Welcome to Blog Jr., the official blog of Golfweek’s Junior Extra page. Logging in regularly will be Golfweek's junior gurus Eric Soderstrom, Sean Martin, Ray McCarthy and Dan Mirocha.
You may remember Yaroslav Merkulov from the U.S. Junior, where he advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Jordan Spieth. Ray McCarthy wrote about how Merkulov moved to the U.S. from Russia on his fourth birthday, and underwent open-heart surgery when he was 10.
Well, Merkulov added another chapter to his story last week at the New York State Junior, shooting a final-round 61 for a 10-shot victory. Merkulov finished at 8-under 144 (73-61). Merkulov won the New York State Amateur three weeks earlier.
His 61 broke the competitive course at Skaneateles (N.Y.) Country Club record by six shots. Former PGA Tour winner Tom Scherrer held the previous course record with a 62 at the par-71, 6,474-yard course.
“I was just in the zone today,” Merkulov said. “I felt like every shot I hit today, even if it was a tee shot, I was going to hole it. It was an unusual sense of confidence.”
He received some advice from his mother before the final round that helped him go low.
“My mom hasn’t given me a golf lesson in my life, but she had me close the face of my putter a little more and I stopped missing putts to the right,” Merkulov said.
Gavin Hall, runner-up at this year’s AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, won the younger division by 13 shots with a 9-under 133 total (68-65).
– Sean Martin Posted Aug. 19
A couple notes from around the country, and internationally:
• Daniela Lendl, No. 47 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, posted a 14-shot victory at the Connecticut Women’s Amateur Aug. 12. The 16-year-old shot a final-round 76 at H. Smith Richardson Golf Course in Fairfield, Conn., for a 2-over 218 total. She shot a course-record 68 in the second round.
• It’s been a good week for Michael Sorenson, an incoming freshman at the University of Wisconsin. Sorenson won the state junior by 10 shots last week, then finished second to Northeast Amateur champ Dan Woltman earlier this week in a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Kenosha (Wis.) Country Club.
• It looks like North Carolina State will have another succesful Canadian on its hands to complement NCAA champ Matt Hil. Incoming frosh Mitch Sutton won his second consecutive Canadian Junior Aug. 6. He finished second this week at the Canadian Amateur – seven shots in front of Hill. Sutton also won the Ontario Junior Boys’ Match Play July 24.
– Sean Martin Posted Aug. 13
Here’s a quick round-up of junior action from around the country this week.
• Connor Pratt of Birmingham, Ala., shot 62 in the second round of the AJGA Southeast Open en route to a 13-under 200 total (70-62-68) and a 10-shot victory. Pratt, a 2010 grad, has made a verbal commitment to Coastal Carolina. His second round included a back-nine 29. His 62 is the second-lowest round in AJGA history; Georgia Tech sophomore James White shot 61 in 2007.
• Another 10-shot victory was recorded at the Northern California Junior. Incoming Cal freshman Michael Weaver, of Fresno, Calif., shot a final-round 65 at Spyglass Hill Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif. to finish at 8-under 208.
Weaver’s final round included just 20 putts. He’s won two AJGA titles this summer, finished 13th at the Rolex Tournament of Champions and lost playoffs to incoming Oklahoma State freshman Kevin Dougherty in the Southern California and California high school championships.
• Lorens Chan, the 15-year-old Hawaiian who played this year’s Sony Open on the PGA Tour, collected his first AJGA victory at the Tee Up Junior Challenge. He shot 10-under 206 at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif., to beat Rak Cho by two shots. Chan qualified for last year’s U.S. Amateur at the age of 14.
– Sean Martin Posted Aug. 7
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
The Golfweek staff really showed their expertise this week, picking all top-5 finishers at the Junior PGA Championship. However, as the scores will show, it’s a long way between first and fifth. Eric Soderstrom – Soderstrom showed why he is in first place this week, picking both winners of the Junior PGA Championship. The defending Junior Fantasy champ received 50 points for Alexis Thompson’s 12-shot domination of the girls’ division and another 50 for T.J. Vogel’s win, bringing his total to a staggering 350 points.
Ray McCarthy – Behind a runner-up finish by Sarah Brown and a third place showing from Anthony Paolucci, McCarthy was able to hold on to his second-place real estate. Brown racked up 30 points and Paolucci added another 20 to bring McCarthy’s total to 260.
Sean Martin – Martin also went with 2007 girls’ champion, receiving 50 points for Thompson’s runaway win. He decided to go with the hot hand in the boys’ division, riding U.S. Junior Champ Jordan Spieth’s runner-up finish to 30 points, bringing his total to 80 for the week and 245 on the year.
Dan Mircoha – After picking a winner in Spieth last week, Mircoha went with Paolucci and fellow top-5 finisher Victoria Tanco at the Junior PGA, picking up 40 points. Despite picking two top-5s, Mirocha lost more ground and carries a total of 170.
– Golfweek staff Posted July 31
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
We here at Golfweek don’t take a rest. A week after the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior, we’re back to give you our picks for the Junior PGA Championship, which begins tomorrow.
Eric Soderstrom (250 points) –Boys: T.J. Vogel. Isn’t afraid to win, or carry the pressure I just put on him to keep me in first place on his back.
Girls: Alexis Thompson. Owns this event.
Ray McCarthy (210) – Boys: Easy. Anthony Paolucci. Paolucci – one of the most composed players I’ve ever seen – had to be steamed when he was ousted in the first round of match play at the U.S. Junior. He’s the defending Jr. PGA champ and he loves the course. He’s as close to a lock as they come.
Girls: I think the trick here is picking someone who had success at the U.S. Girls’ last week but didn’t go far in match play and won’t be too burned out. Enter Sarah Brown. Brown finished in a tie for second in stroke-play qualifying but was bounced in the first round. She’ll be fresh – and hungry – at the Junior PGA.
Sean Martin (165) – Boys: Jordan Spieth. He had a long week at the U.S. Junior, but he’s the most consistent player in junior golf, so I’m sure he’ll be back on the leaderboard.
