Representing Australia – Jenny Lee

On 24th September 2014, I was selected to represent Australia for the first time.

The tournament was the World Junior Girls Championship held in Toronto, Canada, a 72 holes stroke play team and individual competition.  A team of 3 plays with the lowest two scores from each day counted towards the team total.

The Australian team was Hannah Green from WA, Karis Davidson from QLD, myself and team manager Emily Miller from Golf Australia.

Bright and early at 6am we flew to Sydney and met my teammates Hannah and Karis. We then flew on to to Los Angeles and after an hour stopover in Los Angeles flew on to Toronto, Canada. The time difference was crazy, 13 and a half hours difference between Adelaide and Toronto. We left in the morning of the 24th and we landed in Toronto on the same day at 9pm. A very long day!

Fortunately our first day was a rest day and I did some shopping and took the chance to rest. On the 26th September we played an am/am, like a pro/am but obviously we are still amateurs. The course was probably best I ever played. The views around the course were amazing and the course was really different to any in Australia.

We had another official practice round on 27th. The course was really tough, rough was thick, the greens exceptionally quick (and like concrete) and the bunkers were soft like beach sand.

The tournament was held from 28th September to 1st October, with the Australian Team shooting 20 over par for 4 rounds; we had 10 over par and 9 over par in the first round and last rounds, which cost us, yet we played quite well in the second and third rounds. My total score was 16 over par for 4 rounds, certainly not my best but it was a really good experience.

 On 2nd October, last day in Canada, before our flight we went to Niagara Falls, which was an amazing opportunity.

Overall it was a really great experience and one I will never forget. Representing your country for the first time is an amazing feeling! Though I didn’t play my best golf, I certainly learnt a lot and will continue to build on it. I hope there are a lot more similar opportunities in the future.