2006 Girls’ Championship

Duluth's Joy Kim Cruises to Georgia Girls' Title

SUWANEE, Ga. -- Sixteen-year-old Joy Kim of Duluth fired a final-round, 1-under-par 70 for a tournament total of eight-over 221 and a seven-stroke victory over Emilie Burger of Hoschton and Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale at the 27th Annual Georgia Girls' Championship, which took place at Laurel Springs Golf Club in Suwanee, June 19-21.

 

Burger and Stackhouse tied for second overall and in the Championship A flight at 15-over 228. Burger claimed the second-place medal with a birdie on the third playoff hole. Carrie Metz of Buford placed fourth overall at 22-over 235. Blaire Minter of Marietta and Championship Flight B competitor Taylor Ramsey of Martinez tied for fifth at 240. Tess Fordham of Metter claimed seventh place at 242, while another Flight B player, Lindsay Adams of Lawrenceville, placed eighth, one stroke back. Savannah's Samantha Long and Athens' Yugene Lee rounded out the top 10 tied at 246.

 

Kim, who led the Championship wire-to-wire, held a one-stroke edge over Stackhouse entering the final round. Stackhouse, 12, evened the score early with a birdie on the par-5 second hole. But by the turn, Kim had reclaimed the lead and stretched it to five strokes, turning 1-under with just one bogey and two birdies on her front nine. The bogey - her only one of the day - came on the 355-yard fourth when her approach fell short of the green and her chip shot rolled 10 feet past the hole. She made up for it, however, with 15-foot birdie putts on both No. 6 and 9. Stackhouse, meanwhile, fell back with bogeys on holes 4 and 7 and a double on No. 8.

 

Kim's steadiness and consistent play, which kept her at the top of the leaderboard all three days, was then illustrated with nine straight pars on her final nine holes. Her final-round 70 was the only under-par score posted in the event.

 

Burger, who was playing in the final group with Kim and Stackhouse and was three strokes back of Kim entering the day, used a birdie on the 134-yard 10th hole to eventually tie Stackhouse for second place overall.

 

Top finishers in Flight B were Taylor Ramsey of Martinez (1st), Amelia Hill (3rd) of St. Simons Island and Lindsay Adams (2nd) of Lawrenceville.

 

Kim, who will be a senior at Duluth's Northview High School this fall, was competing in her first GSGA event. "To win the first time, on my first try, is pretty amazing," she said.

 

A total of 24 players (those with a handicap index of 14.4 or lower) competed for the overall, 54-hole title and were divided into two flights - Championship A and B. The Championship flights played the course at 5,748 yards and a par 71.

 

The top four overall finishers were invited to represent Georgia in the inaugural Georgia-South Carolina Girls' Junior Challenge Match, a match-play team competition between the two states that takes place at The Landings Club in Savannah, July 29-30. Alternates, in order of the overall top 10, will be invited if any of the top four finishers cannot participate.

 

Entries were open to female amateur golfers between the ages of nine and 17 who are Georgia residents and GSGA members or dependents of GSGA members.

 

GSGA conducts 18 statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups, three interstate matches and 17 USGA qualifying events each year. Other services include computerized handicapping, course rating and measuring, a summer-long junior sectional competitions program, Golf Georgia magazine and two college scholarship programs.

 

Final Results

 

Top Ten Overall
Rank Name Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Total
1 Joy Kim, Duluth 74 77 70 221
2 Emilie Burger, Hoschton 77 77 74 228 *
3 Mariah Stackhouse, Riverdale 77 75 76 228
4 Carrie Metz, Buford 79 78 78 235
T5 Blaire Minter, Marietta 81 85 74 240
T5 Taylor Ramsey, Martinez 76 80 84 240
7 Tess Fordham, Metter 81 84 77 242
8 Lindsay Adams, Lawrenceville 81 82 80 243
T9 Samantha Long, Savannah 85 84 77 246
T9 Yugene Lee, Athens 81 85 80 246

 

Championship A
1 Joy Kim, Duluth 74 77 70 221
2 Emilie Burger, Hoschton 77 77 74 228 *
3 Mariah Stackhouse, Riverdale 77 75 76 228
4 Carrie Metz, Buford 79 78 78 235
5 Blaire Minter, Marietta 81 85 74 240
6 Tess Fordham, Metter 81 84 77 242
T7 Samantha Long, Savannah 85 84 77 246
T7 Yugene Lee, Athens 81 85 80 246
T9 Jennifer Nam, Buford 85 84 78 247
T9 Judy Nam, Buford 85 83 79 247
11 Nina Yoo, Duluth 81 84 83 248
12 Alei Mitchell, Waycross 80 88 85 253

 

Championship B
1 Taylor Ramsey, Martinez 76 80 84 240
2 Lindsay Adams, Lawrenceville 81 82 80 243
3 Amelia Hill, St. Simons Island 89 86 81 256
4 Ashlan Ramsey, Martinez 85 88 85 258
5 Maggie Siddons, Acworth 93 83 84 260
T6 Amira Alexander, Alpharetta 85 90 86 261
T6 Ashley Long, Savannah 87 85 89 261
T6 Jacquelyn Forte, Cartersville 87 87 87 261
9 Jordan Mullinax, Cartersville 87 87 89 263
10 Abby Johnson, Braselton 98 88 87 273
11 Jessica Haigwood, Roswell 98 97 83 278
12 Sloan Shanahan, Suwanee 94 96 90 280

 

* - playoff