Tag: AJGA

This teen-aged son of a PGA Tour winner has pro aspirations … and it’s not Charlie Woods

Jackson Byrd, who won the AJGA’s Matthew NeSmith Junior Championship, could be the next son of a PGA Tour pro to make it.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Davis Love III was practicing ahead of the 2021 RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island, Georgia, when his phone buzzed with a message from fellow PGA Tour pro Jonathan Byrd to come join him at the seventh tee.

Byrd, a five-time Tour winner and 2002 Rookie of the Year, was playing with his son, Jackson, who recently turned 16 and stepped up and smoked a drive 50 yards past Love at the par 5.

“We were waiting for the group to clear the green so I gunned it and he had 214 yards left,” said Love, who was freakishly long in his day and can still send it. “I got out a 4-iron to hit one from there. He lifted this high-arching iron on the green and I asked him, ‘What club did you hit?’ He said, ‘7-iron, but it’s downwind.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s downwind for me too.’ ”

Love laughed. “We’re high on him,” he said. “Jackson’s the real deal.”

Move over Bill Haas and slow down Charlie Woods, who is 13. The next son of a PGA Tour winner to make the big time could be Jackson Byrd, who won the AJGA’s Matthew NeSmith Junior Championship in August in his first AJGA start.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Jackson, who shot three consecutive rounds of 1-under 70 en route to the win and earned a spot in the Junior Players Championship last week, where he finished T-55.

Jackson Byrd, 16, receives the winner’s trophy from PGA Tour pro Matthew NeSmith of the AJGA’s Matthew NeSmith Junior Championship.

As the son of a Tour pro and growing up around the game, Jackson had clubs from a very young age, but started taking golf seriously and playing tournaments at age 8. About three years ago, he finally beat his dad, who he regularly outdrives, at Frederica Golf Club.

“I knew that day would come but it came a lot faster than I hoped it would,” the elder Byrd said. “He’s a better driver of the golf ball than me, hits it farther and at times a better iron player. He’s got all the tools. But there’s a lot of talented players out there and it’s tough to make it. He’s watched me and seen the good, the bad and the ugly of professional golf. That experience of growing up around Tour pros (such as Zach Johnson and Keith Mitchell) has got to count for something.”

Father-son tandems in golf date all the way back to Old and Young Tom Morris. Of more recent vintage, Bill Haas, son of Jay, has notched six Tour titles, including the FedEx Cup; Kevin Stadler, son of Masters winner Craig, claimed the 2014 WM Phoenix Open; and Kevin Tway, son of PGA Championship winner Bob, hoisted the Safeway Open trophy in 2018. But good genes never helped Gary Nicklaus, son of 18-time major winner Jack, to the winner’s circle.

Jackson competed this summer in the Western Junior Championship and had his dear old Dad on the bag. How did that go?

“It was stressful,” Jonathan said. “It was also probably the highlight of my summer. We were 7 under with two holes to play in the first round until I made a caddie mistake and he drove into a fairway bunker and made double (bogey). He was tied for the lead after two rounds (67-70) and played in the last group (before finishing T-16)…It’s hard being a junior golf dad, it’s hard watching from the cart path and living and dying on every shot. But it’s also the greatest joy of my life watching my kids do anything well. I love seeing them have a passion and going out there and pursuing a worthy goal.”

Jonathan, 44, was a three-time All-American at Clemson, where his brother, Jordan, (Jackson’s uncle) became the head men’s golf coach in July 2021. It’s early but Jackson could well shape up as one of the most coveted recruits in the Class of 2025 and already has plenty of coaches keeping tabs on the next ‘J Byrd.”

Jackson aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps and play on Tour and win. “Hopefully as much if not more than he did,” Jackson said. “I know a lot about being on Tour and what it takes to get there.”

