Cameron Qualifies for U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Incoming freshman Claire Cameron was already set to join the Kentucky women’s golf team this fall with a decorated high school résumé. She added to her impressive junior accomplishments Monday by qualifying for the 2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.

Cameron won a local qualifier at Idle Hour Country Club in Lexington with a 73 to advance to the national tournament, which will be held July 24-29 at the Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Missouri. 

It’s the fifth time in Cameron’s career she’s qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, including a 2015 medalist finish.

The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship was established in 1949. Any female under the age of 19 is eligible to compete in the national tournament. Local qualifiers are set up throughout the country during June. The top golfers from each of the qualifiers meet in Missouri at the end of July.

Cameron, who signed with Kentucky in the fall of 2016 and will join the Wildcats as a freshman in the fall, is a proven winner on the junior stage. At the time of her signing last year, she had already won a remarkable 41 tournaments in her career. 

A graduate of Martinsville High School in Martinsville, Indiana, Cameron played in qualifiers for both the 2015 and 2016 U.S. Women’s Open. In 2016, she was the top finishing junior in her qualifier in 21st place, behind eight professional and 12 college players. She was selected as one of five Americans to play in the 2015 and 2016 Junior Orange Bowl International tournaments. 

The three-time Indiana Golf Association Player of the Year posted four top-five and seven top-10 finishes on the American Junior Golf Association Tour, including winning the 2014 AJGA Qualifier in Columbus, Indiana. She also notched two top-three finishes on the PGA Junior Series Golf Tour. A two-time Golfweek Magazine All-America Team selection, Cameron became the youngest player to ever win the Indiana Girls’ State Championship when she won it in 2013 as a 14-year-old. 

Cameron is currently ranked No. 49 in the Golfweek’s class of 2017 rankings.