The biggest prize in junior girls’ golf in the Golden State will be on the line when the 75th annual California Junior Girls’ State Championship tees off June 23-26 at Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo.
A field of 84 players aged 10-18 will compete over two days in stroke play qualifying (Monday-Tuesday). On Wednesday, the format will shift to match play for the top 16 players, eventually culminating in an 18-hole final to be held Thursday.
Along with the title, the winner of this prestigious event will receive an automatic exemption into the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. This year’s championship is set for July 14-19 at Atlantic Athletic Club (Riverside Course) in Georgia.
Among the competitors will be defending champion Caroline Gao of Milpitas, who last year at the age of 13 defeated then-15-year-old phenom Asterisk Talley at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
Nicole Iniakov will also be in the field. She won the 2024 PURE Insurance Championship’s Pro-Junior Girls’ division at Pebble Beach Golf Links with partner Ernie Els. She was also medalist at the 2024 San Francisco City Women’s Championship. Her 69 during stroke play qualifying was the only score under 70. Now a high school senior, she has committed to play for Harvard next year.
The strong field features girls with Handicap Indexes from 5 to Plus 6.
Past champions of the California Junior Girls’ State Championship include 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Kiara Romero (2023), LPGA Tour winner Yealimi Noh (2018), 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Hannah O’ Sullivan (2010) and LPGA Tour winner Christina Kim (2000).
The Peninsula G&CC, founded in 1911, is the only Donald Ross-designed course west of the Rockies. The club was home to women’s golf legend Helen Lengfeld, founder of the CWAC, and former Masters champion George Archer. In 2024, the club hosted the California Women’s Amateur Championship, won by UCLA senior Natalie Vo.