Girls: Alexis Thompson. I don’t see any reason why she can’t defend her crown.
Dan Mirocha (130) – Boys: Anthony Paolucci. Can you say back-to-back?
Girls: Victoria Tanco. Will use quarterfinal loss at Girls’ Junior to fuel the fire.
Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20
points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for
anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule:
You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted July 27
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
The Junior Fantasy Golf season is looking more and more like a runaway. The U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior produced incredible amounts of drama. Let’s hope the Junior Fantasy race can do the same as the season rolls on.
Eric Soderstrom – Welp, what can you say? Soderstrom had an enormous week. Jordan Spieth won the U.S. Junior, earning Soderstrom 50 points. Kimberly Kim was a runner-up at the U.S. Girls’, earning him another 30. That’s 80 points to bump Soderstrom up to 250 on the year. Ouch.
Ray McCarthy – Looks like McCarthy is leading the race for second place. He picked Spieth, but struck out with Lisa McCloskey, who lost in the first round. The 50 points gives him 210 on the season.
Sean Martin – Martin put up a big fat 0 this week. He chose Austin Cody and Sarah Brown, who both lost in the first round. He has 165 points on the season.
Dan Mirocha – Mirocha made up some ground by picking Spieth, but had 0 points from Cindy Feng, who was upset in the first round. He has 130 points on the season.
– Golfweek staff Posted July 27
VIDEO: Asher Wildman wraps up the U.S. Junior.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – When Amy Anderson and Kimberly Kim entered the final at the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Trump National Golf Club, they both also received two-year exemptions into the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Kim, who will be chasing her second title, has said she will enter the tournament, to take place at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 3-9.
Anderson, of Oxbow, N.D., remains undecided. The Andersons are already on a three-week golf road-trip that appears to be doubling as a family vacation, and an appearance at the U.S. Women’s Amateur is an unplanned stop.
“I had so much fun here, and I hear the U.S. Women’s Amateur is even better so I would love to go but I know we’ve had a really, really busy few weeks here and I have a busy few weeks coming up – another tournament and then college is starting so I don’t want to burn myself out,” Anderson said. “We’ll just see.”
As the Andersons proved this week – with Amy’s brother Nathan on the bag from start to finish and her parents always present in her gallery – golf is a family affair. Mom Twyla said the decision is something that will most likely be discussed on tonight’s long drive from Bedminster to Maineville, Ohio, where Amy will begin play at the Junior PGA Championship Tuesday. – Julie Williams Posted July 25
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – For the first time in 18 years, both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Junior stroke play medalist walked away with the championship.
U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Amy Anderson of Oxbow, N.D., had medalist honors this week with 3-under 141. U.S. Junior champion Jordan Spieth took stroke play honors by three with his 6-under 137.
In 1991, U.S. Junior medalist Tiger Woods took the title at Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla., and U.S. Girls' Junior medalist Emilee Klein won at Crestview Country Club in Wichita, Kan.
– Julie Williams Posted July 25
So much for the underdog.
Sure, top-ranked Jordan Spieth reached the finals of the U.S. Junior, but Jay Hwang is proving there is no such thing as a favorite in match play.
Hwang, who hasn’t even played enough events to be listed officially in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, is all square with Spieth after the first 18 holes.
Just as Tiger Woods lost to Tim Clark in his comeback at the WGC-Match play earlier this year, Hwang is going toe-to-toe with the seemingly unbeatable Spieth.
We’ll see what happens in the second 18.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 25
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Amy Anderson ends the first 18 holes with the lead over Kimberly Kim, 2 up. Anderson made no worse than par until finishing double bogey-bogey-bogey.
Kim struggled with her putting this morning, making it hard for her to contend with Anderson’s solid, down-the-middle play. Coming in, Kim three-putted for bogey on the par-3 10th and missed 15-footers for birdie on Nos. 12 and 14. A missed 3-footer for bogey on No. 17 cost her the hole, but she got one back on 18 to make the turn just 2 down.
Kim said yesterday after a narrow win over Jennifer Johnson that she wasn’t confident in her putting, but then had a 5-and-4 victory over Doris Chen in the semifinals. Maybe she can expect a similar polar shift today?
– Julie Williams Posted July 25
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — During yesterday’s semifinals, there was a strange incident as Jordan Spieth and Logan Harrell approached the 12th hole of the New Course at Trump National.
From the tee, the players saw that there was no flagstick on the green.
Tom O’Toole, Jr, the committee chairman of the U.S. Junior, breezed by in a cart carrying the flagstick from the 13th hole. O’Toole used the 13th flagstick as a replacement for the 12th.
When I asked O’Toole, Jr. what happened to the 12th flagstick, he was as perplexed as everyone else. The USGA didn’t alter the course in between the quarterfinals and semifinals so that eliminated any possible oversight by the USGA or the Trump National grounds crew.
The only possible explanation? It must’ve been stolen, O’Toole, Jr. said.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 25
New to the Golfweek Junior Series:
Players who win an event in the Golfweek Junior Series, including the Golfweek Junior Invitational, will receive an exemption into the FCWT National Championship May 29-31, 2010, at PGA National in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Boys defending champ: Daniel Berger Girls defending champ: Maria Imelda Isabel Piccio
– Golfweek staff Posted July 25
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – A bit of history is riding on today’s girls’ final. Should Amy Anderson win, she will be the first U.S. Girls’ Junior champion who was also medalist since Julieta Granada in 2004. She would also be the 14th medalist in U.S. Girls’ Junior history to win the championship.
Kimberly Kim already holds the record for youngest U.S. Women’s Amateur winner, and is tied for second most U.S. Girls’ Junior appearances, but if Kim wins today, she becomes the sixth girl to win both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls’ Junior. That’s a feat that would be OK with Kim, although as she said after yesterday’s round, “That’s No. 6. I would rather be one.”