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The Golfweek 2022 International Junior Invitational

The Golfweek Junior Tournament Series is now in its 23nd year. All events in the Series are nationally ranked by Golfweek/Sagarin and the Junior Golf Scoreboard. The Golfweek International Junior Invitational is the flagship event of the Series and …

The Golfweek Junior Tournament Series is now in its 23nd year. All events in the Series are nationally ranked by Golfweek/Sagarin and the Junior Golf Scoreboard. The Golfweek International Junior Invitational is the flagship event of the Series and annually attracts one of the top fields in junior golf. Entry is based solely on (1) invitation, (2) submitted and approved application, (3) finishing top 10 in qualifying Golfweek Junior Series tournament, (4) finishing in the top 5 in a state junior championship. Other potential entrants are encouraged to submit a playing resume for consideration by the tournament committee. 

Duke, Florida college golfers pair together for second charity tournament for mental health awareness with AJGA’s 2022 Impact Cup

A pair of college golf buddies are teaming up again for their second charity tournament.

Duke junior Phoebe Brinker started realizing the importance of mental health during COVID. Like all of us who struggled at some point during the pandemic, she saw friends and relatives face countless challenges and heard too many tragic stories of college students taking their lives too soon. She even faced low moments of failure and overwhelming stress, herself.

With the help of her friend and fellow collegiate golfer at Florida, Taylor Roberts, the two are hosting the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Impact Cup, July 25-26, at the Bobby Jones Golf Club and East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The Impact Cup aims to educate, support and foster awareness around youth mental health, while establishing a peer-to-peer network where no one feels alone. The goal is to raise $100,000 for the Generation Next Project and the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant Program. Each player has agreed to raise at least $1,000 for Generation Next Project and the ACE Grant Program. As of the posting of this article, the group has already raised $91,332.

Founded by Robert Jones Black, the great grandson of Bobby Jones, the Generation Next Project strives to make a positive impact on youth mental health and provide teens, families and coaches mental fitness tools and communication skills to thrive in today’s world through the game of golf. The AJGA’s ACE Grant provides financial assistance to young men and women who aspire to earn a college golf scholarship through competitive junior golf.

“It’s crazy to see how everything has come together,” said Roberts. “It’s amazing to see how many people are supporting it and the more you talk about mental health and sharing my own story, the more people that want to support it. It’s just something that it’s really prevalent in our lives.”

Roberts actually had the idea while she was going through therapy, so she took her thoughts to her buddy Brinker, and the two got to work.

“After therapy, I wanted to help other athletes or just anyone in general gain resources because I realized how lucky I was to have the opportunity to better myself,” explained Roberts.

Taylor Roberts at the Golfweek Myrtle Beach Collegiate. (Photo: James Maggio)

Twenty-two players will compete in the tournament, including Brinker’s Blue Devil teammates, Megan Furtney and Rylie Heflin. The fun begins Monday, July 25, as golfers will play Bobby Jones Golf Club. On Tuesday, a mental health walk will be followed by tee times at East Lake Golf Club.

“The pandemic and the stress that comes with being a student-athlete is daunting and can seem unbearable at times, especially when there are no conversations being had surrounding mental health among peers,” said Brinker. “That is why Taylor and I decided to host the Impact Cup in support of mental health, specifically Generation Next Project which utilizes the game of golf to facilitate conversations surrounding mental health and to establish the life lessons that golf teaches us about emotional awareness, patience, among other virtues.”

This isn’t the first time Brinker and Roberts have tag-teamed an event to make a difference through their love of golf. Back in 2020, once again with the assistance of the AJGA, the pair hosted the Senior Cup for high school golfers whose senior seasons were cut short due to COVID-19 and raised $40,000 for the Emergency Golf Relief Fund and the AJGA’s ACE Grant.

“I hope that bringing together collegiate golfers who have faced similar circumstances and struggles can start the necessary conversation surrounding mental health, and that we can collectively raise an ambitious $100,000 for Generation Next to impact youth mental health through the game of golf,” said Brinker.  “The event will be a fun way to facilitate activities and guest speakers to share stories, provide tips for how to cope with mental instability, and play the amazing East Lake Golf Club with friends who play collegiate golf around the country.”

“Our main mission,” added Roberts, “is that when everyone leaves, they have resources to like go back into their lives and understand themselves at a different level.”

Click here to donate.

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Jupiter Hills in Florida to host AJGA’s Team TaylorMade Invitational in 2022

Jupiter Hills has previously hosted the xxx.

