Around the Green

Ashley Yen Wins Texas Girls' Invitational

MONTGOMERY— Ashely Yen won the Texas Girls’ Invitational with an overall score of 2-under 214 at Bentwater Yacht & Country Club’s Weiskopf Course on Monday. The victory marks Yen’s first with the Legends Junior Tour and her name will be etched on the Nez Muhleman Trophy.
 
“It feels really great to win,” said Yen, “I’ve worked really hard and am so thankful for everyone who helped support me all throughout.”
 
The Houston-native was the only player under par and posted rounds of 72-69-73. She started her final round with a birdie on No. 1 and No. 3, but dropped a shot with a bogey on No. 4. She made five straight pars to finish off her front nine and turned at 4-under overall. She made two bogeys in her final nine holes along with seven pars to get to 2-under and three strokes ahead of the field.
 
“Yesterday my putting was really good, but today was just consistent shots and I was focused on hitting fairways and greens,” said Yen following her win.
 
The Texas Girls’ Invitational is a 54-hole stroke play event for girls that are members of the Texas Junior Golf Alliance. The event is one of the top-ranked tournaments in Texas.
 
San Antonio’s Emma McMyler stayed with Yen throughout Monday’s Final Round as the two players were tied following 10 holes. McMyler made bogey on Nos. 12, 14 and 16 to fall to 1-over overall and into second place. She finished the week with eight birdies and one eagle in 54 holes.
 
Plano’s Summer Lee finished third in the Texas Girls’ Invitational at 3-over 219. Lee played with Yen and McMyler in the final group and posted a score of 3-over 76 on the last day. Alice Hodge of Larchmont, New York and Makenzie Niblett of Austin tied for fourth in the event at 4-over 220. Hodge was competing in her first Texas Girls’ Invitational, while Niblett is a two-time champion of this event.
 
Reigning LJT Girls Division Player of the Year Lauren Nguyen tied with Delaney Martin for sixth, while Meagan Winans finished eighth and Nicole Vivier, Jordan Salisbury and Mimi Burton tied for ninth.
 
Bentwater Yacht & Country Club hosted the Texas Girls’ Invitational for the fifth time in the tournament’s history. The event returned to the Weiskopf Course for the first time since 2016. The course was designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish and stretched out to 6,200 yards for the tournament.
 
The day started with a heavy fog in the area and play was delayed one hour. Once players got started the fog lingered throughout the morning, finally lifting around 12:00 pm. The sun started to peek out around 1:00 pm and the winds started to blow around 2:00 pm. All-in-all the weather was great throughout the two days.
 
With her win, Yen has earned an exemption into a match-play qualifier for the Volunteers of America Classic, which is a professional event held at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas. Yen will be joined by 15 other exemption winners from various Texas Junior Golf Alliance events with the winner earning a spot in the LPGA event. This will be the first year of the match-play event and Yen is the first to qualify.
 
Next up for the Legends Junior Tour is the Texas Cup Invitational at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club’s Dye Course in McKinney. The Texas Cup Invitational is a boys-only event and the first Major Championship for the Boys in 2020.
 
To see all the scores from the first two rounds, click here. For more information on the Texas Girls’ Invitational, click here.