– Julie Williams Posted July 25
VIDEO: Asher Wildman recaps the semifinals.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Among the gallery in this morning’s match between Amy Anderson and Victoria Tanco (Anderson won, 2 and 1) was Jay Courage, chairman of the golf committee at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. In the area for a business trip, Courage said he decided to drop by Trump National to check out U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls' Junior action because his club might be interested in hosting in the next few years.
Courage said the club is probably not long enough for many events as it tips out at 6,545 yards and plays at a par of 70.
Farmington played host to the U.S. Senior Amateur in 1993, and Courage said hosting an event every 20 years would be ideal. Should the Farmington deal work out, Courage said the club could handle only either the boys or girls – not double duty like Trump National. – Julie Williams Posted July 24
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – The Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings of the four semifinalists in the U.S. Junior are:
1. Jordan Spieth 51. Logan Harrell 100*. Jay Hwang 135. Nicholas Reach
The asterisk means Hwang has not participated in the minimum number of events to be ranked. His only AJGA start in 2009 was at the Preseason Junior at Marshalia Ranch. He finished second there.
Harrell has two top-10 finishes in AJGA events this year, a T-2 at the Cliffs Championship and a T-9 at FootJoy.
Reach also has two top-10s in three AJGA starts this year, a T-6 at the Aldila Junior Open and a T-5 at Mission Hills. – Ray McCarthy Posted July 24
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — For the second year in a row, Jordan Spieth has reached the semifinals of the U.S. Junior.
This year, however, will be a vastly different experience for Spieth than last year. In 2008, 14-year-old Spieth was trying to become the youngest champion in U.S. Junior history. He never lead in his semifinal match against Evan Beck and eventually lost, 1 up.
Spieth is savoring the pressure this year.
“He likes to play when it’s on the line,” said Shawn Spieth, Jordan’s father. “And he’s trying to kill his parents.”
Spieth has won his last three matches in 19 holes, 2 and 1, and barely escaped his quarterfinal match today with Yaroslav Merkulov, 1 up. Spieth holed a 4-footer for par to close the match on the 18th hole.
“I’m not going to lie, my knees were shaking on that 4-footer,” said Spieth.
In the semis, Spieth will have a unique challenge in facing Logan Harrell. The two played their two practice rounds together and have seen each other at many events on the junior circuit.
“Logan and I are great friends,” said Spieth. “... I’m just going to take the same gameplan from here out.”
Spieth is the clear favorite for the rest of the event, but considering how fickle match play is, anything can happen.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 24
VIDEO: Asher Wildman breaks down the action from the Round of 16 at the U.S. Junior.
PODCAST: Donald Trump talks to Golfweek.com about hosting this week’s U.S. Junior championships in Bedminster, N.J.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – What do you do when the ride ends at the U.S. Girls' Junior? You start looping.
Two players knocked out in match play, Annie Park and Daniela Lendl, loaded their friend’s bags on their backs to go an additional 18 today – and in the rain, no less.
Lendl, who carried for Alison Lee in her match against Amy Anderson, got the invitation over lunch, and after checking with her parents, had the foresight to grab some extra towels before heading out the door.
“I didn’t read any putts for her – she knows how to read putts. I carried the bag, got yardages and kept her clubs dry when it was pouring,” Lendl said.
Lendl got experience when she was younger caddying for her Dad, but still said she mostly let Lee play her own game.
“We tried to keep it somewhat serious, but we had fun,” she said.
Park, who lost to Nicole Zhang, 3 and 1, in the round of 64 caddied for Kimberly Kim in today’s rounds. The serious factor came in to play for this duo also, but there was plenty of ribbing and laughter during the drive from Kim’s final hole back to the clubhouse after a long 37 holes of golf.
– Julie Williams Posted July 23
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Jim Liu is the youngest player left in the U.S. Junior field, but the 13-year-old – who turns 14 on August 9 – isn’t playing to his age.
Liu dispatched Anthony Alex in the first round of match play and then did away with highly-touted, 11th-ranked Patrick Cantlay in the round of 32.
In the round of 16, Liu will face Nicholas Reach, who at No. 135 in Golfweek’s rankings is making an unexpected run of his own.
Liu, who is ranked 41st, is the 2009 IJGT Player of the Year. Get the full scoop on him here.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – The rain held off long enough for almost every group to finish the second round of match play dry at the U.S. Girls’ Junior.
As the Round of 16 gets underway this afternoon, a steady rain is setting in. With no lightning in the area, play is going to continue for now.
As Alexis Thompson pointed out with a shrug on her way to the practice area after lunch, “We played all day on Tuesday in the rain, so I guess we’ll do the same thing probably we did on Tuesday.”
– Julie Williams Posted July 23
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – When Doris Chen walked off the 17th green with her 3-and-1 victory over Erynne Lee, her expression hardly changed. Only when the four remaining members of her gallery – she started the week with six – started passing out bear hugs did the 16-year-old crack a smile.
Judging from Chen’s shy demeanor, you might not guess that Yani Tseng is among her golf partners in Lake Nona, Fla. Tseng, who won the LPGA Corning Classic in May, and Chen both hail from Taiwan, and Tseng is one of just five LPGA players from the country. Chen’s mother, Jessey Lin, said Chen hopes to take that number to six someday.
Since she moved from Taiwan to Florida with her mother three years ago to put more focus on golf, Chen has enrolled at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, where she plans to stay until entering college in two years.
Unfortunately for Lin, more golf for Chen means less golf for her. Once a single handicapper working for a golf association in Taiwan, Lin has all but abandoned the game.
“(When) my daughter got better than me, I quit,” she said.
Looks like both golfing ability and the desire to win runs in the Chen family.
– Julie Williams Posted July 23
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – A must-see match is on the docket for the Round of 16.
Red-hot Victoria Tanco will take on 2008 U.S. Girls’ finalist Karen Chung.
Chung, a petite, Livingston, N.J., native, is a short hitter but an artist with a wedge and putter. She is the consummate fighter/grinder and won’t back down from Tanco.
