 2 up.

Kinsley Ni of Los Angeles, California, beat Lily Peng of San Ramon, California, 4&2. Ni won three consecutive holes starting on No. 14.

Yu-Chu Chen of Allen, Texas, beat Maye Huang of Katy, Texas, battled back and forth all day before Chen won the hole on No. 18 to win at 1 up.

With the field cut down to eight, the semifinal matches commenced. Pennson Badgett played Jackson Byrd in the afternoon. Both players tied the first hole, but Badgett won Nos. 2 and 3 to go 2 up through three holes. Byrd won No. 7 but Badgett answered with another win on No. 8. On the back nine, Badgett won three holes and closed the match on No. 15, 4&3.

In the second match, Blades Brown played Mason Howell. Howell won the first hole but Brown won No. 4 to tie the match. Howell made the turn 1 up with a win on No. 9. Howell fired things up on the back nine by winning hole Nos. 10, 12, 13 and 14 to end the match 5&4.

On the girls side Clara Ding played against Jude Lee. Lee won two holes on the front - No. 5 and No. 8 to make the turn at 2 up. Ding won Nos. 10 and 15 before Lee answered with a win on No. 16. Ding tied the match up on No. 17 with a win and both players kept the match all squared on No. 18 to force a playoff. Only one hole was needed as Ding won her way into the Championship round.

Kinsley Ni played Yu-Chu Chen in the second match. Ni started the round hot with wins on Nos. 1, 3 and 4. Chen won back-to-back holes on Nos. 5 and 6 but Ni dropped two more wins on Nos, 9 and 10. Ni and Chen traded wins on Nos. 11 and 12 which left Ni at 3 up through 12 holes. Both players tied on the remaining holes and Ni won on the sixteenth, 3&2.

Pennson Badgett will face Mason Howell for the Boys Division title, Clara Ding will compete against Kinsley Ni for the Girls Division title.

About the Polo Junior Classic

The championship matches are set at the Ralph Lauren Junior Classic

Sixty-four top junior golfers will be invited to compete in a round-robin style match play event. Based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings, an equal field of 32 boys (Polo Division) and 32 girls (Liberty Division) will be divided into eight groupings of four...

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