Manila, Philippines: Performing with an aura of calmness and assurance, Arianna Lau pulled off a successful title defence at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Girls’ Championship.

Showing no signs of stress, the Hong Kong China teenager returned a closing four-under-par 68 over the Legends Course at The Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club to complete a stunning wire-to-wire victory.

Just nine days before she turns 17, Lau turned heads as she emphatically staved off high-class Korean pursuers Oh Soo-min and Jung Min-seo.

With her 15-under aggregate of 201, Northwestern University-bound Lau ended five shots clear of runner-up Oh and six ahead of third-placed Jung.

The excellent spirit and camaraderie in which the championship was played was evident from the fact that the Korean duo were among the players who doused Lau with water after the final putts were holed. 

There was consolation for Oh who partnered An Seong-hyeon to victory in the Team event.

The Korea 1 pair finished with a combined aggregate score of 18-under 414 – five strokes in front of the Korea 2 team of Jung and Son Je-yi.

The Thailand 1 team of Siwakorn Kriangkrai and Kanyarak Pongpitahnon were a distant third on 427 followed by Hong Kong China 1 (Lau and Anthony Fang Kai-xian).

One shot further back in fifth were Thailand 2, consisting of Parat Sukanant and Teerawut Boonseeor, who saw off the challenge of An to win the Boys title. 

Four strokes clear at the start of the final round after posting scores of 68 and 65, Lau saw her overnight advantage quickly halved when Oh, winner of the individual title and a member of the triumphant Korean team at this year’s Queen Sirikit Cup, birdied the fourth and fifth.

But the Hong Kong player was unflappable, responding in spectacular fashion with an eagle-three at the par-five sixth where Oh stumbled with a bogey-six.

With seven holes to play, Lau was three ahead of Jung and five in front of Oh. At the par-three 12th, she bounded further clear with a birdie-two while Oh made four and Jung took a damaging double-bogey five.

From that point, Lau was able to coast home.

Testament to her mastery of the Jack Nicklaus-designed course was the fact that over the three rounds she had 15 birdies to go with that eagle and just two bogeys.

Having started the week in 87th place in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Lau’s latest success will see her close in on a place in the elite top-50.

Full Final Scores

Girls’ Division

201 – Arianna Lau (Hong Kong China) 68-65-68
206 – Oh Soo-min (Korea) 72-65-69
207 – Jung Min-seo (Korea) 71-67-69
212 – Nguyen Viet Gia Han (Vietnam) 71-72-69
216 – Kaya Senara Daluwatte (Sri Lanka) 74-73-69; Kanyarak Pongpitahnon (Thailand) 75-70-71; Aasiya Saleem (UAE) 74-70-72
217 – Ng Jing Xuen (Malaysia) 77-71-69
218 – Anna Le (Vietnam) 74-74-70
219 – Zara Anand (India) 74-74-71
220 – Anna Ludvova (Czech) 76-76-68
221 – Alethia Paige Gaccion (Philippines) 74-74-73
222 – Grace Pauline Quintanilla (Philippines) 76-72-74
223 – Parat Sukanant (Thailand) 76-77-70
224 – Reese Ng (Philippines) 74-77-73; Aamiya Koul (Singapore) 75-75-74
225 – Jeong Yoo-nae (New Zealand) 75-78-72; Celeste Bobo-Lloret (France) 74-77-74
226 – Wang Yung-jen (Chinese Taipei) 77-76-73
228 – Keerthana Rajeev Nair (India) 81-75-72
229 – Chan Pei-wei (Chinese Taipei) 77-77-75; Obi Chan (Hong Kong China) 75-77-77
230 – Denise Ng (Singapore) 74-79-77
233 – Victoria Richani (Lebanon) 79-79-75
243 – Belle Ngo Yi (Malaysia) 85-81-77
245 – Anca Mateiu (UAE) 79-83-83
247 – Fatima Bushra (Pakistan) 78-84-85
279 – Yanjinkham Batdelger (Mongolia) 92-92-95

Final Team Standings

414 – Korea 1 (An Seong-hyeon/Oh Soo-min) 146-132-136
419 – Korea 2 (Son Je-yi/Jung Min-seo) 144-136-139
427 – Thailand 1 (Siwakorn Kriangkrai/Kanyarak Pongpitahnon) 148-138-141
428 – Hong Kong China 1 (Anthony Fang Kai-xian/Arianna Lau) 150-138-140
429 – Thailand 2 (Teerawut Boonseeor/Parat Sukanant) 147-146-136
431 – Sri Lanka 1 (Reshan Akash Algama/Kaya Senara Daluwatte) 143-146-142
433 – Malaysia 1 (Andrew Yap/Ng Jing Xuen) 152-143-138
436 – Vietnam 2 (Nguyen Duc Son/Nguyen Viet Gia Han) 143-149-142
438 – European Golf Association 1 (Tom De Herrypon/Celeste Bobo-Lloret) 141-152-145
439 – Vietnam 1 (Nguyen Tuan Anh/Anna Le) 152-148-139; India 2 (Ranveer Mitroo/Zara Anand) 148-149-142
444 – New Zealand (Cooper Moore/Jeong Yoo-nae) 150-151-143; Philippines 2 (David Charles Serdenia/Grace Pauline Quintanilla) 150-147-147
445 – European Golf Association 2 (Raul Gomez Montalva/Anna Ludvova) 147-151-147
446 – Philippines 3 (Geoffrey Tan/Alethia Paige Gaccion) 152-149-145; Chinese Taipei 1 (Andreas Kuo Shi-hi/Chan Pei-wei) 146-150-150
447 – India 1 (Anshul Mishra/Keerthana Rajeev Nair) 153-149-145
449 – Singapore 1 (Troy Storm/Aamiya Koul) 150-153-146
450 – UAE 1 (Mohammad Skaik/Aasiya Saleem) 153-145-152
451 – Philippines 1 (Shinichi Suzuki/Reese Ng) 149-154-148
453 – Hong Kong China 2 (Michael Yuen Chi-yeing/Obi Chan) 151-146-156
455 – Chinese Taipei 2 (Hsieh Yao-yu/Wang Yung-jen) 153-153-149
463 – Malaysia 2 (Nathan Tsen Jac/Belle Ngo Yi) 157-156-150; Singapore 2 (Aaron Wee/Denise Ng) 153-159-151
467 – UAE 2 (Rayan Ahmed/Anca Mateiu) 152-162-153
470 – Guam (Stussy Shiroma/Raymond Blas) 158-158-154
486 – Pakistan (Muhammad Irtaza Hussain/Fatima Bushra) 157-162-167
567 – Mongolia (Anand Batbold/Yanjinkham Batdelger) 185-186-196

WD – Lebanon (Geoffrey Laklak/Victoria Richani) 160-WD