U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2026

Anna Bell

Old Chatham Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Here we are. Not the result you obviously wanted, but can you talk about both matches from this morning and this afternoon?

ANNA BELL: This morning I played solid golf. I was hitting greens, making putts. I think that's more kind of how you need to play this course. You just need to make sure you hit fairways, hit greens, and just try your best to make some putts fall in.

This last round I did not play very well. I was not hitting greens and just wasn't good golf, especially against a good player like that.

Q. Obviously it's something to celebrate making it this far in this championship. I'm not sure you knew this, but by making it this far, you're already exempt into the field next year. What does that mean to you? Are you excited to return next year?

ANNA BELL: I'm very excited to return next year and hope to make it this far, maybe a little further hopefully.

I'm going to prep for it and just keep putting in the hard work and try to come back next year stronger.

Q. What are two or three things you've maybe learned about your game or something you picked up from watching the other players in this field, anything you're going to take with you moving forward?

ANNA BELL: I've learned that length isn't -- length on this course is very good, but if you don't have the wedging game or just the iron game to play this course, it really doesn't do you any good. So I learned kind of that from a few.

I realize I need to probably straighten up my iron play a little bit, kind of keep it more accurate because you really, on these greens you can't really miss too often, or it will just shoot you straight off the green with the grain. I don't know what else.

Q. Playing in a big National Championship like this, do you feel like the run you made this week has boosted your confidence going back to playing other events for the rest of the year?

ANNA BELL: This tournament, the stroke play is what kind of boosted my confidence. I competed against some really great players, and I beat a lot of them. So that kind of boosted my confidence, just seeing that I could really contend to this level. I've made it this far throughout my matches, which I'm very proud of myself about.

So this really will boost my confidence going into more tournaments this year.