An excited Stephanie Kyriacou has no illusions about how tough her assignment will be at next week’s US Girls’ Junior Championship.
Kyriacou, who plays off plus two at St. Michael’s Golf Club, jetted off to the United States today in readiness for the Championship which begins on Monday at Boone Valley Golf Club in Missouri.
“Yes, It’s going to be good. It’s the biggest tournament I’ve played in so far,” Kyriacou said.
“It’s going to be a tough playing against the the best girls in the world, It will be a wonderful experience, even if I don’t play my best.”
“Hopefully I will play well,” she smiled.
The 16-year-old has been working with her coach John Serhan at St. Michael’s fine-tuning her game in readiness for the tournament.
“John and I have been working on my short irons lately, they are pretty good,” she added.
The Year 11 Student at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Kensington has got plenty of support for her quest from her friends at School.
“The School’s been supportive. I’ll have a bit to catch up on when I get back; I’ll just have to work around it.” she smiled.
“They’re all behind me with what I want to do,“ she said.
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Kyriacou announced herself as one of the country’s best up-and-coming talents with impressive top-16 finishes at the Women’s Australian Amateur and NSW Amateur in January.
She made her representative debut for the NSW Girls and Women’s team this year, and, in an impressive effort, finished undefeated in the Girls Interstate Teams, won by NSW.
“It has been a big jump for me from last year, I’ve improved quite a lot, I’ve started to practice with a purpose instead of playing competitions here and there. I think it’s beginning to pay off,” she said with a smile.
The US Junior Girls Championship has been the springboard for some notable names in women's Golf. Former winners include Mickey Wright, Nancy Lopez, Kellie Kuehne, Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson and Australia’s Minjee Lee, who lifted the trophy in 2012.