Gianna Clemente won’t have a difficult time if she is assigned to write an essay on how she spent her summer vacation.
The Estero 15-year-old, the number-one ranked junior female by Golfweek and the third by the American Junior Golf Association, will chalk up the frequent flyer miles during the next two months.
“Yeah, definitely super busy,” Gianna said. “But I’ve always enjoyed the travel part. … I think it’s really fun, and especially being able to do that with my family, it’s really cool.”
The travel part begins this week with the Girls PGA Junior tournament in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Hot Springs is an appropriate location, where temperatures are expected to reach triple digits.
She travels to historic Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles the following week for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
She gets a week off before heading to Vancouver, Canada, for an LPGA-sponsored event, the CP Women’s Open, August 22.
The schedule gets a little murky after that. She might play in the American Junior Golf Association Invitational in Bowling Green, Florida, starting Sept. 1 or she might play in the Kroger Queen City LPGA event, if she receives a special exemption. Clemente qualified for the event last year on the Monday before the tournament.
Tired yet? The European part of summer vacation is just starting.
TRAVEL WITH GIANNA
- August 1-4 Girls Junior PGA Championship, Hot Springs, Arkansas
- August 7-13 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, Los Angeles
- August 22-27 CPKC Women’s Open, Vancouver, British Columbia
- September 1-4 American Junior Golf Association Invitational, Bowling Green, Florida
- OR
- September 7-10 Kroger Queen City Championship, Cincinnati, Ohio
- September 17-19 Junior Solheim Cup, Benahavis, Spain
- September 26-28 Junior Ryder Cup, Rome, Italy
- October 2-7 World Junior Girls Golf Championship, Toronto, Canada
She leaves for Benahavis, Spain, on September 14, where she will be one of 12 U.S. girls competing against European golfers for the Junior Solheim Cup.
Then it’s on to Rome on September 23, where she will welcome in autumn as a member of the six-women Junior Ryder Cup team.
She then will hop on a plane September 30 for Toronto, Canada, where she will be one of three members of a U.S. team to compete in the World Junior Girls Championship. It will be the first time the U.S. competes in the championship.
“So, there’s a 24-day stretch there of Spain, Rome, Toronto that is really very unique,” said Patrick Clemente, Gianna’s dad.
The trip to Rome is going to be extra special. The Clementes are Italian, their family tree extends to Naples, Italy.
Making the Jr. Ryder Cup and playing in Rome has been a long-time goal for Gianna. She wrote the goal on her bedroom door around 2020 when she wasn’t even a teenager, her dad said.
The Clemente family grew up watching team events like the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup, Patrick Clemente said.
“So, the passion of being able to play for your country is something that’s been in our house for a long time,” he said. So, I just couldn’t be more proud to watch her do it.”
The Ryder and Solheim cups are match-play events, meaning the golfers compete head-to-head, hole-by-hole. It’s not the golfer who has the lowest total score, but the one who wins the most holes.
Gianna loves match play.
“I think match play is way more fun,” she said, “just kind of the thrill that you get from winning matches. I think it’s really enjoyable.”
Match play takes more out of you mentally than stroke play, she said. “It can bring out a lot of different sides of you.”
Gianna hasn’t been working on one specific thing since losing in the semi-finals of the U.S. Girls Junior Championship a few weeks ago; just a little bit of everything, she said.
“I think she’s playing well,” her dad said. “I think she makes a good point that always it comes down to putting.”
Gianna has another challenge besides golf — her classes. Mom Julie Clemente handles the education.
Gianna, starting her sophomore year, attends a private virtual academy. She started taking classes a couple of weeks ago to get a headstart on the school year.
“The online part definitely helps that I can do it all on the computer, and I can do it on the flights and stuff like that,” she said. “So, I just try to squeeze it in when I can.”
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