Jessica Mason claims WWGA 95th National Junior Championship
Frankfort, Ill., (June 24, 2022)
Jessica Mason, Westminster, Colo., captured the 95th WWGA National Junior Championship at Prestwick Country Club.
“I’m kind of just speechless, I did not know I was going to get this far,” Mason said, holding the Icely Cup Trophy. “I’m really proud of myself more than anything. I just haven’t won in a while. Last summer was the last time, excluding high school.”
The championship final match featured incoming Pomona College freshman Mason versus incoming high school freshman Lisa Copeland, Naperville, Ill.
Although Mason consistently outdrove the younger Copeland throughout the final match, Copeland kept the match tight thanks to precision off the tee. Copeland took an early lead after parring the par 4 third hole while Mason bogeyed. Copeland held the 1-up lead until the eighth hole where Mason birdied. At the turn, the match was even.
The last three holes saw a momentum shift. Copeland took a 1-up lead after parring holes 16 and 17. But on the final hole, Mason made par while Copeland bogeyed, requiring extra holes. Copeland’s tee shot had landed on the left side of the fairway, but she had no shot to the green and was forced to lay up.
On the 19th hole, both players found themselves with lengthy birdie putts. Copeland missed her putt, while Mason rolled in one of her “longest putts of the week.”
Mason stated, “It was like 20 or 25 feet, there was a lot of break for sure. My caddie Michael told me there’s this little spot in the green that was a little darker and he was like, ‘hit it there.’ I did and it broke right in.”
Mason played six rounds during the week. Her stroke play total during the first two rounds came to 73-76-149, giving her the number 5 seed in the match play competition. She defeated number 12 seed Sayers Allen, Spring Branch, Tex., on Thursday morning in the Round of Sixteen, 1-up. She won her afternoon match over 13-seeded Lauren Pham, Las Vegas, Nev., 5 & 3 to book her spot in Friday’s final four. In the morning match, Mason defeated Medalist Addison Klonowski, Naples, Fl., 1-up.
Copeland entered match play as the number 11 seed after posting 80-72-152 during the stroke play competition.
In Thursday’s morning match, Copeland defeated 6-seeded Samantha Brown, Westfield, Ind., after 21 holes. She then went on to beat the number 3 seed Luisamariana Mesones, Lima, Peru, 1-up to punch her ticket to the final four.
This morning, Copeland defeated Audrey Rischer, Columbia, Mo. 2 & 1. “I was really confident in my game,” Copeland said. “Yesterday my driver in the morning was not real good so that cost me a few strokes so I figured that out today and it was going much better. I put myself in good conditions. My short putting was really good so that helped me a lot. The weather was a little humid but there was a pretty good breeze. I know my opponent did not have her best round but I know I played really well, very steady and that gave me a lot of confidence.”
Although she lost her match to Copeland today, Rischer stated, “I was playing okay and then I got 5-down at one point and started hitting the ball not well and was not putting well. My opponent was putting really well, just kind of kept going sideways, then I came back.”
Despite falling short in the final match, Copeland was not deterred by the result. “I’m feeling proud of myself,” Copeland said. “I never expected to make it this far, especially at the finals. After the first 12 holes I was 2-down so I’m just happy that I was able to get to 19 after my lag-putting also wasn’t very good.”
Mason will now have her name engraved on the Icely Cup Trophy alongside Hall of Famer and former LPGA player Nancy Lopez, the last Junior champion to have won at Prestwick.
“I knew who she was. She obviously was a great player,” Mason said. “It’s kind of cool that I can share that with her and have my name on the same trophy as her.”
Jen Gowen, a WWGA Director and member at Prestwick Country Club said, “It has been such a pleasure to have these amazing girls out here experiencing our course. The time and dedication the PCC staff put forth certainly did not go unnoticed by the players, spectators and WWGA. Nancy Lopez won this event 50 years ago at PCC and each of the girls out here this week have the potential to follow in her footsteps.”
About the WWGA ... The WWGA was founded in 1901 under the sponsorship of the Western Golf Association (WGA) and is one of the oldest women’s golf organizations in the United States; It is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established under the guidelines set by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2011, the WWGA once again partnered with the WGA.
Two tournaments are held annually, the Amateur Championship has been held without interruption since 1901, not even two world wars and Covid-19 kept the tournament from being played. The Junior Championship was first held in 1920; this tournament has been held annually with the exception of World War II and Covid-19.