Perhaps there’s something to be said for a golfer being too young to have ingrained any bad habits.

But whatever the case, the CWGA Junior Match Play Championship, which dates back to 1953, crowned one of its youngest champions ever on Friday.

Amy Chitkoksoong, a 14-year-old from Aurora, gained that distinction this week at Thorncreek Golf Club in Thornton by ralling to post a 19-hole victory over Jaclyn Murray of Grand Junction in the championship-flight final.

CWGA records regarding the age of champions are incomplete, but Chitkoksoong is certainly the youngest Junior Match Play champ in the last decade. And that distinction may go back much further than that. But Sally Hardwick turned 14 the same year she won the inaugural Junior Match Play, in 1953. Harwick went on to win two more Junior Match Play titles, along with many other championships, and was eventually inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

Suffice it to say that joining such rarefied company on Friday was special for Chitkoksoong (left and above), who will be a freshman at Grandview High School starting this fall.

“It feels great,” she said. “It would feel great winning it even if I’m 22, but winning at 14 is giving me a lot of confidence for the next years coming up because every time I (compete in the future) I can say I have a chance at the lead.”

On Friday, Chitkoksoong never led until sinking the winning 4-foot par putt on the 19th hole. Both she and Murray just missed the green on the par-4, but Murray couldn’t convert her 8-footer for par. Then the left-handed Chitkoksoong found the cup with her 4-footer.

“I was pretty nervous,” she said. “Jaclyn is a great player. Being able to go to 19 with her was just amazing. The 4-foot putt, even though I was nervous, I just told myself it was like any other putt and it happened to drop.”

And that was by no means the only significant putt Chikoksoong drained on Friday. On No. 10, she holed a 20-footer from the back fringe for par. On No. 11, she found the cup on a 25-footer for birdie. On No. 15, she converted a 7-footer for par. Then, after three-putting on No. 17 (bottom photo), leaving Murray 1 up, Chitkoksoong came up with the biggest of them all.

Facing a 22-foot downhill, big-breaking putt — and with Murray having a 15-foot birdie attempt upcoming — the diminutive Chitkoksoong coaxed her ball into the hole and gave it a fist-pump (top photo). And when Murray (left), a 2014 U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier, then missed her try, it was on to extra holes.

Asked what she thought when she saw Chitkoksoong’s long putt go in at 18, Murray said, “Just amazement. She’s so young, she’s so good. She just made amazing putts. She deserves it.”

Chitkoksoong obviously can make some noise with her flatstick, which makes her a dangerous opponent.

“Everything just clicked today, and I’m really happy about that,” said Chitkoksoon, last year’s 11-13 Girls Junior Series Champion. “On the (18th) hole I was just trying to get it on and give myself a chance to make the putt. Jaclyn and I were just missing our putts by a little. It just so happened that mine dropped on 18 for the birdie.”

Murray, who attends Regis Jesuit High School though she resides in Grand Junction during the summer, led after 15 of the 18 holes of regulation, with the other three being all-square. Murray was 2 up on three occasions on the front nine.

“I played pretty solid,” the 16-year-old said. “I was up, then she took me back down.”

Chitkoksoong, who plays out of Murphy Creek Golf Course, felt similarly.

“On 11, I was able to get even,” she said. “But the hole right after that, Jaclyn just came up and took it again. It’s so hard to pass her up. She’s a great player. I was just trying to keep shot for shot with her.

“This is really big for me because I’ve never won a match play event before. Coming close a couple of times and winning it today was emotional.”

Murray actually had the better stroke-play total on Friday, by one shot. But like it or not, that’s what makes match play special.

Chitkoksoong certainly made the format work for her. In her three matches, she beat Delaney Elliott in 19 holes, 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier Erin Sargent 1 up, and Murray in 19 holes.

To view the match play trees for the various flights, CLICK HERE.

For a person so young, Sydney Merchant put up some very impressive numbers this week.

The 15-year-old from Red Rocks Country Club not only won the 61st CWGA Junior Match Play Championship at Indian Peaks Golf Course in Lafayette, but she did so with one of the largest margins in the history of the title match.

Record-keeping is spotty for the Junior Match Play, but Merchant’s 8 and 6 win Thursday over Sarah Hankins of Thorncreek Golf Club is by far the most lopsided title match in the last nine years.

Thursday’s performance capped a memorable week overall as the Morrison resident (pictured above) won her quarterfinal match 8 and 7, then went 5 under par in defeating Hannah Wood 2 up in the semifinals.

“You always go into a tournament thinking you’ll play your best,” said Merchant, a sophomore-to-be at Dakota Ridge High School. “I played very well this week, I thought. There was no particular part of my game I was great in, but it all just clicked.”

In winning her first CWGA championship, Merchant was 2 under par through the 12 holes of Thursday’s final match. She played the front nine in 3 under — making birdies on each of the par-5s — which left her 6 up at the turn. Merchant and Hankins (picured at left) tied for third place in this year’s 5A state high school meet, but Hankins struggled on Thursday, going 7 over par in her 12 holes of the final. She bogeyed her last four holes and six of her last seven.

“I just struggled putting today,” said Hankins, a senior-to-be at Legacy High School in Broomfield. “I could have made some putts that would have (made it) closer, but they didn’t fall today. Coming into this (match), I’d been putting lights out. I felt confident, but it just didn’t work out today.

“Some days you win, some days you lose. Today I lost. That’s sports for you.”

Merchant got up and down for par on No. 10 and went 7 up there when Hankins (pictured at left) three-putted for bogey. Merchant hit her second shot into the water on the par-5 11th, settling for her only bogey and a halve there. Then needing just a halve to end the match, Merchant two-putted from 25 feet for par on No. 12 for the victory.