Many of the world’s best male junior golfers – 72 of them, to be exact – will be bound for Florida in May to kick off the AJGA’s 2022 summer season of events.

First up is the Team TaylorMade Invitational, a 54-hole tournament slated for May 27-30 at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Florida. The club previously hosted the 1987 U.S. Amateur as well as the 2018 U. S. Amateur Four-Ball.

“Jupiter Hills is proud to serve as the host of the 2022 Team TaylorMade Invitational because it clearly illustrates our commitment to amateur golf and major golf events,” said Jupiter Hills Club president Robert Hofmann via a media statement. “We are honored to partner with the AJGA and TaylorMade so that these highly skilled young players can experience our impressive golf facilities. We anticipate that our Hills Course will be a great challenge for them. Additionally, our membership is eager to build some strong new relationships within this great game.”

A product of the Fazio family, George and his nephew, Tom, designed the Hills Course (1970) and the Village Course (1979) at Jupiter Hills. Tom’s son, Logan, revitalized the Village Course in 2017 and the Hills Course in 2020 with his father as part of the club’s 50th anniversary. The Hills Course ranks No. 5 on Golfweek’s Best 2021 list of private courses in Florida.

“We are so excited to bring this premiere junior golf event to Jupiter Hills Club,” said AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin via the media statement. “The partnership we have with TaylorMade and Jupiter Hills is going to elevate this event to a new level in just its second year, and we cannot wait to help promote junior golf at such a premiere venue.”

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Adam Scott, UNIQLO to host AJGA tournament in Los Angeles in 2022

The UNIQLO Adam Scott Junior Golf Championship is bound for L.A. in February.

A handful of the world’s best junior golfers will be bound for Los Angeles in 2022 for a new tournament hosted by a PGA Tour star.

On Tuesday it was announced that apparel retailer UNIQLO and the American Junior Golf Association would hold the UNIQLO Adam Scott Junior Golf Championship at River Ridge Golf Club in Los Angeles, Feb. 18-21, 2022.

The AJGA, Japan Golf Association and Golf Australia will team up and select 78 players, ages 12-18, to compete. Scott, a 14-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 2013 Masters champion, will host a discussion and run a clinic with participants.

“It is a great honor to host such a wonderful tournament with UNIQLO, which we have been working with for many years. When I was a junior player, I learned not only the fun of playing golf, but also about other important things in life, such as honesty and respect,” said Scott via a press release. “Together with UNIQLO, we have created a tournament we hope will be a valuable learning opportunity for young people.”

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Nicholas Dunlap, reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, collects AJGA Rolex Player of the Year honors

At the biggest junior events in 2021, Nicholas Dunlap was always a factor.

At the biggest junior events in 2021, Nicholas Dunlap was always a factor. Perhaps nothing demonstrates that better than the U.S. Junior Amateur trophy Dunlap carted off from the Country Club of North Carolina in July.

Now, Dunlap, who is verbally committed to play for Alabama, has been named the AJGA’s Rolex Player of the Year, which is the organization’s highest honor for a player.

While the U.S. Junior trophy might have scored him the biggest headlines – and also earned him a spot in the 2022 U.S. Open – the rest of Dunlap’s season was equally impressive. Early in the year, he won the Dustin Johnson World Junior and early in the summer, he won the Polo Golf Junior Classic at Liberty National. The latter, like the U.S. Junior, was a match-play event.

In AJGA competition, the high school senior played in 11 events recognized by the Rolex AJGA Rankings and finished outside the top five just twice. Even when Dunlap wasn’t winning, he was in the mix. He tied for second at the Wyndham Invitational, tied for fifth at the Western Junior and was runner-up in both the Boys Junior PGA Championship and Junior Players Championship late in the summer.

Dunlap, No. 1 in Golfweek’s Junior Rankings, and the rest of the 2021 Rolex Junior All-America Teams listed below will be honored virtually through a Rolex Junior All-America Awards celebration on Friday, Dec. 3 dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf.”

