Red Mountain High School junior Kaitlyn Saum, 16 years old, qualified to play on the Arizona state golf team in this year’s Girls Junior America’s Cup Team Matches at Wailea Golf Club Gold Course in Maui, Hawaii, this past July.
According to Kaitlyn’s dad, Andy Saum, his daughter was one of 22 girls who tried out for the team. “She’s been playing all summer,” Andy said. “The qualifying started in Yuma, in May, and she did well in all the competitions.”
The team consisted of four girls, and was chosen by finishing positions in seven Junior Golf Association of Arizona local tournaments, which acted as qualifiers over the last two months. In the last qualifying tournament, Kaitlyn had scores of 71-75 for third overall, and secured her place on the team. The 71 (1 under par) was the best round she has had.
The team had two girls from Tucson and one from Queen Creek. They stayed with a host family in Maui during the tournament.
The Girls Junior America’s Cup was formed in 1978, in Washington State. Each tournament is a 54-hole competition, with teams counting three scores and throwing out the team’s highest score. Each team consists of the top four girls from 18 Western regions in the United States and Canada. Players must have outstanding skill and experience, as well as exhibit sportsmanship, discipline, courtesy and character, according to the organization’s Web site, www.gjac.org
.“Kaitlyn has been playing golf for fun since she was 5 years old,” said Andy. “I’m a hacker, not real good,” he said with a laugh. “So, I got her a Snoopy golf club, and she would ride around with me on the golf cart, and we’d have fun playing.” Kaitlyn started playing for real at 7, and started playing competition golf at age 9 with the LPGA/USGA [Ladies Professional Golf Association/United States Golf Association] Girls’ Golf program. Then at 11, she got serious.
Kaitlyn has played on the Red Mountain Varsity Girls’ Golf Team since her freshman year. Last year, she won the Mesa city tournament, and was named Mesa All City Player of the Year.
For more information about the Girls Junior America’s Cup, visit www.gjac.org.