TARZANA, Calif. - Isaki Sakashita, an incoming freshman for the Stetson women's golf team and a native of Nara, Japan, has captured attention at the 75th USGA Girls' Junior Championship with her qualifying performance in stroke play. Held at the El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California from July 15-20, 2024, Sakashita navigated through a competitive field of 156 golfers representing various nationalities to make the cut to compete in match play.

There are 12 countries represented in the championship: Australia (2), Canada (14), Hong Kong China (2), India (1), Japan (2), Mexico (4), People's Republic of China (7), Philippines (3), Republic of Korea (3), Taiwan (3), Thailand (2) and the United States of America (113). Sakashita is one of 39 players who have signed national letters of intent with colleges for Fall 2024 while three competitors are currently college players.

In the initial stroke play rounds, Sakashita carded a solid 69 in her opening round followed by a 75 in the second, finishing with a total of 144 (+2). Her consistent play secured her a spot comfortably within the top 64, marking her entry into the match play stage of the championship.

The match play phase commenced with Sakashita facing off against Athena Singh from Morehead, Kentucky. the two are set to face of Wednesday morning in what is the first of six rounds of the championship bracket.

If successful against Singh, Sakashita's next match would pit her against the winner between Yuka Nishina and Veronika Exposito on Thursday, July 18th. Notably, Nishina stands as the only other Japanese representative in this year's championship.