First Team

Luke Clanton of Miami Lakes, Florida
Nicholas Dunlap of Huntsville, Alabama
Maxwell Ford of Peachtree Corners, Georgia
Zach Heffernan of Boerne, Texas
J. Holland Humphries of Austin, Texas
Benjamin James of Milford, Connecticut
Jackson Koivun of San Jose, California
Eric Lee of Fullerton, California
Bryan Lee of Fairfax, Virginia
Jacob Sosa of Austin, Texas
Jase Summy of Keller, Texas
Caleb Surratt of Indian Trail, North Carolina

Second Team

Sihao Cong of Irvine, California
John Daly II of Dardanelle, Arkansas
Ethan Gao of Alpharetta, Georgia
Jonathan Griz of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Bryan Kim of Brookeville, Maryland
Bruce Murphy of Johns Creek, Georgia
Anawin Pikulthong of Gilbert, Arizona
Aaron Pounds of The Woodlands, Texas
Nicholas Prieto of Miami, Florida
Mason Snyder of Las Vegas, Nevada
Matthew Troutman of Louisville, Kentucky
Wells Williams of West Point, Mississippi

Honorable Mention

Kyle An of Aliso Viejo, California
Jonas Appel of Encinitas, California
Gavin Aurilia of Phoenix, Arizona
Carson Brewer of Jacksonville, Florida
Ryder Cowan of Edmond, Oklahoma
Matthew Doyle of Madison, Connecticut
Nicholas Gross of Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Will Hartman of Marvin, North Carolina
Scotty Kennon of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Shawn Lalmoni of Orlando, Florida
Carter Loflin of Duluth, Georgia
Kyo Morishita of (Japan) Bradenton, Florida
Will Morlan of Alpharetta, Georgia
Sebastian Moss of Houston, Texas
Chase Nevins of Great Falls, Virginia
Calder Overfelt of Newport Beach, California
Alex Papayoanou of The Woodlands, Texas
Deven Patel of Johns Creek, Georgia
Solomon Petrie of Akron, Ohio
Sihan Sandhu of Pinehurst, North Carolina
William Sides of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Brendan Valdes of Orlando, Florida
Keaton Vo of Austin, Texas
Rylan Wotherspoon of Florence, Kentucky

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From contending at U.S. Women’s Open to top junior honors: Megha Ganne named AJGA Rolex Player of the Year

Every time Ganne teed it up in an American Junior Golf Association event in 2021, she contended. Now she’s the AJGA’s top player.

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Every time Megha Ganne teed it up in an American Junior Golf Association event in 2021, she contended. For those in the know, it came as no surprise that she also contended in one of women’s golf biggest events – the U.S. Women’s Open.

Ganne was hardly an unknown entering the year, having qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals four times and advanced to the semifinals at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur. But she took her game to a new level this season, especially on the junior circuit. She played in five events recognized by the Rolex AJGA Rankings without ever finishing outside the top four and has been named the AJGA’s Rolex Player of the Year. It’s the junior golf association’s highest honor for players.

Ganne finished T3 at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and T3 at the ANNIKA Invitational early in the AJGA season. She won the Scott Robertson Memorial, a long-running junior golf event in Virginia, before making big headlines as the 17-year-old contending at the U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club.

Ultimately, Ganne finished T14 that week for low-amateur honors.

The back half of her year was a whirlwind of team events. She represented the U.S. as an alternate on the victorious Curtis Cup team and was a playing member of the Ping Junior Solheim Cup team and Junior Ryder Cup team.

Ganne, who is verbally committed to Stanford, ended the year ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek Junior Rankings and No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Ganne and the rest of the 2021 Rolex Junior All-America Teams listed below will be honored virtually through a Rolex Junior All-America Awards celebration on Friday, Dec. 3 dubbed “The Greatest Night in Junior Golf.”

