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By Sara Buechler
WARRENTON — Seventeen groups teed off Monday at the 52nd Virginia State Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship at Fauquier Springs Country Club and Kanchana Duangsam came out on top of the leaderboard.
The VSGA Junior Golf Circuit member from Haymarket finished round one with a 3-under-par 69. Her front nine started a bit rocky with three bogeys but went back on track with an eagle on hole 7.
“I had a good drive, and my second shot was pretty close to the hole and made an eagle,” she said. “It was pretty nice to have an eagle and bounce back to even.”
Following the eagle, Duangsam made birdie on 8, and hit three more birdies on the back nine. She said she had a good tempo and flow throughout most of the round. This is also Duangsam’s first time playing the Junior Girls’ Championship.
“I like the tournament; there’s a lot of competition and it’s good experience,” Duangsam said.
The 13-year-old qualified for match play at the VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this month before falling to semifinalist Danielle Suh in the round of 16.
When asked about her strategy going into the second and final round Tuesday, she said simply,
“Play the same. Play solid, smart, keep my cool and try my best.”
Trailing closely behind Duangsam is Roanoke’s Kathryn Ha who posted a 2-under-par 70. Her round also started out a bit slow with back-to-back bogeys on holes 1 and 2 but evened it out with two birdies on the front nine, and three on the back nine.
“It wasn’t an ideal start. I came back with two birdies on the front nine to turn even. I think more putts were dropping on the back nine,” Ha said. “My ball striking was on point today and it was a good round overall.”
This is also Ha’s first time playing in the Junior Girls’ Championship. She competed in last year’s Women’s Amateur Championship and said she would love to compete in more VSGA events going forward.
Amber Mackiewicz is in third place, four strokes back, after opening with a 1-over 73. Four players are tied for fourth at 2-over 74: Katie Vu, Addie Doroh, Macy Johnson and Katie Park.
Buechler is a P.J. Boatwright intern with the VSGA.