Staff WriterEngland’s Charlotte Naughton has planted her flag on the world stage, winning the World Junior Girls Championship by a single shot in a nail-biter at St. Catharines Golf & Country Club in Canada.
The 17-year-old from Longhirst Hall held her nerve down the stretch to finish at 10-under par, edging out local favourite Clara Ding with the sort of composure that suggests she’s destined for much bigger stages.
“I am so happy I’ve won the World Junior Girls Championship,” said Naughton, who could hardly stop smiling after sinking the winning putt. “I’ve played really well this week and my putting was the best part of my game as I’ve holed quite a few putts.”
And she wasn’t exaggerating. Naughton opened with a steady 70 (-2), then roared into contention with a second-round 66 (-6), the second-lowest score of the tournament.
A third-round 68 (-4) gave her the halfway lead at -8. By the time Sunday rolled around, she carried a two-shot cushion but needed every ounce of it. Her final-round 74 (+2) looked wobbly at times, but an ice-cold eight-footer on the 72nd green sealed the deal.
“The last round was a bit stressful as none of my putts wanted to drop, but on the final hole I holed a good putt to win,” she admitted.
That putt doesn’t just give her a trophy – it hands her golden tickets: exemptions into the LPGA’s CPKC Women’s Open and the Canadian Women’s Amateur. Not bad for a week’s work.
Naughton was quick to spread the credit around. “I would like to thank England Golf for the opportunity, Lauren (Crump) and Ellie (Lichtenhein) for making this week so fun, and my family and friends for all their love and support.”
England, powered by Naughton’s heroics, finished 4th in the team standings. Shropshire’s Lauren Crump closed T22 on +3, while Buckinghamshire’s Ellie Lichtenhein tied for 34th at +8 in a 69-player field that looked more like a who’s who of future LPGA Tour stars than a junior event.
And that’s the thing: the World Junior Girls has history on its side. Since its 2014 debut, the event has produced medalists like Brooke Henderson, Angel Yin, Megan Khang, Yuka Saso, Linn Grant, and Atthaya Thitikul – names now sprinkled across leaderboards on both sides of the Atlantic. If precedent is any guide, Naughton’s name could be joining them sooner rather than later.
She’s certainly got the résumé. This year alone, she became the first English winner of the German Girls’ International Amateur, finished runner-up at the Girls’ Amateur Championship, and bagged the Lawson Trophy at the St Rule Trophy for the second straight year as the leading under-18 player. She’s also represented England in the Girls’ & Boys’ Home Internationals, the biennial clash against Spain, and the Toyota Junior World Cup.
Next stop? Bethpage Black, where she’ll pull on a Team Europe jersey for the Junior Ryder Cup.
“I think the course this week set me up for the Ryder Cup, as the rough was very challenging!” she said, grinning as if she’d already figured out how to tame New York’s toughest beast.
If her week in Canada is any clue, Charlotte Naughton might just be one of those names we’ll be hearing on leaderboards for years to come.