First Team

Brooke Biermann of Wildwood, Missouri
Gianna Clemente of Warren, Ohio 
Anna Davis of Spring Valley, California
Megha Ganne of Holmdel, New Jersey 
Mackenzie Lee of North Little Rock, Arkansas
Michelle Liu of Vancouver, British Columbia
Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Florida
Bailey Shoemaker of Dade City, Florida
Kendall Todd of Goodyear, Arizona 
Karen Tsuru of Carlsbad, California
Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada
Avery Zweig of McKinney, Texas

Second Team

Sara Im of Duluth, Georgia
Xin (Cindy) Kou of (China) Valencia, California
Jaclyn LaHa of Pleasanton, California
Erica Lee of Arcadia, California
Katie Li of Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Gloria Nip of (Hong Kong) Port St Lucie, Florida
Jacqueline Putrino of Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Kiara Romero of San Jose, California
Kaitlyn Schroeder of Jacksonville, Florida
Kelly Xu of Claremont, California
Lucy Yuan of San Diego, California
Yunxuan (Michelle) Zhang of (China) Plano, Texas

Honorable Mention

Kynadie Adams of Nashville, Tennessee
Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto, Ontario
Leigh Chien of Irvine, California
Kylee Choi of Murrieta, California
Kylie Chong of Torrance, California
Kary Hollenbaugh of New Albany, Ohio
Thienna Huynh of Lilburn, Georgia
Grace Kilcrease of Springdale, Arkansas
Lauren Kim of Surrey, British Columbia
Sophie Linder of Carthage, Tennessee
Angela (Yilin) Liu of Irvine, California
Bridget Ma of Orlando, Florida
McKenzie Mages of Marietta, Georgia
Ava Merrill of Johns Creek, Georgia
Julia Misemer of Overland Park, Kansan
Catherine Park of Irvine, California
Catherine Rao of Camarillo, California
Brooke Rivers of Brampton, Ontario
Alexia Siehl of Fort Mill, South Carolina
Suzie Tran of Poulsbo, Washington
Lily Zhang of Buffalo, New York
Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Washington
Sophie Zhang-Murphy of Saratoga, California
Alice Ziyi Zhao of (China) Irvine, California

Blog Junior: Keeping up with all things junior golf

Looking to keep up with all the news in the junior golf world? Keep an eye Golfweek’s running junior golf blog.

Junior golf is a proving ground for the next level of competition, and a place where the next star is often identified early.

Looking to keep up with names you should know, tournaments you should follow and news of the junior golf world? Golfweek is here to help. Keep an eye our running junior blog.

We’ll compile newsy nuggets about venues, junior tours, players, significant wins and more here so you can easily follow the game at the junior level. Keep an eye on the “junior” tab on Golfweek.com for all other junior-related news.

Also make sure you keep an eye on Golfweek’s Junior Rankings:

Boys rankings | Girls rankings

The sixth annual Dustin Johnson World Junior will feature 74 players ranked inside Golfweek’s top 100

March 1

The Dustin Johnson World Junior will be played for the sixth time next month at TPC Myrtle Beach, and with a field fitting for a tournament named after the reigning Masters champion. The event features a boys and girls division, and 74 of the 90 total players (60 boys, 30 girls) are ranked among the top 100 players in the Golfweek Junior Rankings.

The boys field is highlighted by Brendan Valdes of Orlando, Florida, No. 6 in Golfweek’s rankings. No. 3 Hyo Joon Jang of Howey in the Hills, Florida, highlights the girls field.

Neither of last year’s winners will be around to defend as boys champion Tyler Wilkes is playing at the University of Florida girls winner Taylor Roberts is teeing it up at Florida State.

“Dustin’s goal was to make this the best junior tournament in America, and this year represents another big step in that direction,” Tournament Director Scott Tomasello said. “This year’s event will feature one of the three strongest fields in all of junior golf, TPC Myrtle Beach is an elite facility, and with Dustin’s support, the tournament will deliver on the experiential side as well. We can’t wait for the sixth annual Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship to tee off.”

The entire field can be found here.

-Julie Williams

New junior event selected for Symetra Tour MVP Invite

Feb. 18

The Mack Champ Invitational, a new junior golf event, has been selected by the Symetra Tour as one of three tournaments showcasing minority golfers that will receive a “Symetra Tour MVP Invite” for the 2021 season. Invitees will be selected by the respective tournament’s committee and earn exemption into a designated Symetra Tour event.