Tanco continues to roll through this U.S. Girls’ Junior. A day after she won, 7 and 6, over Alina Ching, the Argentine cruised to a 5-and-4 win over Kendall Martindale. If she manages to win in the same convincing fashion over a tough competitor like Chung, the rest of the field will have to watch out.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Jordan Spieth said yesterday that he was “just chillin’’ at the U.S. Junior, but he was doing far from that in his round-of-32 match against Jack Perry, the 99th-ranked player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
At one point, Perry had a 2-up lead but the two finished 18 holes all square and went to an extra playoff hole. After both missed the green with their approaches, Perry pitched up to 6 or so feet while Spieth had a 4-footer for his par.
With a large gallery – which included club owner Donald Trump and men’s college golf head coach heavyweights Chris Haack (Georgia), Mike McGraw (Oklahoma State), and Derek Freeman (UCLA) – following the match, Perry’s par attempt lipped out badly setting the stage for Spieth to hole his and barely escape the round of 32.
“My goal was to give him a run for his money, and I definitely did that,” said Perry afterward. “He puts his pants on one leg at a time and can be beat. I just didn’t beat him.”
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
VIDEO: Asher Wildman and Ray McCarthy discuss the big stories from the first round of match play at the U.S. Junior.
VIDEO: What does it take to put on the U.S. Junior?
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – The Daniela Lendl-Sarah Brown match was the first of three consecutive matches to go extra holes on the girls’ side. Lendl, the 61st seed, birdied the first playoff hole to take down Brown (4th seed).
“Today was not easy,” said Lendl of playing against a good friend.
Daniela’s older sister, Isabelle, also won her first match.
“I was skeptical about asking the rules official with us how (Isabelle) was doing because I didn’t want to lose concentration,” Daniela said.
She asked anyway, and was pleased to learn that big sis’ drained a bomb on the 16th hole to end her match. The earliest the pair could meet is the semifinals of the upper bracket.
“I know no matter what happens there will be no hard feelings,” said Daniela of the possible showdown.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 22
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Jessica Korda played her first match play tournament since the European Team Championship two years ago. Did her father, famed tennis player Petr, offer any advice on her return to head-to-head competition?
“No,” Korda said. “He just told me to rip the other person’s head off.”
Korda beat Seshia-Lei Telles, 7 and 6, in Round 1.
Way to listen to, Dad.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 22
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Victoria Tanco, 15, sailed through the first round
of match play at the U.S. Girls’ Junior on the strength of a white-hot
putter. After struggling with her putter the first two days, Tanco got
three consecutive birdies to fall on Nos. 5-7. She took a 1-up lead on
the first hole against Hawaii’s Alina Ching and never relented,
finishing, 7 and 6, on the Old Course.
“She’s been hitting the ball great all week,” said Tanco’s caddie, Angel Monguzzi. “I believe it was just confidence.”
Like
Tanco, Monguzzi hails from Argentina and makes his living looping for
Vicente Fernandez on the Champions Tour. Tanco, who won the AJGA’s
Rolex Tournament of Champions earlier this year as well as the Mizuno
Junior at Innisbrook, lost to defending champion Alexis Thompson in the
quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior last year.
The
high-school junior answers questions in very simple, direct sentences
with a heavy accent. When asked if she had any plans for college, Tanco
acted as though it was light-years away.
“I don’t know yet,” she said.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 22
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Isabelle Lendl overcame a big hurdle in the first round of match in the form of 2006 U.S. Girls' champ Jenny Shin.
Trailing
2-down through six holes, Lendl eventually rallied and closed out Shin
on the 16th hole, 3 and 2, with a ridiculous putt that she paced off as
93 feet.
"Yes," Lendl said when asked if she's ever made a putt that long, "but I don't think it was to end a match."
Shin,
who won earlier this year at the Heather Farr Classic, took the loss
hard. She missed the stroke-play cut at the 2007 U.S. Girls' Junior,
lost in the semis to Alexis Thompson in 2008, and will make an early
exit this year.
Lendl will play medalist Amy Anderson in the next round.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 22
VIDEO: Asher Wildman recaps Day 2 at the U.S. Junior. BEDMINSTER, N.J. – It's fair to say Anthony Paolucci takes the U.S. Junior pretty seriously.
Paolucci's coach, Tim Cusick, flew in Saturday to work with his star junior pupil so he can fine-tune his game for the event that he finished runner-up at in 2007. Cusick is leaving tonight to return to Texas.
Cusick is the director of golf instruction at TPC Four Seasons in Irving, Texas, which is also home to the PGA Tour's HP Byron Nelson Championship. Paolucci and his family are members at the complex.
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Afternoon tee times were pushed back 30 minutes. Rounds were particularly slow Tuesday morning due to bad weather, and the grounds crew had to squeegee fairways on both courses.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 21
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – In case you’re wondering how this set-up will work for the first round of match play, the boys will be on the New Course while the girls tackle the Old Course.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 21
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Whether it's the pressure or the unrelenting, rainy, breezy conditions, scores are considerably higher today in the second round of stroke-play qualifying.
Rak Cho, No. 56 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and runner-up at last year's FootJoy, was just four off the lead after 2-under 70 in the first round. In today's round, Cho turned in 11-over 46 and finished with a 15-over 86 to perhaps seal his fate of missing out on match play at this year's U.S. Junior.
Austin Green followed a first-round 73 with a ghastly 87 in which he somehow finished with a smile on his face. Green's approach to his closing hole – the par-4 ninth – was a shank that came within inches of hitting a car's windshield. He took an unplayable from trees near the clubhouse and made a double-bogey 6. "He had kind of a mental breakdown today," his caddie told me.
Mike Miller had a steady, even-par 72 in the first round. Not so much in the second round. He went 44-46 to post a 90.
