JORDAN IS A FIRST ALTERNATE FOR THE 74TH ANNUAL US GIRLS JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. (Click for the pics and more)

One stroke, just one is all that separated B from qualifying yesterday for her first USGA Championship event. 23 girls were accepted into the qualifier. Jordan beat 21 of them. She needed to beat 22 to get in. The match was an absolute nail biter with the top 6 jockeying for position. By hole 15 there was a 6 way tie for the lead that included Jordan. At 17, Jordan was in a 2 way tie for second place when she bogeyed the hole and dropped to 3rd. She needed a birdie on 18 to tie and send the match into sudden death for the second spot in Colorado but unfortunately this birdie putt did not fall.

Final Leaderboard

So, here is where the story gets interesting……..Jordan finishes the round and says goodbye to Coach Carl who was on the bag. Papa Selwyn and Dad load up the car with B and leave Shannopin heading back to the hotel when Jordan chirps from the backseat, “Do I have to play a playoff for first alternate as we have a 3 way tie for 3rd place?” Just to be clear, she did not come up with that on her own but rather a text from SuperMom. Jordan called Carl who was still at the club and he found out that yes, in fact she did. To say that dad broke a few traffic rules to get back to the club in time for the playoff would not be a terrible exaggeration.

The playoff was a sudden death format, this meant that first player to lose a hole was done. It is a David and Goliath playoff…..Jordan, a 16 year old who is in her 3rd season playing competitive golf VS. Myranda Quinton who has just finished her first season playing Division 1 college golf for Penn. It would be much more fun if we could tell you that it went on for a while, but Jordan took her down in one hole. They played off of one, a par 5. Both contenders were on in three. Myranda took her first putt and marked her ball. Jordan….drained a 20 footer for 🐥to end the match making her the solo 3rd place finisher and the 1st alternate from the Shannopin Qualifier. Now it is a waiting game to see if she is offered a spot in the tournament. From what she has learned it can go either way, but there is a reasonable chance for her to get in. The strength of the field yesterday at Shannopin was extremely high and the course had a rating of 78. There were a number of top 50 players represented.

This is the “Diploma” presented to B after the playoff.

Very very exciting day for Jordan. As for her game, yesterday the par 3’s ate her alive. As a matter of fact, Jordan would bogey all 4 of them. She had only 1 birdie, and 6 bogeys, and 11 pars. She had two 3 putts (actually an incredible feat with a mountain course and the greens rolling over 13.5) and had no doubles or worse.

When players that all have plus handicaps are scoring over par you know that it is a massively difficult course. The winner, Avery McCrery is the number 14th ranked player in the world for class of 2025 (Jordan’s class). This was a big tournament for Jordan. She played with the “Big Kids” and proved to herself that she is in the fight.

On Saturday Jordan’s summer tour heads out west when she flies to Sundre Canada to attempt to earn a spot in the 123rd US Woman’s Amateur Championship to be contested at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles California August 7th-August 13th. (This was the only qualifier that actually fit into her schedule). She will play a practice round on Sunday, then the qualifier is Monday. After a day of checking out Calgary she will travel to Bolingbrook Illinois for 2 days of tune up with Coach Carl before driving to Missouri for The Woman’s Western Junior. We will bring you updates on all as we get there.

A big thank you to both Coach Carl and Papa Selwyn for supporting Jordan in Shannopin (also now known as “Shannonopin, Shananangans,” and a few other things too off color to share. Lots of laughs love and laughter were shared by all. And, of course, great meals.

That’s all for now. Thank you for all of the support and we will check back in from Sundre on Sunday night with a t time and hopefully a link to a live leaderboard. A final shout out to SuperMom who unpacked and did laundry at 11:30 last night when Jordan arrived home so she could begin to repack for this next 14 day swing out West on the 2023 summer tour. None of this would be possible without her incredible dedication.

Papa waiting on 9 under the little flagpole

Headed out to battle

Instructions from the Rules Official before the match

Warming up

She actually smiles when Grampa wants a pic? Happy Jan?

Dinner fit for a small Dinosaur. Jordan vs. a giant veal chop

The sign Jordan will see a lot more of in her future

SuperMom Repacking once again.