Category: Junior

American golf’s stars of tomorrow highlight USGA’s first-ever U.S. National Junior Team

Meet the first group of players to represent the newly formed U.S. National Development Program.

Meet the future stars of American golf.

On Tuesday the United States Golf Association announced the inaugural U.S. National Junior Team, comprised of 10 girls and eight boys. The USGA plans to grow the National Junior Team to 30 boys and 30 girls over the next three years and will announce two additional teams as part of the U.S. National Development Program, which was launched last year. The Amateur Team will be announced in 2025 with the Young Professional Team to follow in 2026.

The goal of the U.S. National Development Program is to “ensure that American golf is the global leader in the game by focusing on six key pillars: talent identification, access to competition, national teams, athlete resources, player development and relations and athlete financial support.”

“We are thrilled to introduce the first U.S. National Junior Team, a group of 18 exceptionally talented young athletes who represent the bright future of American golf,” said Chris Zambri, head coach of the U.S. National Development Program. “Nearly every other golf country in the world has long enjoyed the benefits of a developmental program and national teams, and the announcement of this team is a major milestone in the USGA’s commitment to the growth of our American athletes and ensuring we remain the global leader in the junior, amateur and professional game.”

U.S. National Junior Team Roster

Boys

  • Blades Brown, 16, Nashville, Tennessee
  • Phillip Dunham, 16, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
  • Henry Guan, 15, Irving, Texas
  • Will Hartman, 17, Marvin, North Carolina
  • Tyler Mawhinney, 16, Fleming Island, Florida
  • Michael Riebe, 17, Encinitas, California
  • Miles Russell, 15, Jacksonville Beach, Florida
  • Tyler Watts, 16, Huntsville, Alabama

Girls

  • Shyla Brown, 15, McKinney, Texas
  • Gianna Clemente, 16, Estero, Florida
  • Mia Hammond, 16, New Albany, Ohio
  • Ryleigh Knaub, 17, DeBary, Florida
  • Chloe Kovelesky, 17, Boca Raton, Florida
  • Nikki Oh, 16, Torrance, California
  • Emerie Schartz, 16, Wichita, Kansas
  • Scarlett Schremmer, 17, Birmingham, Alabama
  • Asterisk Talley, 15, Chowchilla, California
  • Angela Zhang, 14, Bellevue, Washington

The team is reevaluated annually by a selection committee of U.S. National Development Program staff members, and selections are made in accordance with eligibility criteria and based on a variety of competitive factors including scoring, results, statistics, rankings, sportsmanship and scouting.

All 18 players will participate at bi-annual camps and compete internationally under the U.S. flag throughout the 2024 season. The team’s first training camp will be held May 8-11 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, and the first international friendly match will take place this summer against Australia.

Back in January, the USGA announced the creation of a state team pilot program to expand the pipeline for elite junior golfers into the U.S. National Development Program. Seven states are currently active, and the USGA has a goal to have all 50 states participate by 2033.

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Ann Sophie Bourgault continues winning fall with Golfweek International Junior title

Ann Sophie Bourgault is on a bit of a winning streak recently with the Golfweek International Junior Invitational being her latest victory.

Ann Sophie Bourgault has been on a bit of a winning streak recently. Two weeks ago, she topped the field in a South Florida PGA Junior event, firing a final-round 4-under 68 to wrap up the victory – which included playing her back nine in 5 under.

On Sunday, Bourgault did herself one better, using a final-round 67 at Celebration Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, to win the Golfweek International Junior Invitational by four shots.

“It’s definitely an important tournament,” Bourgault said when asked how her Golfweek victory stacks up with the others she’s amassed in a short but decorated career. “I think it’s the first invitational I’ve won so I’m definitely proud that I was able to win with such a great field and great people playing in this tournament. I think it’s definitely up there on the list for sure.”

After opening with 73, Bourgault managed the wind much better on Day 2.

“It was kind of a scrambling day,” she said of the first round, “saving par a lot of the times and just not how I would want to play. Today I just kind of woke up and just stuck with my gameplan, just focused each shot at a time and trust myself.

“Today I was able to hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and I converted some birdies so just kept the game simple.”

Scores: Golfweek International Junior Invitational

Bourgault’s final round was particularly big at Celebration, and it ties her personal best in competition. Earlier in the fall, Bourgault used a final-round 67 to win the Quebec Amateur Championship. In fact, she won all three divisions – amateur, junior and juvenile – to be named a Triple Crown winner in the event.

For the past four years, Bourgault, who goes by the nickname “AnnSo” and wears those letters in a necklace, and her family have lived in Naples, Florida, for six to eight months of the year. They return home to Quebec, where Bourgault plays out of Royal Ottawa Golf Club, in the summer months.