Needless to say, conditions are pretty tough at Trump National today.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 21
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Donald Trump is going the extra mile to impress the Blue Coats this week at the U.S. Juniors. But all the money in the world can’t control the weather. It’s pouring rain here at Trump National Golf Club, but they’re playing without delay. It’s forecasted to be ugly all day.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 21
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Catching up on Sports Illustrated on the flight over, noticed that Alexis Thompson is featured in the July 13-20 issue along with 13 other teens in a “Where Will They Be?” package. The defending champ is undoubtedly the biggest name in the field this week.
Thompson played with two other talented teens at the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago and commanded large galleries. What’s the biggest difference between the most-hyped tournament in women’s golf and Bedminster?
“It was just more crowds to like, no people,” Thompson said.
The 14-year-old is joined this week by older brother Curtis, with mom and dad juggling tee times. Does low scorer get to pick dinner each night?
“Depends who acted the best on the golf course,” she said.
Sounds about right.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 21 VIDEO: Asher Wildman recaps Day 1 at the U.S. Junior. BEDMINSTER, N.J. — Just watched Donald Trump do a drive-by in his black Rolls-Royce at the U.S. Juniors. Trump, who was actually behind the wheel, rolled down his window to catch the action on the ninth green of the Old Course at Trump National Golf Club.
Thankfully, he was going slow enough to protect the hair.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 20
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — If you want Maria Jose Uribe to carry your bag, don’t expect much help on the greens. Uribe, the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, is “really bad at reading breaks.”
Still, Uribe thought she could help her young compatriot, Maria Yacaman, appreciate the importance of patience around a USGA track. Alas, it was a tough day for Yacaman, who shot 86.
Uribe stayed in the U.S. to see if she gets into this week’s Duramed Futures Tour event. Her coach, Pedro Russi, is here this week caddying for Juan Luna, who opened with a 6-under 66.
Luna, 17, is playing in his first USGA event and heads to Memphis this fall.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 20
VIDEO: Learn more about the Golfweek Junior Series.
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
The U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls' Junior present some difficulties in picking a champion since they're like two events in one.
However, there is a huge pride factor up for grabs this week. This is the biggest week in junior golf so obviously it's the biggest week in Junior Fantasy Golf.
Point system: For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30
points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third
round (5 points).
Here are the picks:
Eric Soderstrom (170) – Boys' winner: Jordan Spieth. Reminds me a bit of a young Philip Francis, in that he knows he's supposed to win this week and he will. But I like his experience/success in match play the most.
Girls' winner: Kimberly Kim. Will finally add this trophy to her case, next to the U.S. Women's Amateur one. Again, I don't care how boring/predictable my picks are, I just value match-play experience – especially at an event where most kids you talk to answer the "Have you played much match play?" question with "Not really."
Sean Martin (165) – Boys' winner: Austin Cody. Cody, No. 43 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, has had a pretty good summer on the amateur and junior circuits, finishing second in the Rice Planters Amateur, third at the Western Junior, T-18 at the Dogwood Invitational and T-11 at the Azalea Invitational. I think his experience against older competition will help him in match play. That’s why Curtis Thompson is also a good pick.
Girls' winner: Sarah Brown. Brown made the Round of 16 in the ‘08 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the quarterfinals in ‘07. She’s had a great year, rising to No. 28 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, finishing second at both the Annika Invitational and Thunderbird. Playing in her home state will be an added bonus.
Ray McCarthy (160) – Boys' winner: Jordan Spieth. I’m front-running here, but you know what? I don’t care. My two other candidates – Anthony Paolucci and Curtis Thompson – are
also virtual locks to make match play, but in the end, top-ranked
Jordan Spieth sold me. He has the mental strength and competitive edge
to go all the way.
Girls' winner: Lisa McCloskey. McCloskey is coming off an awesome freshman year at Pepperdine,
and the 17-year-old (who turns 18 on August 7) has a distinct
advantage. She was medalist in stroke play last year and this past
year, she set an NCAA record by becoming the first NCAA female player
to break 200 in a college event at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown
(17-under 199).
Dan Mirocha (80) – Boys' winner: Jordan Spieth. Might be the most competitive kid in junior golf.
Girls' winner: Cindy Feng. Tough to bet against someone who has won two AJGA invitationals this season.
– Golfweek staff Posted July 20
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
The race got a little tighter after the McDonald's Betsy Rawls Girls Championship. Here are the results.
Eric Soderstrom picked Ani Gulugian, who finished in a tie for eighth. He earned 10 points and leads with 170 points.
Sean Martin picked Alison Lee, who finished second to Cindy Feng. He vaulted into second with 30 points and has 165 on the year.
Ray McCarthy picked Doris Chen, who finished tied for 20th. He earned five points and is in third with 160.
Dan Mirocha picked Kristina Wong, who finished in a tie for third. He earned 20 points and is in last with 80.
For stroke play: win (25 points), runner-up
(15 points), top-5 (10 points), top-10 (5 points), top-20 (3 points).
Zero points for anything outside the top 20. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive
weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted July 17
Next up in Junior Fantasy Golf land is this week's McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship, which begins tomorrow. Here are the picks:
Eric Soderstrom (160) – Ani Gulugian. Progressively getting better with each invitational. Finished 13th at Thunderbird, T-7 at Rolex Girls and third at Rolex ToC. Add up those numbers, divide by three, carry the one and you get: First this week.
Ray McCarthy (155) – Doris Chen. Girl is on fire. She's coming off a T-7 at Rolex ToC and a T-5 at the Rolex Girls. Now if she can only bring home a win... I think she'll do it this week.
Sean Martin (135) – Alison Lee. Lee was runner-up at this event last year, and is coming off a really strong showing at the U.S. Women's Open (T-26). It was hard to pick between her and defending champion Jessica Korda, who also tied for 26th at Saucon Valley.
Dan Mirocha (60) – Kristina Wong. Finished sixth here last year and would love to get another AJGA victory before heading to Stanford in the fall.
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up
(30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points).
Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when
specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive
weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted July 13
Golf will only give you so much.
