95th Women’s Western Junior set to begin at Prestwick Country Club

FRANKFORT, III. (June 20, 2022) - Prestwick Country Club in Frankfort, Illinois, will host its third Women's Western Golf Association Championship when the 2022 Women's Western Junior begins on Tuesday.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Nancy Lopez's historic win at the 1972 Women's Western Junior at Prestwick. Lopez went on to repeat as Women's Western Junior champion in 1973 and 1974 before winning the 1976 Women's Western Amateur and embarking on a professional career that included 51 professional wins and three major championships. The club also hosted the 2020 Women's Western Amateur, won by Canada's Brigitte Thibault.

First played in 1920, the Women's Western Junior is one of the oldest junior golf tournaments in the United States.

Competition will run from June 21-24, beginning with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying, after which the field of 78 will be cut to the low 16 players for match play.

Four rounds of match play will determine the player who joins past champions like Nancy Lopez and Candie Kung, Cristie Kerr and Grace Park. The winner will also receive an exemption into the 2022 Women's Western Amateur at Sunset Ridge in Northfield, Illinois, in July.

Mara Janess from Barrington, Illinois, won the 2021 Women's Western Junior at Aurora Country Club in Aurora, Illinois, outlasting Katie Scheck from Greensboro, Georgia, in the championship match. Janess will attempt to defend her title against one of the strongest fields in the recent history of the event.

Leading the group of elite junior golfers from 24 states and eight countries are Macie Brown (Mt. Washington, Kentucky), McKenzie Mages (Marietta, Georgia), Luisamariana Mesones (Lima, Peru), Amelie Phung (Forest Hills, New York), Vilda Westh Blanc (Sweden), Symran Shah (Carrollton, Texas) and Addison Klonowski (Naples, Florida)

”The players in this championship are among the best and brightest rising stars from across the country and the world,” said WWGA President Susan Buchanan. “We look forward to watching them compete at Prestwick Country Club, a club that has so much history with the Women's Western Golf Association.”

Founded in 1964, Prestwick was designed by Larry Packard, a strategic golf course architect who designed more than 250 highly rated golf courses in the Midwest and across the United States. Packard's course designs are renowned for their strategically placed fairway bunkers and large, fast greens.

Prestwick has also been a steadfast supporter of the Women's Western Golf Foundation. The WWGF has been awarding scholarships to young women who play golf since 1971.