In a match played over the course of two days due to earlier fog delays, the former Parker resident grabbed the lead for the first time after the 14th hole at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif. Then the current San Marino, Calif., resident went on to record a 2 and 1 victory Thursday morning over Madelyn Gamble of Pleasant Hill, Calif.

That gives the Harvard-bound Wang (left in a USGA photo) a spot in the round of 32 in her final U.S. Girls’ Junior.

Wang, who finished 34th in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open and is currently No. 107 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings, was 2 down on three occasions, including after 10 holes. But she won 11, 13 and 14 with birdies to take the lead — and for good. She closed out the match Thursday morning with a another hole-winning birdie on the par-3 17th.

The 2015 Girls Junior PGA Champion finished the day with five birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey.

Both the round of 32 and the round of 16 are scheduled for later Thursday.

Here are the scores for the players with strong Colorado ties who competed — or are still competing — at Poppy Hills:

MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64
Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang def. Madelyn Gamble of Plesant Hill, Calif., 2 and 1

STROKE PLAY
23. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 75-70–145
ҬFailed to Advance to Match Play
147. Meghan Vogt, Broomfield 88-80–168
151. Morgan Ryan, Centennial 84-88–172

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

Wang, who finished 34th in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, fell in the round of 32 to Yujeong Son of South Korea and Norman, Okla., 3 and 2. Son likewise played in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open and is the No. 22-ranked women’s amateur in the world.

Wang, who lived in Colorado until moving to California in 2010, led 1 up after 2 holes, but trailed the entire back nine. Son led 1 up through 12, then won No. 13 with a par and No. 14 with a birdie, and halved the remaining two holes to close out the match.

Wang, the 2015 national Girls Junior PGA Champion, was 3 over par for the 16 holes in the round of 32, while Son was even par.

Here are the scores for the players with strong Colorado ties who competed at Poppy Hills:

MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 32
Yujeong Son, South Korea, def. former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang, 3 and 2

MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64
Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang def. Madelyn Gamble of Plesant Hill, Calif., 2 and 1

STROKE PLAY
23. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 75-70–145″¨
Failed to Advance to Match Play
147. Meghan Vogt, Broomfield 88-80–168
151. Morgan Ryan, Centennial 84-88–172

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

Wang, who lived in Colorado until moving to California in 2010, stands in 25th place in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the event. The top 64 earn spots in match play, which begins on Wednesday, though stroke play didn’t conclude as scheduled on Tuesday evening due to a long fog delay.

Wang, the 2015 national Junior PGA Championship winner who is Harvard-bound in the fall, made two birdies and one bogey in round 2 to post a 3-over-par 145 total.

Meanwhile, the two Colorado residents in the field won’t advance to match play, though Morgan Ryan of Centennial will finish her second round of stroke play on Wednesday as the fog delay kept her from doing so on Tuesday.

Ryan, who qualified for the national championship in Beatrice, Neb., was 23 over par for the first 28 holes of the event when play was stopped due to darkness on Tuesday night. That put her in 142nd place. Meghan Vogt of Broomfield did complete round 2, going 88-80 for a 26-over 168 total, leaving her in 148th place. (Ryan and Vogt are pictured together.)

Fifteen-year-old Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, Calif., appears headed for medalist honors for the second straight year at this event, going 62-69 for an 11-under-par 131 total, one more than the 36-hole record for the event. But some players on the leaderboard haven’t yet finished round 2.

Here are the scores for the players with strong Colorado ties competing at Poppy Hills:

25. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 75-70–145
Ҭ142. Morgan Ryan, Centennial 84-(10 over through 10 holes in round 2)
148. Meghan Vogt, Broomfield 88-80–168

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

Then she took a ride on the bogey train.

Wang, a former resident of Parker now living in San Marino, Calif., bogeyed four straight holes starting on No. 13, dropping her from near the top of the scoreboard to a more tenous position.

The 2015 national Girls Junior PGA Champion finished Monday’s first round of stroke play with a 4-over-par 75, which left her in a tie for 51st place out of the 156-player field.

Wang, an 18-year-old who finished 34th in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, will need to place in the top 64 after Tuesday’s second round to advance to match play, which begins on Wednesday. She made a birdie and five bogeys on Monday.

Meanwhile, the two current Colorado residents in the field, Morgan Ryan of Centennial and Meghan Vogt of Broomfield, shot 84 and 88 in round 1, respectively.

Ryan posted 10 pars, but also had two triple bogeys. Vogt had two “2s” on her card, but also two “8s”.

Teenage sensation Lucy Li recorded a 9-under-par 62 on Monday to lead the stroke play portion of the event by four shots with one round remaining.

Here are the scores for the players with strong Colorado ties competing at Poppy Hills:

51. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 75
137. Morgan Ryan, Centennial 84
Ҭ150. Meghan Vogt, Broomfield 88

For all the scores, CLICK HERE.
 

