57th VSGA Junior Girls' Championship

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Dates: Tuesday, June 30-Thursday, July 2

Format: 54 holes of stroke play. The field will be cut to the low 20 players and ties for the third and final round. This is a USGA Exemption Event, and the winner will receive automatic entry into the U.S. Girls' Junior. 

Host site: Danville Golf Club

Defending champion: Macie Rasmussen

Day 3: Rasmussen wins third VSGA Junior Girls' Championship 

(Macie Rasmussen celebrates with her friends after winning the 57th VSGA Junior Girls' Championship at Danville Golf Club. Credit: Hayden Hundley/VSGA)

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By: Hayden Hundley 

DANVILLE - Macie Rasmussen joined an elite group of three players who have won three VSGA Junior Girls' Championships on Wednesday. 

Jessica Hollandsworth, Lee Shirley and Susan Slaughter are the only other players who have this championship three times. 

"It feels great," Rasmussen said. "I'm so happy to have played well and to be able to win again and be one of the only girls from Virginia to do this is just amazing." 

Rasmussen improved her score of 2-under 68 from round two to a 3-under 67 on Wednesday, which separated herself from the rest of the field. Her total score of 5-under 205 is the best score at a VSGA Junior Girls' Championship since the format switched to 54 holes in 2023. The next best scores this year were from Alisa Davidvoa, who recorded an even par of 210, and Raquel Walker who finished with a 6-over 216 through three days. 

Her win earns her an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, N.C. starting on July 13. Rasmussen used her exemption from last year to make a run into matchplay. 

"I'm so excited to go back," Rasmussen said. "It was definitely my goal to come here and win and go back, so to have a second chance and just to play in such a prestigious event is great." 

Rasmussen is committed to North Carolina and said she is especially excited to play at Old Chatham, knowing she'll need to experience that course before she has to qualify there as a college athlete. She also has the eligibility to return next year for the 58th VSGA Junior Girls' Championship, as she will not have reached her 19th birthday before June 30, 2027. 

Rasmussen was able to birdie the 10th and 11th holes during each round at the 57th VSGA Junior Girls' Championship, a feat no other player in the field accomplished. She did, however, face some adversity on the front nine on Wednesday after recording a bogey on the second and fourth holes, which allowed Walker to tie the score at 1-under on the fourth hole. 

"I've hit it at the pin [on hole 10] basically every day and I made a good putt today," Rasmussen said. "On [hole] 11 I hit it to a few inches today, so I just really like those holes." 

Rasmussen then proceeded to take advantage of a tough seventh hole for Walker, who recorded a double bogey, by birdieing and stretching her lead to three strokes. 

"I was feeling some pressure there for sure," Rasmussen said. "I got that birdie on seven and got back into a rhythm then and birdied 10 and 11 again so that felt good." 

She stayed steady on the back nine, notching pars on every hole besides a birdie on 15, which sealed her third VSGA Junior Girls' Championship.

Day 2: Rasmussen establishes two-stroke lead ahead of final round

(Macie Rasmussen smiles at her putt during the second round of 57th VSGA Junior Girls' Championship at Danville Golf Club. Credit: Hayden Hundley/VSGA)

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By: Hayden Hundley

DANVILLE – Two-time VSGA Junior Girls' Champion Macie Rasmussen built herself a solid, two-stroke lead heading into tomorrow's final round at Danville Golf Club. 

Her two-under 68 was the best score of the first and second rounds, which has her slotted above competitors' Alisa Davidova and Raquel Walker, who are both tied for second place at even par. There's a sizable gap between the rest of the field after those three, as Kennedy MacCleery's fourth place score of 7-over 147 is the closest. 

Rasmussen, a Chesapeake, Va., native and North Carolina commit, has been the only player in the field to record birdies on the 10th and 11th holes during both rounds, which has helped her rocket up the leaderboard. Davidova and Rasmussen battled for the lead throughout the back nine, but a double bogey from the former on the 18th hole has Rasmussen by herself at the top. 

