ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Republic of Korea (Korea) battled the swirling winds but successfully defended their title, becoming the first back-to-back champions in tournament history at the 2025 World Junior Girls Golf Championship at St. Catharines Golf & Country Club in St. Catharines, Ont., on Saturday.
Korea opened the final round with a 10-shot cushion but dropped a couple strokes early in the day to bring the field back into contention. In the end, they persevered through the elements to win the world championship for a record fourth time in the tournament’s ten-year history.
“This week they performed very well, especially the first one for Yeonseo Kim, it was her first time to come to Canada and the first time for a national team event but still she played tremendously,” said Korea Coach Min Naon. “Today, they knew their score, so they tried to not make big numbers, and it worked. It wasn’t an easy day for us, but they hung on to the end.”
On Saturday, Yun Seo Yang’s even par 72 and Seojin Park’s 1-over 73 counted towards the team’s total, with Korea finishing the tournament at 20-under (141-135-135-145-556), winning by seven strokes over past champions, Team Canada 1 and Spain.
This was the third year for both Naon and Park representing Korea at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship and the coach was reflective on her time working with Park and last year’s individual champion, Soomin Oh.
“Very special to me. Seojin and Soomin were my first girls that I worked with, and they really love to come to Canada and Golf Canada, and we really appreciate it every year and I can see they’re growing up so that’s very good,” she said.
The win gives Korea two championships along with a runner-up finish in the three years that Naon has coached the team.
“We play many big tournaments but for me, this event is very special. Three years ago, when I came here, it was the first event, and winning again is very special for me.”
As Korea battled on Saturday, Team Canada 1 shot up the leaderboard led by Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C.’s 3-under 69 and Shauna Liu’s even par 72. Canada continued to chip away at the lead, pulling to within five shots of the leaders as they made the turn on Saturday.
“We got off to a pretty good start today and when we made the turn we got it to 15-under and all the girls were playing really well and I looked and saw Korea was coming back maybe a little bit so there was a second there I thought maybe we could get this done, because I know the girls are capable of shooting a really low number,” said Team Canada 1 Coach Jeff MacDonald.
Like Naon, MacDonald was coaching in his third tournament with Team Canada 1 and have earned three successful podium finishes, winning gold in 2023 and consecutive runner-up finishes.
MacDonald praised his team’s depth and resiliency this week, “they’re great teammates. They really play for each other, which is great. Canada 2 had a great result this week, which is so encouraging for our program, it shows the depth that we have, and things are looking good.” Team Canada 1 was also represented by Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont.
Xing and MacDonald will also represent Canada at the World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore next month along with Vanessa Borovilos of Etobicoke, Ont. and Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C.
Team Canada 2 had their best finish in tournament history finishing in sixth place at 8-under and were led by Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C. who finished the tournament at 9-under and as runner-up in the individual component. Ding’s 1-under 71 and Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta.’s even par 72 counted for the team on Saturday. Team Canada 2 was also represented by Ruihan Kendria Wang of Vancouver, B.C.
Two-time champions, Spain shared runner-up honours with Canada 1 at 13-under. France and England tied for fourth at 9-under. Mexico (6-under), Italy (2-under), Colombia and Sweden (even par) rounded out the top 10 and all receive exemptions into next year’s championship.
The individual championship provided much drama in the final round as England’s Charlotte Naughton held on to win the gold medal and with it an exemption into the 2026 CPKC Women’s Open.
“It feels amazing, I am actually speechless,” said Naughton shortly after having water dumped on her by her teammates on the 18th green. “I am really excited to play against the top golfers in the world,” she added in regard to her exemption.
Naughton opened the day with a two-shot lead over Kim but opened with bogey on No. 1 to tighten the leaderboard although not for very long. She carded back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to open a four-shot lead over Kim who bogeyed the third. Naughton’s lead increased to five with another birdie on No 6. Playing ahead of Naughton was Ding who moved into solo second and within four of the leader following a birdie of her own on No. 8.
Ding’s birdie at No. 12 coupled with a bogey from Naughton on 14 trimmed her lead to two with only few holes remaining. Ding later dropped a stroke on 18 to finish at 9-under. Naughton’s double bogey on the par 3 17th meant she was only carrying a one-shot lead heading to the 18th.
On the final hole, Naughton’s approach found a green side bunker. As the crowd watched in muted anticipation, Naughton’s perfect sand save gave her an opportunity to make par and win the title.
Putting had been the strongest part of her game all week in St. Catharines, and the flat stick did not fail her on 18 as she coolly rolled it in for the win.
“It was very stressful out there. I made a lot of up and downs and holed a few putts but towards the back nine I had a lot of chances, but the ball just wouldn’t go in the hole. So, when I knew I had to hole out it was a nice straight up hill putt, so it was good,” said a relieved Naughton.
Naughton finished the tournament at 10-under following rounds of 70-66-68-74-278 and while she has enjoyed a successful season, this win has moved to a prominent spot in her young career, “definitely number one,” she said with a big smile.
There won’t be much rest for Naughton as she will now head to the 2025 Junior Ryder Cup at Nassau Country Club and Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. next week to represent both England and Europe.
Adriana Garcia Terol (Spain), Lin and Park finished tied for third at 7-under. Nagore Martinez (Spain) and Kim finished tied for sixth at 6-under.
In total, a field of 23 teams and 69 players in total competed for team and individual honours. Naughton, Ding, Garcia Terol, Lin and Park will also earn exemptions into the 112th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, taking place at The Toronto Golf Club in Mississauga, Ont., July 20-24, 2026.
Several players who have competed in the World Junior Girls Golf Championship have gone on to great success on the LPGA Tour. Canadian Brooke Henderson, a 14-time LPGA Tour winner and Canada’s winningest professional golfer, finished fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural championship in 2014.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand who won back-to-back World Junior titles in 2018 and 2019 as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines who won the 2016 World Junior title. 2023 CPKC Women’s Open winner, Megan Khang of the United States competed in the inaugural tournament in 2014. Other former World Junior competitors who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Hannah Green of Australia and Maja Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden. Hye-Jin Choi from the Republic of Korea won both the 2015 team and individual championship at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship and has earned several top five finishes on the LPGA Tour.
For the final team and individual leaderboard, following the 2025 World Junior Girls Golf Championship, please click here.
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