Bourgault was invited to Team Canada selection camp this year but didn’t make the final roster even though the experience helped move her game forward. The high school sophomore hopes to play college golf in the U.S. and is looking ahead to this summer, when coaches can begin communicating with her. Until then, she’s putting her energy toward keeping a list of where she’d like to play and improving her game to make sure she has that opportunity.

Photos: Golfweek International Junior Invitational, Girls

Consistency has always been a strong point of Bourgault’s game and as a self-described shorter hitter, she has needed her short game to be sharp. She recently started working with putting coach Derek MacDonald back home at Royal Ottawa and can see that paying off.

“Right now I think what I’m trying to improve is gain more distance, gain more strength, keep working out and getting stronger,” she said

Bourgault notes that she has begun working with a personal trainer and that outside of golf, CrossFit is another thing that occupies her time. Clearly, she doesn’t let anything remain a weakness for long.

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Photos: Golfweek International Junior Invitational, Girls

Check out images from the 2023 Golfweek International Junior Invitational at Celebration Golf Club in Orlando.

The Golfweek International Junior Invitational, which has been played for more than 20 years, wrapped up at Celebration Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday.

Lucas Gimenez ran away with the boys competition, going 12 under to win by nine shots. Ann Sophie Bourgault won the girls division by four shots after finishing 36 holes at 4 under.

Add Gimenez and Bourgault to an impressive list of past champions that also includes LPGA players Annie Park, Stephanie Meadow and Bailey Tardy on the women’s side and Peter Uihlein, Morgan Hoffman and, more recently, U.S. Walker Cup team member Nicholas Gabrelcik on the men’s side.

Golfweek International Junior: Scores

Check out photos from the competition at Celebration:

Lucas Gimenez shatters personal-best score to run away with Golfweek International Junior title

Lucas Gimenez can’t imagine how he’ll forget the past weekend in Orlando, Florida.

Lucas Gimenez can’t imagine how he’ll forget the past weekend in Orlando, Florida.

“I mean, I’ve gotta put it at No. 1 just because I broke my record,” he said when asked how his nine-shot victory at the Golfweek International Junior Invitational stacks up on his list of career victories.

Gimenez, a 15-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, blistered the field from the start. He made birdie on Celebration Golf Club’s opening par 4, eagled the par-3 sixth and followed that with six birdies in his next seven holes for an opening 8-under 64. Entering the tournament, the high school sophomore’s previous best score in competition had been 10 under. He finished the weekend at the Golfweek event at 12 under.

Midway through his practice round at Celebration, a course he hadn’t seen before this tournament, it dawned on Gimenez that this could be a good week. He saw shades of Marsh Landing Country Club in Ponte Vedra, Florida, which is near his Jacksonville home.

Scores: Golfweek International Junior Invitational

“I was kind of telling myself, oh this is just like the course I played in Jacksonville before,” he said. “I’ve always played well at that course so I knew it was going to fit me well in the practice round.”

You might say he punched the gas at the sixth hole on Saturday. After hitting his drive perfectly on that par 5, he pulled a 6-iron from 190 yards, started it at the pin and watched it draw into a slope on the green and trickle down to 8 feet from the hole. He made the uphill eagle putt and that was that.

“That was a big confidence booster because that led me to go 5 under in the last four holes,” he said of his front-nine 30.

After an opening 64, his best competitive round ever, Gimenez kept it together to come back with 68 on Sunday and finish nine shots ahead of runners-up Michael Gavin of Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Sol Richmond of Windermere, Florida.

Photos: Golfweek International Junior Invitational, Boys

“For me, it was just kind of sticking to my game. Sticking to who I am and how I play,” Gimenez said of that mind game. “Not getting out of my head, focusing on each hole, shot by shot. That helped me quite a bit today. A lot. Just kind of focusing on every shot, shot after shot, keeping my head down, keep grinding.”

On a weekend like the one Gimenez produced, a player has to be accurate off the tee. He was. What happens around the greens matters too, of course, and Gimenez attributes his performance there to work he’s been doing with short-game coach Mike Shannon. He recently had his first lesson with Shannon.

“He got me straightened out a little bit and then the first round everything just kind of clicked,” Gimenez said.

Gimenez’s opening round of 64 at Celebration may have been his lowest in competition, but it wasn’t his best round ever. Three years ago, as he was getting ready for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship, he was out playing Windsor Park Golf Course in Jacksonville with his coach and shot that most famous number: 59.

The AJGA Performance Stars Gimenez earned from his Golfweek win will be a big boost for the coming year, but he was just as pleased with the new friends he’d collected as the performance stars. Gimenez, a late entry into the field, arrived on the range at Celebration expecting to find a field of the best juniors from Florida. He looked around to see so many more cultures and nationalities than he was expecting, and relished meeting and playing with new opponents.

“This is not just a small tournament,” Gimenez said, “it’s a very big tournament.”

And Gimenez delivered a very big performance indeed.

