Tag: U.S. Junior Amateur

Junior golf competition calendar full of new events, changes in 2020

The competition schedule for junior golfers in 2020 contains a number of new events and schedule changes.

Juniors golfers with professional dreams can find any number of sound bites from Tour players that link game development and Tour readiness with junior golf. The American Junior Golf Association plays a big role in that, but opportunities extend beyond the AJGA, too. From the U.S. Junior and Sage Valley Junior Invitational, two of the premier events, to smaller regional tournaments scattered around the U.S., there is no shortage of events to play.

Interestingly, the competition schedule for junior golfers in 2020 contains a number of new events and schedule changes. A major event is even expanding its field by more than 100 players. Here’s what you need to know for the upcoming season.

New to the schedule

Mack Champ Invitational

Tour players don’t just talk about junior golf contributing to their success, they put their time and their resources behind the statement. Many current PGA and LPGA players back events on the AJGA schedule, but Cameron Champ is going about the idea of “hosting” a little bit differently.

Champ is using junior golf to honor his late grandfather Mack Champ with the inaugural Mack Champ Invitational. The Cameron Champ Foundation will put on the event, to be played March 20-22 at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston. The goal of the tournament is to focus on identifying talented players from diverse backgrounds as a way to honor the legacy left by Mack, who passed away in October 2019.

Champ will conduct a clinic during tournament week. The 36-hole event will be divided into four age divisions.

Notah Begay Junior Invitational

One goal of junior golf? Get noticed, preferably by a college coach. The Notah Begay Junior Invitational will offer something quite unusual to its participants: a TV slot on Golf Channel. Players, ages 8 to 18, must qualify into this event, to be played at a yet-to-be-announced location on a yet-to-be-announced date.

Dye Junior Invitational

Players looking for a 54-hole event on a renowned golf course should take note of the inaugural Dye Junior Invitational. The field will consist of 33 girls and 33 boys competing May 25-27 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana. The course has a long, distinguished history as a tournament host, and will host the Western Amateur two months after the juniors play in May.

The championship was created by the Crooked Stick membership as a way to honor Pete and Alice Dye. The field will be filled by invitation only.

Barbasol Junior Championship

PGA Tour starts are a coveted commodity when you’re a junior golfer. One of those is on offer this summer at the inaugural Barbasol Junior Championship, to be played June 29-July 2 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

The new 54-hole event will be open to boys under the age of 19, and the champion will earn a spot later in July at the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship, which is also played at Keene Trace.

Different dates and format changes

AJGA Thunderbird International Junior

When the NCAA Championships move to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the next three years, it means the AJGA’s Thunderbird International Junior has to move out – at least, it has to change dates.

The Thunderbird, which has divisions for girls and boys, typically has been played at the end of May, but this year, for the first time, it will be played April 9-12, which means, of course, that it finish on Masters Sunday.

Sage Valley Junior Invitational

The Sage Valley Junior Invitational is one of the most coveted junior-golf starts on a player’s calendar. The course, Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, South Carolina, is top-notch and the level of competition is as tough as it gets for junior boys.

This is the first year the tournament will be played in March, as it was previously held in late April. The switch was made mainly to avoid potential conflicts with other tournaments and to ensure it continues to attract an elite 54-player field.

“Moving play to mid-March means the course will be in absolute perfect condition, making for an incredible competition,” Pete Davis, chairman of the SVJI Sports Foundation, said in a release.

Gator Invitational

If the object of junior golf is to prepare for the next step – college golf – then mirroring that experience as closely as possible is key. That’s why it’s a big deal that the Gator Invitational has added a round this year to become a 54-hole event.

The Gator, a junior boys event, will be played March 13-15 at The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi, which also hosts the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Exemptions into the South Beach International Amateur and the Dogwood Invitational are on the line.

U.S. Junior

The major men’s amateur events on the USGA schedule – think the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur – require a companion course to accommodate the enormous field. For the first time in the 73-year history of the U.S. Junior Amateur, the USGA will require two courses to accommodate an expanded field, too.

The tournament will start with 264 players playing both Hazeltine National Golf Club and Chaska Town Course in Chaska, Minnesota, before the stroke-play portion of the event switches exclusively to Hazeltine.

The U.S. Junior previously had a starting field of 156 players.

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