After Alexis Thompson birdied her first hole, she promptly bogeyed her next two holes and is now 1-over through four holes.
Victoria Tanco also birdied her first hole but double-bogeyed her next hole and is also 1-over. Let's see if they can rebound.
– Ray
McCarthy
Posted July 9
Alexis Thompson went out and birdied the first hole of her third U.S. Women's Open.
Could this be the start of something great? Thompson told me at the Rolex Tournament of Champions that she feels like a vet at the Open by now and isn't hoping to make the cut. She wants to contend.
After Thompson finished in a tie for 21st at the Kraft Nabisco and tied for low-amateur honors, her succeeding at the Open wouldn't come as a surprise.
And as I write this, Victoria Tanco, last week's Rolex Tournament of Champions winner, also birdied her first hole.
These juniors are scary good.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 9
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Pays to be a junior at the U.S. Women’s Open. Well, at least in the eyes of the local media.
The Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call featured Katherine Perry on the front page of the newspaper Tuesday morning. Perry, 17, is pictured sitting behind the wheel of her Lexus LX 560 courtesy car. Flip over to the sports section and Alexis Thompson is featured in the lead photo, and on Page 3, there’s a nice picture of Yueer Cindy Feng.
In total, there are 26 teenagers in the field. Feng, 13, is the youngest.
Would be great to see a few of them play on the weekend.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 7
Just when you were ready to declare Eric Soderstrom the guru of junior golf, another figure has come charging up the leaderboard. Maybe Ray McCarthy has awakened a sleeping giant, or just maybe the tables have turned. In any event, a winning pick at next week's McDonalds Betsy Rawls Girls Championship could set McCarthy on the path to fantasy domination.
Eric Soderstrom earned 25 points to move to 160 points. Twenty of those points came from a fifth-place finish by last year’s Rolex Tournament of Champions winner Jennifer Johnson, with the other five coming from Jeffrey Kang’s T-14.
Ray McCarthy earned an impressive 55 points (thanks to a big win from Victoria Tanco and a little nudge from Paloucci) to put him at 155 points and move him to second place in the standings.
Sean Martin picked up 20 points with a third-place finish from Ani Gulugian, and also added five from Paloucci. Those 25 points take him to 135 points, but that wasn’t enough to prevent Ray’s leap-frog toward the top.
Dan Mirocha's highest finisher, Alexis Thompson (12th), was good for only five points this week. He also had Paolucci and earned just 10 points total. That leaves him trailing far behind at 60 points. Mirocha might need a miracle to avoid a junior fantasy golf thumping.
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted July 6
Talk about a power group.
Alexis Thompson, Jessica Korda and Kimberly Kim will be paired together in the first and second rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open next week at Saucon Valley. The threesome will go off Thursday at 12:30 p.m. on No. 1 and at 7:00 a.m. Friday on No. 10.
Korda, 16, tied for 19th in the Open last year at Interlachen. Thompson, 14, is playing in her third Women’s Open. And Kim, 17, is coming off a victory at the Rolex Girls’ Junior and a runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.
Looking forward to the action. I arrive in Bethlehem, Pa., on Monday evening.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 3
Jordan Spieth, the No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, isn’t at the AJGA’s Rolex Tournament of Champions. Instead, he defended his title at the HP Byron Nelson Junior Championship. Spieth shot 10-under 203 (72-62-69) at Lakewood Country Club in Dallas to win by 11 shots.
He had a highlight-filled second round.
Spieth made birdie on his final two holes Tuesday to shoot 9-under 62 and set the competitive course record at Lakewood.
Former U.S. Junior champ Matthew Rosenfeld set the old course record with a 63 at the 2001 AJGA Lucent Technologies Boys Junior Championship. Rosenfeld won that tournament by five shots over Anthony Kim.
– Sean Martin Posted July 1
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF: Rolex Tournament of Champions
The junior season is rolling along, and the race toward Junior Fantasy Golf Champion of the Universe is heating up. Well, not really since Eric Soderstrom is demolishing the field and cruising this season. But the rest of us are still trying, and Soderstrom has a knack for letting titles slip through his fingers. So, here are the picks:
Eric Soderstrom (155) — Jeffrey Kang. Tied for second last year at Rolex and I think ready to break through at some point this year. Look for him to at least top his grouping with Anthony Paolucci and Patrick Winther (which would help my cause considering the picks below).
Jennifer Johnson. I don’t normally go for the back-to-back champ, but (also considering my pick above) I like experience at the tiring and trying Rolex, which is pretty much the U.S. Open of junior golf when it comes to tests in junior golf. Johnson’s been there before.
(P.S. Keep the trash talk coming.)
Sean Martin (110) — Anthony Paolucci. Finished T-2 at the FootJoy Invitational and is coming off a tie for eighth at the Texas Amateur. Ready to take the AJGA’s biggest title.
Ani Gulugian. Gulugian hasn’t finished worse that 13th in three AJGA starts this year. The Californian, who has made a verbal commitment to UCLA, feels at home in the ‘Show Me’ state.
She won two consecutive AJGA titles in Missouri last summer by a combined 15 shots. The second of those wins came at the Dalhousie Junior Championship, where she closed with consecutive 68s to win by eight; Dalhousie just happen to be the host of this year’s championship.
Ray McCarthy (100) — It’s time to stop messing around. I need a lock this week, and that’s Anthony Paolucci. He hasn’t finished worse than 12th in an AJGA event this year and will undoubtedly be toward the top come Saturday.
Tough one on the girls’ side. Tanco or Thompson? I’ll go with Victoria Tanco. She’s had good finishes this year, but has lacked her trademark consistency. Rolex is one of junior golf’s biggest stages. She’ll step to the plate.
Dan Mirocha (50) — Anthony Paolucci. He tied for second at FootJoy. Plus, last time he played a big-time event in Missouri, he finished runner-up at the 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Alexis Thompson. I need the points.
