CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Ysabel Liu of Short Hills, N.J. has been playing competitively since she was a little girl. When she was 7, her father showed her the game at a local driving range. Since then, Liu has blossomed into a fierce competitor complete with several national championship appearances to her credit.
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Liu leaned on her competitive mettle Monday. In U.S. Girls’ Junior Qualifying administered by GAP at Chambersburg Country Club (par 73, 6,258 yards), she carded a 2-under-par 71 to take medalist honors.
“Two years ago when I qualified, I was also medalist. I’m glad I can keep it up,” Liu, 17, of Short Hills, N.J., said. “It’s a great field and a tough course. The greens were much quicker than I anticipated, so I’m glad that I managed it well.”
The aforementioned first-time medalist performance took place during 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior Qualifying administered by New Jersey Golf at Copper Hill Country Club. In the Championship proper that year, she fell in the Round of 64.
The 76th U.S. Girls’ Junior will be contested at The Atlanta Athletic Club (Riverside Course) in Johns Creek, Ga. July 14-19.
There were two qualifying positions and two alternate positions available. The cutline stopped at even-par 73. The 1912 Club’s Rhianna Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting, Pa. secured the final qualifying position after prevailing in a sudden death playoff ahead of Kate Roberts of Phoenixville, Pa. The pair finished regulation tied at even-par.
Liu was the only player in the field to finish in red figures. On-course agility and remaining level headed throughout the round were the keys to her success.
“I was hitting farther than yesterday (during a practice round), so it was kind of an adjustment using different clubs. Once I got the distance calibrated, I was giving myself a lot of looks at birdie,” Liu, a rising senior at Millburn High School, said. “I tend to overthink things. Staying in the moment was really important, and just playing it one shot at a time.”
Starting on Chambersburg’s back nine, Liu went out in 1 under. A birdie on No. 17 (par 5, 468 yards) got her into red figures. There, she hit the green in two with a 6-iron from 173 yards and two-putted from 15 feet.
On the front side, Liu’s back nine, back-to-back three-putt bogeys on Nos. 7 (par 3, 153 yards) and 8 (par 4, 336 yards) presented on her card undoing prior birdies on Nos. 2 (par 4, 321 yards) and 3 (par 5, 509 yards).
She answered back with a birdie on No. 9 (par 4, 400 yards) after steering a 58-degree wedge from 70 yards to nine feet.
“I went in trying to make a par because I knew I was close,” Liu, who is verbally committed to Princeton University, said. “I wanted to hit it on the green[, and] not be too aggressive.”
Her patience paid off.
In addition to the aforementioned U.S. Girls’ Junior, Liu’s USGA resume includes an appearance in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. Her side bowed out in the Round of 32. She also plays in American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events. In 2023, she finished second in the K.J. Choi Foundation Junior Championship by SK Telecom.
Having been to the Championship proper before, Liu knows what to expect and how to prepare.
“I’m super excited. They’re always well run, and we play at really great courses. You get exposed to the best players in the world,” Liu, who practices at Maplewood Country Club, said. “I’ll just continue my practice and I’m looking to improve on my match play because I feel like I’m not the strongest.”
Like Liu, Gooneratne’s father also served as the key to her golf gateway. A multi-sport athlete growing up, Gooneratne decided to focus on golf full-time in high school after playing recreationally with her family growing up.
“It was just very different from the other sports. Not as fast paced, [and] also just a lot more mental,” Gooneratne, 18, said. “I really loved going out and practicing. It was a time for me to be more independent.”
Her wise decision-making is manifested in a crowded trophy case and now a USGA championship appearance.
“It’s my first [USGA Championship] I’ve qualified for. I was really looking forward to this as well, I knew I had a good shot at it,” Gooneratne, an incoming freshman at the University of Delaware, said. “I’m just really happy and excited to see what I can do and also to go and experience it.”
Gooneratne, who played in the last group and started on Chambersburg’s front nine, went out in even par. A single bogey on No. 13 (par 4, 330 yards) poisoned an otherwise perfect card. Her 8-iron approach from 145 yards landed in the rough short of the greenside bunkers. Gooneratne was forced to navigate a tough stance between the rough and the sand while chipping which resulted in a five.
She got back to even with a birdie on No. 16 (par 4, 345 yards). There she stopped a pitching wedge from 120 yards to six feet. Gooneratne matched Roberts who played in the group prior.
On No. 17, the first playoff hole, both players hit tee shots into the fairway. Gooneratne then rifled a 5-iron from 205 yards into the left rough near the green. She chipped up to eight feet and converted the birdie putt. Roberts failed to make her birdie putt after hitting the green in regulation.
Gooneratne recently captured the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s 5th Women’s Four-Ball Championship with her partner Bryn Krosse of Regents’ Glen Country Club. In 2023, she won the AJGA UHY Baltimore Junior. In 2022, Gooneratne won the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia’s (WGAP) Silver Cross award. The award is comprised of the qualifying round for the Women’s Match Play Championship and both rounds of the Mary Thayer Farnum Cup. At 1912, she’s captured women’s club championship titles on three occasions (2022-24).
“This is my last year of junior golf and I was able to qualify,” Gooneratne said. “It’s not a goal I had, but looking back it was a pretty good achievement. I think [playing in the championship] will be a really great experience to cap off my junior golf experience.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 130,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
| Qualifiers | |
| Name, city, state | Score |
| Ysabel Liu, Short Hills, N.J. | 71 |
| *Rhianna Gooneratne, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. | 73 |
| alternates (in order) | |
| *Kate Roberts, Phoenixville, Pa. | 73 |
| Aamiya Koul, Singapore | 74 |
| Failed to qualify | |
| Elsa Wu, Canada | 76 |
| Elle Overly, Lititz, Pa. | 77 |
| Megan Fenton, Carlisle, Pa. | 77 |
| Naaz Mehta, Newtown, Pa. | 77 |
| Mia Pace, Exton, Pa. | 78 |
| Piper Smith, Lancaster, Pa. | 78 |
| Ava Gilbart, Canada | 80 |
| Hallie Brown, Tunkhannock, Pa. | 80 |
| Kiersten Bodge, West Chester, Pa. | 81 |
| Raynna Goh, Singapore | 82 |
| Stephanie Woo, Canada | 82 |
| Chawisa Komolkhetruck, Thailand | 83 |
| Emily Rensch, Chambersburg, Pa. | 84 |
| Sarah Stumacher, Gladwyne, Pa. | 85 |
| Xinyue Wang, People’s Republic of China | 85 |
| Molly Meinhardt, San Mateo, Calif. | 86 |
| Callie (Hong Man) Li, People’s Republic of China | 87 |
| Rui Wen Wang, Hong Kong, China | 87 |
| Cailyn Schall, Jersey Shore, Pa. | 88 |
| Sirina Ganne, Holmdel, N.J. | 88 |
| Kaydee Beckenbaugh, Shippensburg, Pa. | 91 |
| * – determined in a playoff |