In the boys tournament, Jake Welch of Highlands Ranch shot a 4-under-par 68 at Todd Creek Golf Club in Thornton to take a one-stroke lead into Wednesday’s final round. But eight players are either one or two shots out of the lead, and another four are four back.

Welch finished with six birdies and a double bogey in round 2 to check in at 4-under 140 overall.

Five players share second place at 141, including first-round leader TJ Shehee of Mead (75 on Tuesday), Walker Franklin of Broomfield (70), Jack Hughes of Aspen (71), Ryan Liao of Littleton (72) and Connor Jones of Westminster (69).

Among those at 142 is Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins, winner of the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior last month, who carded a second-round 68.

In the girls competition, three players share the lead at 8-over-par 152 — Meghan Vogt of Broomfield, Marie Jordaan of Lakewood and Josie Baker of Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Vogt, who qualified last month for the U.S. Girls’ Junior, shot a second-round 75, while Jordaan had a 76 and Baker a 77.

First-round leader Katie Berrian of Castle Rock holds fourth place at 154 after posting an 82 on Tuesday. Emma Bryant of Aurora, the 5A girls state high school champion, is another stroke back after a second-round 78.

For the scores from the Colorado Junior Amateur, click BOYS, GIRLS.

On the boys side, there’s been PGA Tour veteran Brandt Jobe (1983); Wyndham Clark (2009) and Mark Hubbard (2007), both of whom have competed in quite a few PGA Tour events in recent years; and Geoff Keffer (1997), a five-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year.

On the girls side, past champs have included Jennifer Kupcho (2014), currently the No. 2-ranked women’s amateur in the world; social media sensation Paige Spiranac (2010); and Becca Huffer (2005), a former CoBank Colorado Women’s Open champion who just finished second in a Symetra Tour event.

Another chapter will be written in the Colorado Junior Am next week when Todd Creek Golf Club (pictured) in Thornton hosts the 54-hole event Monday through Wednesday (July 9-11). No former champions are in the field as 2018 winner Davis Bryant of Aurora is competing at the IMG Academy Junior World Championships in the San Diego area next week, and his female counterpart, Arielle Keating, moved to Florida last summer and will be playing college golf at Florida Atlantic in the fall. Among those joining Bryant at the Junior Worlds will be 2017 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Girls Player of the Year Hailey Schalk of Erie, Kelsey Webster of Boulder and Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch.

But scheduled to compete in the boys tournament at Todd Creek are Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins, winner of the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior last month, and Walker Franklin of Broomfield, who sits No. 3 on the JGAC Tour boys points list in 2018, behind Bryant and Stewart.

In the girls portion of the Colorado Junior Amateur, entered are Emma Bryant of Aurora, the reigning 5A state high school champion and the winner of the 2017 Colorado Junior Match Play; Meghan Vogt of Broomfield, who recently qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior; and future University of Northern Colorado golfer Shelby Poynter, who competed in the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

The Colorado Junior Amateur is the second of four JGAC majors in 2018.

For Monday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
 

The 16-year-old matched her career low round by shooting a 2-under-par 70 and finished in a three-way tie for first place out of a field of 33 at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie.

Joining Vogt in advancing from Colorado National to the U.S. Girls’ Junior will be two international players, Annabelle Ackroyd of Canada and Ela Anacona of Argentina, both of whom also shot 70.

The U.S. Girls’ Junior will be held at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, Calif., July 16-21.

“It was my first USGA qualifier,” said Vogt, a junior-to-be at Broomfield High School. “Matching my lowest round ever felt pretty good. I was the second tee time off and there were 11 groups behind me. Coming in at 2 under was stressful because I wanted to get one of the spots and I knew there were a lot of good girls out there. So it feels really good to actually qualify for it.”

Vogt, the Rocky Mountain Junior Golf Tour’s 2017 Girls Player of the Year, made six birdies and four birdies in Tuesday’s round. She drained birdie putts of 30 and 20 feet, and several from short distance.

“A United States Golf Association (event). I know it’s just a qualifier, but I’m proud of myself,” Vogt said. “I went into the day feeling really good on the range, the way I was hitting it.

“My putting has been really, really good the last few days. I was also hitting my wedges really well. So when I gave myself an opportunity for a wedge into the green, I’d use it to my advantage and knock it close and make the putt.”

Meanwhile, Ackroyd finished the day with five birdies and three bogeys, while Anacona carded three birdies and one bogey.

Two players in the field who qualified for the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior didn’t earn back-to-back trips as Charlotte Hillary of Cherry Hills Village fired a 72 and Nebraskan Shelby Poynter a 76. Also coming up short was 2017 Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Girls Player of the Year Hailey Schalk of Erie. Playing on her home course on Tuesday, Schalk posted a 72.

U.S. Girls’ Junior

At Par-72 Colorado National GC in Erie
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Meghan Vogt, Broomfield 70
Annabelle Ackroyd, Canada 70
Ela Anacona, Argentina 70
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Malak Bouraeda, Southlake, Texas 71
Amy Chitkoksoong, Aurora 71

For all the scores from Tuesday, CLICK HERE.