The Mack Champ Invitational is named after PGA Tour player Cameron Champ’s late grandfather Mack. It honors his legacy by identifying talented, diverse players. The inaugural event was supposed to be played in 2020 at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Texas, but was postponed to 2021 because of COVID. The 2021 event will take place from March 19-21, and the corresponding Symetra MVP Invite will provide an exemption into the Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes Golf Club in Garden City, Kansas, from April 30-May 2.

“We are incredibly excited and grateful for the Symetra Tour’s enthusiasm in supporting our mission with the establishment of the Symetra Tour MVP Invite. Having the ability to award a player in our field with an exemption to compete in the Garden City Classic is huge,” said Cameron Champ. “That will be a fantastic experience for one of these young players and could also lead them to many more opportunities, which is exactly what we’ve set out to accomplish with the Mack Champ Invitational – opening more doors for golfers of diverse backgrounds to have the chance to succeed in this great sport.”

The National Women’s Collegiate Golf Championship will also receive a Symetra Tour MVP Invite, with a third event yet to be determined.

-Julie Williams

Tournament opportunity: Dye Invitational

Feb. 18

The Dye Junior Invitational debuted in 2020 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana. The 54-hole event includes a boys and girls field of 33 players each. The 2021 event will be played June 6-8.

A new name enters the realm of AJGA tournament hosts

Feb. 18

If it feels like Albane Valenzuela isn’t all that far removed from junior golf, it’s because there’s something to that thought. At 23, Valenzuela has added her name to a stacked lineup of PGA Tour and LPGA pros lending their support to AJGA events.

Valenzuela, who played collegiately for Stanford from 2016 to 2019, competed in the 2016 Olympic Games for Switzerland and was runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2017 and 2019. She earned her LPGA card in the fall of 2019 and is embarking on a “do-over” rookie season afforded by the pandemic.

As a junior golfer, Valenzuela competed for Team Europe on the 2015 Ping Junior Solheim Cup, won the 2015 Doral Publix Junior Classic and 2015 Junior Orange Bowl, and competed in the Evian Masters Junior Cup in 2012.

Now, Valenzuela’s name will remain in the junior game through the Under Armour / Albane Valenzuela Girls Championship. The inaugural event will be played at Longbow Golf Club near Phoenix, May 27-30, a day after the conclusion of the NCAA Women’s Championship across town at Grayhawk Golf Club.

The 54-hole stroke play event will feature 78 girls selected by Performance Based Entry. The tournament joins the AJGA’s all-girls lineup of the Diamond Resorts ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex (January), Rolex Girls Junior Championship (June), and Ping Junior Solheim Cup (August).

-Julie Williams

NCAA extends recruiting dead period

Feb. 17

In a bit of bad news for hopeful college golfers – particularly those in the Class of 2022 – the Division I Council extended the recruiting dead period for all sports through May 31, continuing the ban on in-person recruiting activities that began when the pandemic hit last spring.

The only silver lining in the latest dead-period extension was that it also included news of a return, according to the NCAA announcement.

“After careful consideration of all available information, the Council agreed that an extension of the dead period through May 31 was necessary,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Pennsylvania. “However, there is a strong commitment to use the next several weeks to outline the transition plan back to recruiting activities post June 1 and to provide those plans to prospective student-athletes, their families and the NCAA membership no later than April 15.”

Ping becomes AJGA’s first Legacy Partner, extending contract through 2030

Feb. 16

In the AJGA’s more than 40-year history, Ping has become a name synonymous with the junior golf organization. The equipment company has become the AJGA’s first Legacy Partner, which is a new level of partnership that recognizes longtime support to junior golf. The announcement, and a new contract extension, mean the AJGA and Ping will continue their relationship through 2030.

Ping first appeared as an AJGA sponsor when it hosted the Ping Myrtle Beach Junior Classic at Quail Creek Country Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – an event that ran for more than 10 years. Ping was soon supporting as many as six events per year, including the Ping Phoenix Junior which ran from 1991-2016. Its support in that area continues has continued to date with the Ping Heather Farr Classic.

