After three straight years of winning Junior Tour of Northern California Girls’ Player of the Year honors, we knew that Chowchilla resident Asterisk Talley was good.
In what became an incredible stretch from late spring into early September, however, Talley, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, took it to another level.
There was a win at the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, an eighth-place finish at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and a victory at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title with partner Sarah Lim.
Later, Talley shared low amateur honors at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she was the youngest competitor. She’d also finish as runner-up at the U.S. Girls’’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she became the first player in history to appear in three USGA championship matches in one year.
Topping things off, and before heading back to school for the fall, Talley competed for Team USA in the Curtis Cup, where she beat world No.1 women’s amateur Lottie Woad, 3 and 2 in Singles. She also competed in the PING Junior Solheim Cup for Team USA, helping the Yanks to an 18.5-5.5 win over Team Europe.
In all, Talley collected a record 2,535 points to win NCGA Women’s Player of the Year honors. Nicola Kaminski was second with 1,260 points. The previous Women’s Player of the Year points record had been 1,600, set by Sabrina Iqbal in 2017.
“My year was very exciting and obviously eventful. I had a lot of fun with all my new experiences,” Talley said. “I think practice and dedication really helped me succeed, along with a good mindset.”
Among the reasons for all of Talley’s success? An ability to stay in the moment while also being aggressive.
“I feel like I'm always calm on the golf course. I don't really get nervous,” Talley said. “But at the same time, my course management is kind of fearless. I’ve been playing in tournaments since I was 5 years old, so I’ve lived with nerves my whole life.”