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Photos: Golfweek International Junior Invitational, Boys

Check out images from the boys competition at the Golfweek International Junior Invitational at Celebration Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.

The Golfweek International Junior Invitational, which has been played for more than 20 years, wrapped up at Celebration Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday.

Lucas Gimenez ran away with the boys competition, going 12 under to win by nine shots. Ann Sophie Bourgault won the girls division by four shots after finishing 36 holes at 4 under.

Add Gimenez and Bourgault to an impressive list of past champions that also includes LPGA players Annie Park, Stephanie Meadow and Bailey Tardy on the women’s side and Peter Uihlein, Morgan Hoffman and, more recently, U.S. Walker Cup team member Nicholas Gabrelcik on the men’s side.

Golfweek International Junior: Scores

Check out photos from the boys competition at Celebration:

Yana Wilson, Miles Russell named 2023 AJGA Players of the Year

The AJGA has named its 2023 Players of the Year.

Yana Wilson and Miles Russell were named the 2023 American Junior Golf Association Players of the Year, the organization announced Thursday.

Russell, who turned 15 on Wednesday, is one of the youngest players to receive Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors. He is the first Florida native to earn top honors in the Boys Division since Peter Uihlein in 2007. Wilson is the first Nevada native to win Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors in either division.

In 2023, Russell had four wins in eight national junior golf events to end the season at No. 1 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. The 2027 grad started his first full season of AJGA events with two Junior All-Star event wins in just three weeks. He also captured the Junior PGA Championship, the Junior Players Championship and was a member of the Junior Ryder Cup team.

Wilson, an Oregon commit, won the junior portion of the Mizuho Americas Open and the AJGA Girls Invitational. She’s also a two-time member of the United States PING Junior Solheim Cup Team and a 2023 Junior Ryder Cup team participant.

Russell, Wilson and the 2023 Rolex Junior All-America Teams will be honored at the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 18, in San Antonio, Texas. Then the duo, Rolex Junior All-Americans and a field of the top players in the Rolex AJGA Rankings will compete at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, Nov. 18-22 at TPC San Antonio – Canyons Course in San Antonio, Texas.

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Charlie Woods wins again, this time on the South Florida PGA Junior Tour

Charlie’s performance marks his second low-round recent outing.

Golf fans who have been following the growth of Charlie Woods, the son of Tiger Woods, may have been wondering where and if the golf star-in-the-making would play at the high school level.

The Benjamin School, located in Palm Beach Gardens, was the lucky winner and has reaped benefits from his prowess already.

After clinching the West Coast High School Tournament, hosted by the South Florida PGA Junior Tour, on Saturday afternoon, the Buccaneer boys golf team is well on its way to what it hopes will be a fourth state championship with the 14-year-old freshman prodigy.

Charlie was the two-day tournament’s individual champ at Cypress Woods Golf and Country Club in Naples.

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Seniors Aiden Miller and Tyler Bruneau tied for second, as Luke Wise came in fourth. Travis Robertson, another Benjamin senior, shot two over before withdrawing.

Charlie’s performance marks his second low-round outing since the weekend prior at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship Last Chance Florida Regional, held at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, where Benjamin will head for the high school state championship tournament this fall.

With Tiger caddying and final scores of 71 and 66 − a second round highlighted by nine birdies to tie his career-best − Charlie won the junior regional qualifier in the boys 14-15 age division to advance to the national championship in Coushatta, Louisiana.

The event, set to begin on Nov. 4, will conclude on Nov. 6, which is the same day Florida High School Athletic Association golf state championships kick off before teams and individual champions are determined on Nov. 15.

Last Sunday in a post-match interview, after shaving two strokes from his 2022 tournament scorecard of 68, Charlie only had positive reviews of Mission Inn Resort’s El Campeon course.

Woods told tournament host Ryan Burr: “This course is great for me.”

High school rules and regulations may keep dad off the bag when Charlie’s inaugural run at a varsity state championship comes in November. However, the Bucs can feel confident with a well-tenured “rookie” in the lineup.

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Team Europe runs away with Junior Ryder Cup title at Marco Simone

The Europeans ended a long losing streak.

On the eve of the 44th Ryder Cup, another trophy was handed out on the grounds that the golf world will focus on the next three days.

Team Europe ran away with the Junior Ryder Cup title, ending a streak of six straight losses to the Americans, winning 20½-9½ at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. The Europeans dominated singles, winning seven of the 12 singles matches and tying three others to claim 8.5 points on the final day.

Europe took a commanding 12-6 lead after winning all six fourball matches on Wednesday. The teams were tied at 6 after the first day of competition.

A 2014 Ryder Cup player, Stephen Gallacher, led the European squad while PGA past president Paul Levy captained the U.S.