“It’s a tremendous honor to become the first AJGA Legacy Partner,” said Ping Chairman & CEO John A. Solheim. “We both share a common goal of helping develop highly-skilled young golfers who aspire to compete at the college level and beyond. Our 40-year relationship includes many highlights, but I’m especially proud of the success of the Ping Junior Solheim Cup and its impact on girls’ golf.

“Its stature is elevated with each event and to see many of those participants go on to star in the Solheim Cup brings me great satisfaction and pride. With the growing popularity of golf, it’s more important than ever that we promote the values golf has to offer while bringing the game to the next generation of competitive junior golfers. We’re excited to continue that mission with our friends at the AJGA.”

-Julie Williams

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Jackson Van Paris locked up the AJGA Simplify Boys title hours before a winter storm blanketed Texas

Jackson Van Paris became the first player in this AJGA invitational’s 34-year history to win multiple titles.

With much of Texas blanketed in snow and record-low temperatures on Monday, Jackson Van Paris found himself with a little extra time to reflect on a junior-golf title bagged, unbelievably, a day earlier. Van Paris, like the rest of the field, piled on the layers and donned a beanie for the final round of the AJGA’s Simply Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, the first invitational of the season and one where the schedule was scrambled to fit in 54 holes.

“The conditions – they were pretty hard,” Van Paris said. “When it’s 35 degrees out here, you’re wearing three, four, five layers the entire round. Definitely doesn’t allow you to hit some of the shots you normally would be able to hit in 65-, 70-degree weather.”

The Van Parises, from Pinehurst, North Carolina, imagined they might be in the Lone Star State a few more days as the winter storm raged. It will go down as quite the memory, particularly if this happens to be Van Paris’s final AJGA invitational start.

It’s a possibility, but not a certainty.

Most of Van Paris’s summer will be taken up by amateur events as he transitions to the next level before his freshman year at Vanderbilt. The Western Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Terra Cotta Amateur and North & South Amateur are among those on his wishlist. Van Paris, 17, already appeared in some of those events this past summer. Most recently, he finished 72nd at the Jones Cup earlier this month.

“Trying to transition to amateur golf just to kind of get used to what it will be like in college,” he said.

Van Paris is ranked No. 9 in Golfweek’s Junior rankings and No. 279 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He has been as high as No. 64 in the latter ranking. These past six months, despite his game feeling solid, he hasn’t felt his scores have matched. The familiarity of the Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, site of last week’s Simplify Boys Championship, helped change that.

Jackson Van Paris
Jackson Van Paris fist bumps a military member during the final round of the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods. (AJGA photo)

With his win, Van Paris became the first repeat champion in the tournament’s 34-year history, having also won the event in 2019. The AJGA condensed a three-day tournament into two by making Friday’s opening round a 36-hole day as the winter storm loomed. A few players had to finish their second round on Saturday before the start of the third round, but the field finished by Saturday evening as temperatures dipped into the 30s.

Van Paris fired rounds of 69-68-66 to win by five shots at 13 under. Golfweek’s top-ranked junior, David Ford of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, finished runner-up.

“I honestly think coming back to a place I’ve won before helped me,” Van Paris said. “I’ve won here in the past, I know my game is good enough to win here. I love the golf course.”

He would have another chance to test that theory next month had the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, one of the elite events in junior golf, gone on as planned, but the event has been canceled because of COVID. Van Paris won’t get to defend the tournament he won on the cusp of another natural disaster in March 2020.

There are still perks on the calendar, though, and perhaps none bigger than playing his final U.S. Junior Amateur at his home course, the Country Club of North Carolina, in July.

Van Paris is the rare player who has given enormous amounts of his time back to the game – not just through hours spent on the putting green and the driving range, but by getting involved in the giving-back component of golf. He served as a player representative to the AJGA board in 2020 and devoted considerable energy to one particular charitable effort.

Jackson Van Paris
Jackson Van Paris with the AJGA’s Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award at the AJGA’s year-end virtual “banquet” in 2020. (AJGA photo)

For the past six years, Van Paris’s name has been synonymous with the Carolina Cup, an event that has raised $250,000 in four years on behalf of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and the ACE Grant. Starting in 2017, he helped run the event with his family and through assistance from the AJGA. It’s the kind of event passed down from one junior-golf family to the next, and the Van Parises will pass the torch now, too.