Claiming the title was particularly satisfying given that Merchant finished second in the CWGA Junior Match Play last year, when Calli Ringsby beat her in the final.

“Obviously this feels great,” said Merchant, who didn’t lose a hole on Thursday. “It was a great win and I’m happy.”

And the fact that she also beat Wood — who advanced to match play at this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship — made it all the sweeter. In that semifinal, each player made six birdies.

“Yesterday I shot like (5) under, so that was a great round,” Merchant said. “That was a really fun round. It was very satisfying. We both played great, and it was fun and intense. I enjoyed it.”

Despite her age, Merchant (pictured at left) is no stranger to big-time junior golf. By the time this summer is over, she will have competed in three Callaway Junior World Golf Championships, two Junior America’s Cups, one Optimist International Junior Golf Championship and one national Big “I” Junior Classic.

Hankins, who will be playing in this year’s Optimist International, took satisfaction in being a CWGA Junior Match Play finalist this week despite Thursday’s lopsided loss.

“It’s a big deal,” she said. “This is the farthest I’ve made it in match play ever. It’s a huge accomplishment. It’s definitely one of the best tournaments I’ve played.”

CWGA Junior Match Play
At Indian Peaks GC in Lafayette
 
  Championship Flight Final — Sydney Merchant, Red Rocks CC def. Sarah Hankins, Thorncreek GC 8 & 6.
  Championship Flight Consolation Final — Sydney Gillespie, Highlands Ranch GC def. Kylee Sullivan, CC of Colorado5 & 4
  First Flight Final — Jennifer Kupcho, CommonGround GC def. Dani Urman, Meridian GC 2 & 1
  First Flight Consolation Final — Gillian Vance, Red Rocks CC def. Andrea Ballou, Red Hawk Ridge GC- Forfeit
  Second Flight Final — Jennifer Hankins, Thorncreek GC def. Mary Weinstein, Green Valley Ranch GC 1 up
  Second Flight Consolation Final — Adara Pauluhn, Lake Valley CC def. Jordan Sunset, Boulder CC 8 & 6
  Third Flight Final — Mary Kate Nelson, Eisenhower GC def. Michelle Romano, Colorado GC 20 holes
  Third Flight Consolation Final — Maggie Gelat, Monument Hill CC def. Ashlyn Kirschner, West Woods GC 2 & 1
  Fourth Flight Final — Mattie Schwall, Colorado Springs CC def. Joanna Kempton, Lone Tree Hotel & GC 3 & 1
  Fourth Flight Consolation Final — Mariah Ehrman, Omni Interlocken Resort GC def. Madison McCambridge, Boulder CC 7 & 6
  Fifth Flight Final — Kelsey Petersen, Marianna Butte GC def. Kendra Bellmann, Estes Park GC 3 & 2
  Fifth Flight Consolation Final — Colleen Casey, Estes Park GC def. Aubrey Doran, Ptarmigan CC 6 & 5
 

Now it’s the CJGA’s turn.

Starting this year, 14-18-year-old golfers will be permitted to use distance-only measuring devices in CJGA tournaments, as well as in the CGA and CWGA Junior Stroke Play and Junior Match Play Championships.

In other words, many of the state’s top events for junior players will feature a lot more golfers lasering the distances of their shots, and a lot fewer pacing off the yardages from sprinkler heads and the like.

“We traditionally follow the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) lead on policy changes, and they’re allowing (distance-only range-finders) in all their events in 2013,” said Eric Wilkinson, the CGA’s director of junior competitions. “We want to stay consistent with national junior tours and other (golf organizations) around us. A lot of other state and regional junior golf associations are allowing them, and we didn’t want to be in a position where players in our events weren’t allowed to use them.”

Added Kelley Mawhinney, tournament and junior golf operations manager for the CWGA: “We wanted to be on the same page (as the AJGA). We don’t want to confuse players” with varying rules.

The AJGA allowed range-finders on a trial basis in four tournaments in 2012. Distance-measure devices are already permitted in college events, but the USGA doesn’t allow them in its national championships or its qualifiers.

Wilkinson was quick to note that the CJGA allowance applies only to 14-18-year-olds in the association’s tournaments, and not to younger players. Also, devices measuring only distance will be permitted; those that gauge such things as slope, wind speed, elevation, temperature, etc., are forbidden, even if such functions are turned off or ignored. So are the use of smart phone apps.

“It’s up to fellow competitors to police it themselves, but we’re trying to educate players in advance,” Wilkinson said. “We know we’ll get a lot of questions at our first event, so we want to be proactive.”

The first tournament in which the distance measuring devices will be allowed is the CJGA Spring Series event this weekend (April 27-28) at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo.

While the increased affordability of the devices have made the Colorado associations amenable to permitting them for juniors, the organizations are still sensitive that some teenagers may not be able to afford range-finders. For that reason, distance information can be shared among players. For example, a competitor without a range-finder can get the distance to the pin from a fellow player, or can borrow such a device.

The approval of the use of such devices — which came from the CGA Junior Tournament Committee and the CWGA Rules and Tournament Committees — will affect many events, but most notably the CGA and CWGA junior state championships. Those tournaments are among the most prestigious in Colorado, with both the CGA and CWGA Junior Match Play dating back to the early 1950s, and the boys and girls Junior Stroke Play originating in the late 1970s.

Although CJGA officials discussed the possibility of the use of distance measuring devices speeding up play — especially among players with a higher handicap — Wilkinson said that wasn’t a major reason the association’s policy was changed.

Indeed, Pete Lis, who just left his job as CGA director of rules and competitions to become an LPGA Tour rules official, said he isn’t convinced that range-finders speed up play.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think it makes any difference,” Lis said recently. “I’ve seen some players pace off the yardage and shoot it too, so I think an argument can be made that it worsens pace of play. But I don’t think it makes that much difference.”