CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Clarksville’s Mariah Smith will advance to compete in the 67th U.S. Girls’ Junior Golf Championship after securing one of three qualifying spots by shooting a 79 in the 18-hole regional qualifier at the Nashville Golf and Athletic Club Monday, June 29.

Maria Balcazar, Mexico, and Gabriela Coello, Winter Garden, FL, earned the first two spots with scores of 75 and 76 respectively.

With Haverly Harrold of Jonesboro, Tenn. and Kynadie Adams of Gallitin, Tenn. also scoring 79, Smith was forced into a sudden death playoff. After scoring pars on hole-1, Smith and Harrold advanced to hole-2 which Smith went on to win after finishing 1-over, earning the remaining national qualifying spot.

Smith started the qualifier on a good note with par but faced trouble early on with what seemed to be an unforgiving quadruple bogey on hole-2. Able to shake it off, the Clarksville High School junior pressed on and finished the front nine holes 5-over while improving on the back nine with a 2-over finish.

“I just tried to forget that quad and continue on, focused on parring but hoping to birdie a few to minimize the damage,” said Smith. “I was able to birdie three holes which really helped both my confidence and my end result.”

Smith is one of only five girls in Tennessee to qualify, so far, to play in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship this year, which will be held at Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. July 20 through July 25. This marks the first year Smith will compete in the Junior Girls’ Championship, after finishing eighth in last year’s qualifier with a 78.

Smith recently won the girls’ Hank Miles Jr. City AM championship at Swan Lake Golf Course her in Clarksville with a score of 144 (71-73), June 17-18.

The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship is comprised of amateur golfers who won’t be 18 years old by June 20, and who have an official USGA handicap that doesn’t exceed 18.4. The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship was established in 1949, one year after the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Philadelphia (Pa.) Country Club, one of the oldest clubs in the nation, hosted the first championship on its Bala Course, which opened in 1891, three years before the founding of the USGA. Girls’ Junior champions have won the U.S. Women’s Amateur 11 times and the U.S. Women’s Open 12 times. Additionally, 19 champions have gone on to represent the USA on the Curtis Cup Team through 2014.