Quotable: 

• "Making sure you really get past all of the false fronts [at this course] is really important. The greens are holding so you can basically fly it at the pin and be okay." -- Macie Rasmussen

• "I like hole 10 because its downhill. I think that just fits my eye. And then the second shot on 11, I stuck it to about two feet again, so I just really like that first shot too." -- Macie Rasmussen 
• "I think [the course] suits my game, it's a lot of a placement course. I feel like there are some holes that could favor a longer hitter, but you have to be accurate and have a good short game." -- Macie Rasmussen 
• "Making sure you are in the fairway is very important. Keeping yourself out of trouble and playing that dog legs without taking too much off of them is helpful." -- Macie Rasmussen
• "It was a lot today; it was very tiring. I kept feeling like I was running out of steam out there, but I kept hydrating, kept pushing. I know I scored worse today, but I felt like I played a lot better and smarter. I hit more greens rather than going at pins, which definitely made the course a lot more manageable." -- Raquel Walker
• "I definitely had a couple bogeys in there that I hope to clean up tomorrow because I think all three of them could have been easily erased. It made it a little bit easier to manage the heat." -- Raquel Walker 

Day 1: Raquel Walker claims lead after first round 

(Raquel Walker reads her putt on the 18th green at Danville Golf Club. Credit: Hayden Hundley/VSGA)

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By: Hayden Hundley

DANVILLE – Burke, Va., native Raquel Walker was the only player in the field to shoot under par at a challenging Danville Golf Club on Tuesday during the first round of the 57th VSGA Junior Girls' Championship.  

Walker bounced back from a double bogey on the first hole, sinking consecutive birdies on the next two holes, which lead to her finishing the first round 1-under 69. She also bookended her round with two birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. Walker, A Virginia Tech commit, is looking for her first win at the VSGA Junior Girls' Championship. 

Trailing just behind her is two-time champion Macie Rasmussen and last year's co-runner up Alisa Davidova at even par. Kennedy MacCleery, fresh off of winning the 4th Women's Open of Virginia on June 24, is in fourth place with a score of 2-over 72. Ashburn, Va., native Olivia Cho recorded an ace on the 4th hole from roughly 135 yards out with a 7 iron. 

Quotable: 

• "After I had a hard hole, I was just trying to get back in position and take it easy and take it slow. Hole one was really hard, I missed it in the wrong spot and then hole two I hit a good shot in, and I just kept giving myself opportunities, and the putts kept falling. That's a great feeling. -- Raquel Walker 
• "I eventually settled down on the back nine, which was a lot better, a lot more calm. I told Kennedy [MacCleery] that I had to "slow down," because it was up-and-down, but it was fun." -- Raquel Walker
• "[The course] was playing a lot harder than it feels. It was playing longer than I expecting and the greens were really tricky, they're sneaky on some holes. Like [on] hole one, you kind of just fall off the back left without even knowing." -- Raquel Walker 
• "I'm definitely going to try not to look at [the leaderboard] too much. I'm going to take it one shot at a time and remember [that] the most important shot is always the next one." -- Raquel Walker 
• "I didn't get off to the best start on the front nine and I just bogeyed [hole] nine, so I was a bit upset about that. The birdie on [hole] 10 felt good, and I stuck it to like two feet one [hole] 11, so that was nice." -- Macie Rasmussen
• "The greens are very undulating, so missing in the correct spot was very important. The par 5's were pretty gettable and so were the par 4's. -- Macie Rasmussen 
• "I didn't know I made the [hole-in-one] until I saw my dad celebrating after and then I realized, but it felt really great." -- Olivia Cho
• "I was playing towards the back end of the green because of the false front, and I didn't want to risk going into the water. I actually didn't hit it as well as I thought I did, but it turned out pretty great." -- Olivia Cho