Emma Talley ran away from the field at this week’s AJGA Huntsville Junior in Alabama, shattering American Junior Golf Association records in the process.
Talley, who is entering her junior year at Caldwell County High School, shot a three-round total of 198 to claim medalist honors in the Huntsville Junior presented by the Huntsville Athletic Club.
A two-time Rolex Junior All-American, Talley earned her sixth career AJGA win. The three-round total is the lowest 54-hole total for a girl in the AJGA’s 33 year history. Talley also broke the record for largest margin of victory, winning by 22-strokes, breaking the old record of an 18 shot margin.
Her final round total of 6-under par 65 is a course record at The Ledges.
“I am really excited to have broken 200,” Talley said afterward. “I was hitting the ball really well, making a lot of putts left and right. I was really close on all of my birdie shots. I don’t really know how I was hitting those approach shots so well; I think that God was with me because some of those were miracle shots.
“I haven’t played that well recently, like at Rolex, but to have this win especially with US Juniors, Canon Cup and my other events this summer my confidence is high. Hopefully I can keep this up for the next few weeks.”
Talley bogeyed two of her first four holes in Tuesday’s opening round, but didn’t have another bogey the rest of the week.
Talley shot an even-par 35 on the front nine with two birdies negating the bogeys. Then on the back nine, she made four birdies to shoot a 4-under par 32.
That put her at 4-under 67 and gave her a five-shot lead after just one round.
“I had two bogeys on the front nine and for the first five holes on the front, I couldn’t get anything going,” said Talley. “On the back side everything was going my way. I was hitting my approach shots very, very close and it was just tap-in birdie putts all day.”
Talley continued her strong play on Wednesday, shooting a 5-under par 66 to bring her two-day total to a staggering 9-under par 133 to top the Girls Division.
The Princeton youngster had two birdies on the front and three birdies on the back for her 5-under round.
Talley extended her tournament lead to 14 strokes after making some adjustments to her club selections.
“Today I changed a few of my clubs which helped me have no bogeys,” Talley said following the round. “I only missed one fairway and not many greens, so I was able to keep it in play all day which helps a lot. I had a good day and am having a good week, so I hope that keeps up.”
Things only got better for Talley, who had three birdies on the front and three birdies on the back on Thursday to put the finishing touches on a dominating performance.
“I was hitting the ball really well,” Talley said. “I was hitting the ball to six feet or closer on my approach shots and I don’t know how I hit those so close. I haven’t played good lately and to come back like this the week before the US Junior means a lot to me.”
Janie Jackson of Huntsville, Ala., finished a distant second with a three-day total of 7-over par 220. Rounding out the top three in the Girls Division was Hannah Collier of Birmingham, Ala., who shot a 10-over 223.
The AJGA Huntsville Junior presented by The Huntsville Athletic Club was a 54-hole stroke-play tournament conducted by the American Junior Golf Association at The Ledges. The field featured 24 girls, ages 12-18. The Girls Division played the course at 6,029 yards.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 400 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Charles Howell III, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
The Huntsville Junior was a late addition to Talley’s schedule. The change was necessitated when Talley was chosen for the Canon Cup.
The 21st annual East-versus-West battle will be played July 26-29 at Old Sandwich Golf Club in Plymouth, Mass. Each squad for the 2010 Canon Cup will consist of 10 boys and 10 girls from their respective side of the Mississippi River.
The three-day event will feature team match play competition with matches that include four-ball, mixed-four-ball, foursomes, mixed-foursomes and singles.
Talley had been scheduled to play in the AJGA event at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn., that week.
Because she had not previously registered for the Huntsville Junior, Talley was forced to play in the qualifier for that event last Sunday. She easily won that event, shooting at 6-under 66 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Hampton Cove — River Course in Huntsville.
The Huntsville Junior kicked off a busy stretch for Talley. She will next fly to North Carolina, where she will play in the prestigious U.S. Girls’ Junior next week at The Country Club of North Carolina in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
The first two rounds of that event are stroke play. The top 64 players are then paired up for match play the rest of the week.
Practice rounds are slated for this weekend with the first round of stroke play on Monday. Match play begins Wednesday, with the 36-hole championship match slated for next Saturday.
After getting back from North Carolina, Talley will fly to Boston for the Canon Cup the following week.
After returning home from the Canon Cup, Talley is scheduled to leave the next day for Indiana and the Junior PGA Championship.
The 35th Junior PGA Championship will be contested Aug. 2-5 at Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Ind.