Van Paris alone has raised more than $32,000 for charity during his involvement with the Carolina Cup. He was honored with the AJGA’s Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award at the end of last year and gained loads of perspective from learning how to apply his talents to something bigger than golf.

“I really don’t know if I ever saw myself before doing it but now after running it for three or four years I really couldn’t see myself not doing it,” he said. “It’s been really cool and an opportunity I’m very thankful for and feel lucky to have been a part of.”

In many respects, including his charitable efforts, Van Paris seemed to go from junior golf to the cusp of adulthood in an instant. Not even four years have passed since Van Paris made match play as a 14-year-old at the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. When he won his first-round match against Dylan Perry, it made him the youngest competitor to win a match at the U.S. Amateur since Bobby Jones reached the quarterfinals in 1916.

2018 U.S. Amateur
Jackson Van Paris watches his second shot on the first hole during the Round of 64 at the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. (Photo by USGA/Chris Keane)

“I was 14 and didn’t really know what I was doing yet,” he said. “Just went out there and played golf and happened to have stuff go my way and play really well, made match play and won a match. That was really cool, and ever since then, I’ve kind of just tried to play amateur events periodically and get a feel for what it’s like.”

Van Paris imagines he’ll study either human organizational development or economics when he lands at Vanderbilt next fall, but he hasn’t decided for certain yet.

Van Paris and his friend Gordon Sargent, who hails from Birmingham, Alabama, and finished third at the Simplify Boys, committed to play for the Commodores within 24 hours of each in 2018. They’ll room together as freshmen, and Van Paris hopes he’s part of the next wave of Vanderbilt golf glory. After meeting head coach Scott Limbaugh and assistant coach Gator Todd, he couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else.

Given his track record, one would imagine that’s Van Paris’s impact in Nashville will extend far past his scoring average.

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AJGA’s 2021 schedule to include invitationals at Streamsong, Champions Golf Club

The AJGA is adding invitationals in 2021 at two top venues: Streamsong Resort and Champions Golf Club.

The American Junior Golf Association tends to celebrate long weekends with tournament opportunities. As this weekend’s AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, approaches, the AJGA has added two more similar championships.

This marks the first time since 2007 that boys stroke-play invitationals – which draw the deepest fields on the AJGA schedule – have been added to the AJGA lineup.

The organization announced on Wednesday that it would host the Team TaylorMade Invitational on May 29-31, 2021. Top juniors will spend Memorial Day weekend at Streamsong Resort’s Blue Course in remote Bowling Green, Florida.

Streamsong Blue lands in the top 20 on Golfweek’s Best 2020 list of top resort courses and has never hosted an AJGA event before. The U.S. Golf Association hosted the second U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Streamsong Resort in 2016. The Florida State Golf Association frequently uses it for a championship site, and the inaugural Golfweek Streamsong Amateur was played on the Blue Course in December.

Along with the Team TaylorMade Invitational, the AJGA last week added the Jack Burke Jr. Invitational to the August schedule. The 54-hole boys event will be played at Champions Golf Club Cypress Creek course, where the U.S. Women’s Open was played in December.

Interestingly, the event, to be played Aug. 3-6, grew from parent support. When four parents of AJGA players posed the question of whether Champions Golf Club ever host an event, the wheels began to turn.

A group of golfers walk down the fairway after tee shot off the 11th tee box during the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club. (Photo: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports)

“One of the biggest challenges for junior golf is obtaining high-quality courses for tournaments,” said Chris Spaulding, one of those parents, in an AJGA release. “We all have junior golfers and we know this first hand. We thought it would be excellent if an AJGA Invitational were held at Champions and on the Cypress Creek course. We knew that it would be a very special event and, as we knew would be the case, when we raised the possibility with Robin Burke and Bret Nutt, Champions immediately got behind hosting the event.”

The Jack Burke Jr. Invitational is named, of course, after the founder of the club – a man who had an illustrious professional career that included the 1956 Masters title. The invitational has no corporate sponsor. Instead, support from Champions Golf Club members will fund the championship in 2021 and beyond.

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