Katie Seol and Jonathan Hong are the new WA Junior Masters champions following two action-packed days at Melville Glades Golf Club.
Cottesloe member Seol (above left) successfully defended the girls’ title she won at Wanneroo GC in 2025, while Hong (above right) is a state champion in just his second GolfWA junior competition since relocating from NSW.
Seol was required to come from behind to edge overnight leader Halia Edwards (Royal Perth) in a playoff, but Hong coasted home by five strokes in a dominant display.
In charge from the first day after a controlled two-under-par 70, Hong (WAGC) was similarly composed on day two as he returned a best-of-the-day 72 to leave the rest in his wake.
His nearest challenger at the start of Round 2 was Kwinana’s Max Andrews, whose opening 71 left him ideally poised to challenge, lying just a shot off Hong’s lead.
However, Andrews bogeyed the first on day two as playing partner Hong made birdie, and he would never again threaten the lead.
After going out in 40, Andrews steadied the ship to come home in level-par 36 and claim outright second at +3 for the championship, five strokes adrift.
Kwinana’s Max Andrews produced his best result in a state-ranking event
Rock-solid all week, 17-year-old Hong said his hot putter was the key reason he got over the line in such emphatic fashion.
“My putting was on fire,” Hong told GolfWA. “It was running really hot yesterday, not quite as good today, but obviously still a pretty good day on the greens.”
Having only moved to WA four months ago, Hong’s victory immediately establishes him as a player to watch at state level — and he says he has ambitions to match his rising stature.
“I’d like to go pro someday, but I’m going to be playing amateur golf for a few years yet,” he added. “I’d love to become part of the WA state team, so that’s probably my biggest goal right now.”
Elsewhere in the boys’ event, pre-event favourite Nate Johnson (Joondalup) and Lucas Wan (WAGC) shared third at +4, with Isaac Low (Gosnells) and Declan Pereira (The Vines) tied for fifth a further four strokes back.
View the final boys’ leaderboard here.
Careful Katie goes back-to-back
A runaway winner of this event last year, WA state golfer Katie Seol had a much tougher time of it at Melville Glades before getting the job done in a playoff.
Fifteen-year-old Seol was only a stroke adrift of overnight leader Halia Edwards at the start of day two, but her chances of victory looked slim as she found herself five shots back with just four holes to play.
Edwards looked to be in cruise control after a birdie at 13 moved her back to level par for her round and the championship.
However, the wheels came off in heartbreaking fashion as she dropped five shots in three holes from the 15th — including a treble-bogey 7 at the 16th.
Playing partner Seol, meanwhile, reeled off seven straight pars to finish her round and take the championship to extra holes as she and Edwards finished on +5.
It could even have been a three-way playoff had Kortni Houston’s eight-foot putt on 18 not agonisingly slipped by the edge.
Both Edwards and Seol split the fairway with their drives on the first playoff hole, but Edwards left her approach in the deep front trap as Seol feathered a short iron to within 10 feet.
To Edwards’ credit, she made a magnificent up-and-down from a plugged lie to pile the pressure back on her rival, but Seol kept her cool to stroke in the birdie putt and safeguard the title.
Halia Edwards’ title bid fell just short – despite a brilliant sand save in the playoff
“My irons and my putting weren’t good today, and my short game wasn’t either, so I had to hit a lot safe shots out there,” a relieved Seol told GolfWA. “I was very happy to see that putt drop in the playoff!”
On the back of her recent victory at the Victorian Girls Amateur Championship, Seol comes into each WA junior championship as a hot favourite.
While she takes nothing for granted, Seol believes this pressure is a privilege that motivates her to work harder.
“Everyone’s expectations of me are quite high, but that just makes me want to work harder and do my best every time I go out to practice,” she added.
Elsewhere in the girls’ championship, past champion Isabella Leniartek (Royal Perth) battled illness on her way to a fourth-place finish, while Sienna McCulloch (Joondalup), Heejoo Cho (Royal Fremantle) and Isabella Day (Mandurah) shared fifth.
View the final girls’ leaderboard here.
View image galleries from the event here.
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