For stroke play: win (50 points),
runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5
points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when
specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive
weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted June 29
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – David Erdy has come a long way in a year, a path that has led him to this year’s U.S. Open. He can serve as an inspiration to any junior player that has trouble cracking into national events.
Last year, Erdy had to receive a “local exemption” into the AJGA’s flagship event, the Rolex Tournament of Champions. Such spots are reserved for promising local players who don’t otherwise qualify for the event. Last year’s Rolex was at Victoria National in Newburgh, Ind., about 20 miles from Erdy’s hometown of Boonville, Ind.
Erdy shot 79-80 in the Rolex to miss the cut by four shots. Erdy, who just completed his freshman season at Indiana, was No. 289 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
– Sean Martin Posted June 17
Kevin Dougherty may not have the name recognition of Oklahoma State’s other recent (i.e. Fowler, Hoffmann, Tway and Uihlein), but he’s been on an impressive run in California.
Dougherty, one of two ‘09 recruits for the Cowboys (along with Indiana’s Brad Gehl), recently swept the Southern California and California high school titles.
Dougherty, from Fowler’s hometown of Murrieta, Calif., shot 66 June 3 at the SCGA Golf Course to win the California Interscholastic Federation/Southern California Golf Association Championship. He shot 70 June 10 at Poppy Hills to win the state title.
Dougherty, a senior at Vista Murrieta High School, beat Clovis West’s Michael Weaver in a playoff for both titles.
In March, Dougherty won an IJGT title at Temecula Creek Inn by six shots with rounds of 65-67.
Dougherty, No. 124 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, plays out of Bear Creek Country Club in Murrieta; on his IJGT profile, he lists PGA Tour player Tom Pernice Jr. as his instructor. Pernice is a Bear Creek member.
– Sean Martin Posted June 15
The junior golf season is rolling along, and the FootJoy Invitational was a good opportunity for some of us to make up ground on runaway leader Eric Soderstrom. It didn’t happen.
Eric Soderstrom — Soderstrom is on fire this year. He chose Anthony Paolucci, who came away with a T-2 at FootJoy. Soderstrom leads with a whopping total of 155 points.
Sean Martin — Martin chose Andrew Yun, who won FootJoy three years ago. Yun came away with a T-6 this year, earning Martin 10 points. He’s in second with 110 points.
Ray McCarthy — McCarthy was expecting big things from Orlando, Fla. native Michael Hebert, but he only managed a T-14. McCarthy earned five points and has 100 on the season.
Dan Mirocha — Mirocha went with Emiliano Grillo who came away with a T-16. Mirocha is in dead last with a pretty weak total of 50 points.
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted June 14
Junior Extra: GolfweekTV was on the scene to bring you all of the highlights from the AJGA's Las Vegas Junior. Did you make the highlight reel? Check it out.
A couple of notes from Golfweek central:
• We have lowered the minimum number of events to be included in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings from six to five. We want to make it easier for more juniors to be included in the rankings, especially in this economic climate.
• The Golfweek Junior Invitational, which will be played Nov. 7-8 at Reunion Resort outside Orlando, Fla., has been recognized by the AJGA. Players who place highly in the tournament will receive the following
Players can qualify for the Golfweek Junior Invitational through the Golfweek Junior Series. The top five boys and girls in each event qualify for the Golfweek Junior Invitational. Here’s the upcoming schedule:
The first sectional qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Open was held Thursday, and three juniors were among those that advanced, including 13-year-old Cindy Feng, recent winner of the AJGA’s Thunderbird International Junior.
Seventeen-year-old Katherine Perry, of Cary, N.C., was the medalist at 3-under 141 at Carolina Trace Country Club in Sanford, N.C. Ashleigh Albrecht, of Murrieta Valley, Calif., also advanced.
Feng is No. 45 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and the top player in the Class of 2014. Albrecht, a recent high-school graduate, has signed to play for Kentucky next season.
– Sean Martin Posted June 12
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – U.S. Junior Amateur champion Cameron Peck proved he can play with the pros, carding a 1-under 69 in the first round of the St. Jude Classic.
“I dropped a couple long putts,” he said in the understatement of the day.
Peck dialed long distance from 26, 37 and 46 feet for three of his five birdies. He needed only 23 putts total. A double bogey on the fifth hole and two other bogeys kept him from being among the leaders.
“I could’ve had a really good round today,” he said. “Under par in a pro tournament, I’m excited.” – Adam Schupak Posted June 11
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Cameron Peck’s smile is so wide his cheeks must ache. He’s been smiling a lot since he arrived in Tennessee last Friday, one day after attending his final day of high school. And playing a lot of golf too – he’s already logged 90 holes this week before he tees off June 11 in the St. Jude Classic (oh, to be 17 again).
Peck played 36 holes Saturday and Sunday to learn the golf courses he would play at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier Monday and the TPC Southwind, where he makes his second Tour start (he missed the cut last fall at the Wyndham Championship).
A frown appeared on Peck’s face ever so briefly when he discussed failing to advance to the U.S. Open at the 36-hole qualifier. But the smile returned as he recounted the experience of playing in it with Tour pros Paul Goydos and Aron Price. And his smile grew wider when he talked about hitting balls next to Bob Tway and Tom Pernice Jr. after kicking back with a routine 18 holes Tuesday.
“It’s just so cool to be around all these guys I watch on TV all the time and I’m finally out here and it’s like I can’t believe I’m out here.”
Peck also had dinner with James Oh and lunch with Jason Gore.
“He’s my favorite player I’ve met,” Peck said.
When we parted, I told him in jest to try to smile a little and have some fun.
“I already am,” he said.
– Adam Schupak Posted June 10
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF: FootJoy Invitational
A message to all of you fantasy junior golfers out there: We here at Golfweek owe you an apology. Thunderbird is one of the biggest weeks of the year for junior golf, and we dropped the ball. Big time. We failed to execute our fantasy golf duties, and left all of you hanging. Simply put, there's no excuse for it. And it won't happen again.
