Team Canada 1 prepares to defend its title against the strongest field in tournament history with
23 countries and 72 competitors
Mississauga, Ontario – Canada once again welcomes the world’s best junior golfers to the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship. The annual tournament will be played from September 30 to October 5 at the Credit Valley Golf & Country Club in Mississauga, ON.
The ninth edition of the world championship will feature the largest field in its history with 23 countries and 72 competitors in Mississauga. A total of 24 teams will compete for the title of national team champion while also vying for individual honours. The individual champion will earn an exemption into the 2025 CPKC Women’s Open to be held at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club in Mississauga, ON from August 18-24, 2025.
“We are thrilled to host the ninth edition of this prestigious championship next week at Credit Valley Golf and Country Club as we welcome the world’s best junior golfers to Canada,” said Adam Cinel, Tournament Director for Golf Canada. “This championship has grown each year and has become a flagship event in our competition calendar showcasing the talents of these young athletes as they compete for individual and team glory. We would like to thank the staff and members of Credit Valley Golf and Country Club and the City of Mississauga for their outstanding partnership and hospitality.”
Team Canada 1 will defend its title as the champion team after its electrifying final round in 2023 where it defeated the Republic of Korea to capture the victory for the first time in tournament history. Canada will be represented by two teams once again this year.
Team Canada 1 is comprised of Shauna Liu, 15, of Maple, ON, Aphrodite Deng, 14, of Calgary, AB, and Clairey Lin, 14, of Langley, BC. Liu, who is a member of Team Canada NextGenearned her exemption by winning the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship in June at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C. Liu also won the Team Canada Selection Camp tournament NextGen last month at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley in Caledon, ON, to secure his spot on Team Canada’s roster. NextGen of 2025. She added a third title to her tally of the year by winning the CDW Girls Junior All-Star Championship in Riverwoods, Illinois, last month, a tournament sanctioned by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). Lin earned a spot in the Team Canada Selection Camp Qualifier NextGen and has two AJGA victories to her credit, the AJGA Panama Junior presented by St. Georges Bank in March and the Spin Junior Championship in August. Lin also finished second at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship. Deng qualified as the top-ranked eligible Canadian on the WAGR World Amateur Golf Rankings as of Aug. 7. She was ranked No. 175e rank at that time, and she has since improved her ranking to 160e rank and is still the top-ranked amateur golfer in Canada. Deng has won twice this season in AJGA competition, at the Nelly Invitational in Bradenton, Fla., in May and the New Jersey Junior Girls Championship in West Windsor Township, N.J., in June.
Team Canada 2 features Eileen Park, 15, of Red Deer, AB, as well as Lindsay McGrath, 17, and Nobelle Park, 14, both of Oakville, ON. All three team members earned their spots through the Team Canada Selection Camp qualifiers. NextGen. McGrath finished second, followed by Nobelle Park and Eileen Park. McGrath is part of Team Canada’s roster NextGen for the past two seasons and won the AJGA Visit Goldsboro NC Junior Championship in Goldsboro, N.C. in April. Nobelle Park won the inaugural Canadian U15 Championship last month at Elmira Golf Club in Elmira, Ont., in addition to three Ontario provincial championships this season. Eileen Park is the only golfer returning to play for Canada at this year’s tournament, having also been part of Team Canada 2 last year in Brampton, Ont. This season, she won the NextGen Pacific Championship at Summerland Golf and Country Club in Summerland, B.C. in May and the AJGA Junior All-Star in College Station, Texas in March.
Jeff MacDonald returns as coach of Team Canada 1. MacDonald, of Chester, N.S., coached last year’s championship-winning Team Canada 1 and is currently coaching the Team Canada program. NextGen. MacDonald, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience, has been named PGA of Atlantic Canada Coach of the Year three times and is a former provincial coach with the Nova Scotia Golf Association.
Jennifer Ha of Calgary, AB will coach Team Canada 2. Ha returns after coaching Team Canada at the 2022 World Junior Girls Golf Championship. She was a member of Golf Canada’s national team program and won five NCAA titles as a member of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Ha played professionally for four years, including one year on the LPGA Tour. She is currently an assistant coach with the Team Canada women’s program. NextGen.
Facing Canada will be former champions Italy (2018), Korea Republic (2015, 2019), Spain (2017, 2022) and the United States (2014). In the eight-year history of the championship, in addition to the host country, eight other countries have participated in all editions of the tournament: Denmark, England, Italy, Mexico, Spain and Sweden.
The Republic of Korea (Korea) featured the most successful teams in the tournament’s history: in addition to collecting two victories, a team from Korea has also finished second on three occasions (2016, 2017, 2023).
Sweden has reached the podium four times with two second-place finishes (2014, 2022) and two third-place finishes (2015, 2017). Team USA has also finished second (2018) and third (2016), after being the inaugural champion. In addition to their victories, Team Canada 1 and Italy have also finished third, in 2014 and 2019, respectively.
This year’s tournament will see Hong Kong, China and Morocco make their debuts. Last year’s tournament saw the first appearances of Iceland, Peru and Poland. All three countries will be back this year.
The 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship field includes nine players from the top 200 of the WAGR rankings. Currently ranked 14e Ranked highest in the field is Soomin Oh of Korea. Oh was part of last year’s second-place team in Brampton, Ont., and she finished third in the individual competition. Also returning this year is teammate Seojin Park, who is 80e in the WAGR rankings. The United States has two players in the top 200, namely Nikki Oh (112e) and Scarlett Schremmer (184e). France and Hong Kong (China) will also have two representatives from each country in the top 200. For France, it is Sara Brentcheneff (97e) and Alice Kong (128e), while Arianna Lau (67e) and Sophie Han (98e) will play for Hong Kong (China).
Several golfers who competed at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship have gone on to find success on the LPGA Tour, starting with Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 13-time LPGA Tour winner and Canada’s all-time winningest golf athlete, who finished fourth at the inaugural world championship in 2014.
Other competitors who have won LPGA Tour titles include Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, who won back-to-back individual titles at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship in 2018 and 2019, and Yuka Saso of the Philippines, who won the World Junior Girls title in 2016. 2023 CPKC Women’s Open winner Megan Khang of the United States also competed in the inaugural edition of the championship in 2014. Other golfers who competed at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship before winning on the LPGA Tour include Australia’s Hannah Green, as well as Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant. Hye-Jin Choi of the Republic of Korea, who won the individual and team titles at the 2015 World Junior Girls Golf Championship, has multiple LPGA Tour finishes of second place.
The Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, which will host the World Championship, features a challenging 18-hole parkland course designed by Robbie Robinson. Set on the banks of the Credit River amidst the natural landscape of the valley, it offers members a hidden oasis of calm in the bustling city of Mississauga.
Here is the list of countries participating in the World Junior Girls Golf Championship:
Germany
England
Belgium
Canada (Team Canada 1 and Team Canada 2)
Colombia
Denmark
Spain
United States of America
Finland
France
Hong Kong, China
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Mexico
Morocco
Peru
Poland
Republic of Korea
Suede
Swiss
Taiwan
Czech Republic
Practice rounds for the 72-hole competition will take place on September 30 and 1er October, with the first round of play scheduled for Wednesday, October 2. The closing ceremony of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship will immediately follow the conclusion of play on Saturday, October 5.
Admission to the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship is free for all spectators. For more information about the championship, please click here.