2023 Junior Ryder Cup
European captain Stephen Gallacher holds up the trophy as European players celebrate on the 18th green after winning the Junior Ryder Cup ahead the 44th Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome on September 28, 2023. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

Nicholas Gross and Billy Davis were the lone Americans to win their singles matches on Thursday. Anna Davis, Billy’s twin sister, halved her match, as did Leigh Chien and Kylie Chong.

The first two rounds were held at Golf Nazionale in Rome before moving to Marco Simone for the final round. This was the first year the singles matches were held on a third day and at the site of the current Ryder Cup.

The U.S. now owns a 7-4-1 all-time record in the biennial competition. The team features six boys and six girls who are U.S. citizens and members of the high school graduating class of 2024 or younger.

PGA Tour golfers, PXG founder headline First Tee Phoenix fundraiser ‘green’ carpet event

The night raised close to $1 million.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The First Tee Phoenix celebrated its 20th year with a “green” carpet fundraising bash Monday night.

PGA Tour golfers Joel Dahmen and James Hahn were among those who walked the celebrity green carpet at Ocean 44, a high-end seafood restaurant in Scottsdale, where guests paid $1,500 a plate to raise money for the First Tee program, first established in 2003. There are now 14 golf courses hosting First Tee-Phoenix programs, including TPC Scottsdale, home of the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open.

Other famous faces who showed up Monday included ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon, golf trick shot artist Tania Tare, PXG founder Bob Parsons, former Arizona governor Doug Ducey and former vice president Dan Quayle.

First Tee Phoenix
Joel Dahmen is interviewed by a local TV station during a fundraising event for the First Tee Phoenix in Scottsdale. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)

The First Tee has 150 chapters nationwide with a goal of connecting the game of golf with junior golfers ages 4 to 18 in underserved communities. First Tee-Phoenix reports that there are now more than 120,000 young golfers involved in the program statewide.

Jeff Mastro, owner and founder of Ocean 44 as well as popular Scottsdale steak restaurants Steak 44 and Dominick’s Steakhouse, hosted the event and underwrote the entire cost of the evening.

There were about 180 attendees in all and the night raised close to $1 million.

Meet ‘Super’ Billy Davis, twin of ANWA champ Anna, who is making a name for himself

He went from likely watching his sister from outside the ropes to earning a berth alongside her as a member of the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup in Rome.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It’s been a super summer for Super Billy Davis.

Davis, 17, of Spring Valley, California, whose Instagram handle is @SuperBillyDavis, will try to cap off a magical run with victory at the AJGA’s Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Sept. 1-3.

Davis is the twin brother of 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis – “she’s two minutes older than me,” he says – and busting out of her shadow in a big way.

Beginning in December, he’s finished tied for second in the Jones Cup Junior Invitational, won two AJGA titles including the Mayakoba Invitational in April, finished third in the Toyota World Cup representing the U.S. in Japan and helped the West team win the Wyndham Cup in July. At the U.S. Junior Championship later that month, his first USGA championship, he advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up Joshua Bai of New Zealand. A week later, on August 1, he tied for second in the Junior PGA Championship.

Add it all up and he has progressed from likely watching his sister from outside the ropes to earning a berth alongside her as a member of the 12-person U.S. Junior Ryder Cup (six boys and six girls), which will compete in Rome Sept. 26-28.

“It’s really unexpected,” he said. “It wasn’t something I had my sights set on at all, but once I got on this run I ended up earning a whole bunch of points.”

Indeed, he did, and at minimum he will enjoy some good pizza, pasta and gelato as a result while hoping he also can pick the brain of fellow San Diego native Xander Schauffele in Rome. Davis has climbed to fifth in the AJGA’s Rolex rankings and No. 460 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He still has a long way to go to catch his twin, who is ranked No. 4 in the women’s ranking and finished second at the LPGA Tour’s Mizuho Americas Open. Anna, who made her bucket hat famous during her victorious turn at Augusta National last year, is just behind Rose Zhang as a leading lady of women’s golf. Asked how he handles being in her shadows, Super Billy says it’s actually pretty cool and has its benefits – such as when they go to their home course in San Diego and everyone wants to talk to big sister.

“She can hardly practice while I can do my thing,” he said. “Every once in a while, someone will stop me and say, ‘Hey, didn’t I see you caddying for your sister on TV?’ ”

But Super Billy won’t be under the radar for long if he keeps racking up wins and top finishes in the biggest junior events. He is yet another super-talented ballstriking machine. He’s 135 pounds soaking wet and with his glasses on – one can only imagine that once the Auburn University commit (as is his sister) gets on a rigorous training program and grows into his wiry frame, he’ll only become longer. He’s already got enough pop. When asked how he fares against his sister, he says he more than holds his own. And in case you were wondering if a teen who goes by Super Billy has the swagger to match that of his sister, he adds, “It’s not a fair fight when we play from the tips.”