ANA Junior Inspiration names 2017 field

March 06, 2017

A group of female golfers earned their way into the ANA Junior Inspiration, a premier amateur event held at Mission Hills CC on Mar. 25-26. The winner of this event receives the final playing spot in the ANA Inspiration, the LPGA’s first Major championship of the season. An event that has previously been run by SCGA Junior, the ANA Junior Inspiration has been revamped for 2017 to extend its reach beyond Southern California.

The field is made up of 40 of the best junior girls from around the world who qualified through the new ANA Priority Mileage Points system. The first 11 girls in the field earned their spot by way of topping their Gateway City points list. Here in Los Angeles, that spot was earned by Alyaa Abdulghany, who easily topped the SoCal category. Abdulghany (pictured) is an active member of SCGA Junior, and was recently featured in the SCGA's FORE magazine.

Southern California girls to qualify also include:

Elizabeth Wang, Karah Sanford, Rose Zhang, Brianna Navarrosa, Kornkamol Sukaree and Kailie Vongsaga, who have all catapulted themselves into the ranks of the world’s best junior amateurs. The event, which is now run by AJGA, has also expanded from 18 holes to 54, and will be contested on two courses over two days.

The event that has traditionally been an 18-hole event on the Arnold Palmer Course at Mission Hills CC. This year, on day one, participants will play 36 holes on the Pete Dye Challenge Course. On day two, they'll play alongside LPGA legends on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course, just days before the course is transformed for the professionals.

Read more about this exciting opportunity for our girls and watch defending ANA Inspiration champion Lydia Ko get these amateurs excited about the event here!