But here we are with some solid (or are they?) picks for this week's FootJoy Boys Invitational. It's tough choosing from one of the strongest boys' fields of the year, but we gave it our best shot. Check it out:
Eric Soderstrom (125) — Anthony Paolucci. Finished strong with consecutive 69s last year at FootJoy and has been steady for a while now. I’d be surprised to see him fall out of the top 10.
Sean Martin (100) — Andrew Yun. It’s hard to believe it's been three years since Yun won FootJoy, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Peter Uihlein by a shot. FootJoy may be at a different site this year, but I see Yun getting good Greensboro vibes.
Ray McCarthy (95) — Gotta go with my hometown boy here. Orlando, Fla.’s, Michael Hebert was 14-under at Thunderbird a few weeks ago and finished second. Yeah, that’s right. Second. Hebert also had a T-2 at the Mizuno Junior in April and a solid T-25 at FootJoy last year. Good chance he’s with me in rooting for the Orlando Magic this week. So I’m rooting for him. You da man, Mike.
Dan Mirocha (45) — Emiliano Grillo shot a final-round 65 at Thunderbird and finished T-5 at the HP Boys earlier this year. His breakout season will continue at FootJoy.
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.) – Golfweek staff Posted June 7
Looking for two players who can come out of nowhere at the FootJoy Boys Invitational?
Check out Jim Liu and Richard Werenski. These two have quietly dominated the IJGT, and there is no reason they can't steal the show at FootJoy.
Golfweek has the full stories on these two. Click here to read about Liu and here for Werenski.
– Ray McCarthy Posted June 4
Jeffrey Kang, No. 10 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, is primed for the Thunderbird Invitational. Get the inside scoop on his bid to win one of the strongest events of the year.
– Ray McCarthy Posted May 21
Courtney Ellenbogen had been awarded a sponsor exemption into this week’s Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill in her home state of Virginia. But Ellenbogen withdrew from the event last week because of a prolonged slump.
“She doesn’t feel her game is LPGA-worthy at this moment in time,” Ellenbogen’s father, Bill, told the Roanoke (Va.) Daily Press April 27. “But as in life, in sports there are setbacks.”
Ellenbogen, who has signed a letter of intent to play for Duke next season, won the ‘07 Rolex Tournament of Champions, but has struggled lately. She finished last by four strokes in the stroke-play portion of the Polo last November after shooting 84-85. She finished 18th out of 24 players two weeks ago in the AJGA Cliffs Championship with rounds of 81-77, 21 shots behind winner Stephanie Meadow.
– Sean Martin Posted May 7
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF UPDATE
Big week for three of the four Golfweek staffers who picked Alexis Thompson, who won the Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions. Dan Mirocha? Not so much.
Quick note: An emergency meeting of Junior Fantasy Parliament was called Monday when it was discovered Sean Martin picked Jordan Spieth for the second week in a row. Junior Fantasy Golf Rule 7a-4 prohibits a fantasy player from selecting a golfer two weeks in a row. Martin has been fined and will not be able to select Spieth for three weeks. Onto the scores . . .
Eric Soderstrom (Andrew Yun, Thompson) earned 70 to go to 125. Sean Martin (Spieth, Thompson) earned 70 to go to 100. Ray McCarthy (Spieth, Thompson) earned 70 to go to 95. Dan Mirocha (Spieth, Stephanie Meadow) earned 25 to go to 45.
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted April 13
Stephanie Meadow, who won the 2008 Golfweek Junior Invitational, has verbally committed to Alabama for the fall of 2010, the Island Packet reported Thursday.
Meadow, of Northern Ireland, is a junior at the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head Island, S.C. She is No. 46 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
The Crimson Tide are No. 8 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
Earlier this month, Cory Whitsett, Golfweek’s second-ranked junior, and seventh-ranked Bobby Wyatt, committed to play for the men’s team at Alabama for 2010.
– Dan Mirocha Posted April 9
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
It's been a little while, but the Golfweek crew is back and doing what they do best (well, some of us). That's right, we're weighing in with our Junior Fantasy picks. But there's going to be a slight twist for the first big week of action in junior golf in 2009. Instead of picking a boy and girl for just one event, we're going to pick one boy and one girl out of three events: the Mizuno Juniorat Innisbrook, the Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions, and the Heather Farr Classic.
But first, the standings so far this year:
Eric Soderstrom is leading with 55 total. Sean Martin is in second with 30 points. Ray McCarthy has 25 total. Dan Mirocha is in dead last with 20.
Now, the picks:
Dan Mirocha:Jordan Spieth (Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions) – C'mon, I just wrote about the guy. How can I not pick him? Plus, he won here last year. I'm not dumb. Stephanie Meadow (Mizuno Junior at Innisbrook) – She's coming off a tie for fourth at the Whitworth. Plus, her fellow countryman Padraig Harrington is going for three majors in a row at the Masters this weekend. Soderstrom is usually the one to go nuts for the Irish. This week, it's me.
Ray McCarthy: Yikes, I have to pick one player out of three fields? Alright, I'm going with Jordan Spieth (Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions). Mirocha is on to something (for once) with Spieth, and there's just no way this kid is losing in Texas. Really going out on a limb here, but let's go with Alexis Thompson (Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions). The defending champ is coming off an unreal performance at the Kraft Nabisco where she tied for low-amateur honors. She's a lock.
Sean Martin: The Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions has been won by a Texan 10 of the past 11 years. Jordan Spieth will keep that tradition going. You have to go with Alexis Thompson among the girls. She showed she can compete with the big girls, so a junior event might be cake.
Eric Soderstrom:Andrew Yun. After his T-5 at HP, I'm calling comeback. Alexis Thompson. Almost not fair after her finish at Kraft, but can't pass up the points.
The rules:
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5
(20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for
anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule:
You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted April 6
The first Golfweek Junior Series event is just a couple weeks away. And like last year’s Junior Invitational in Pinehurst, N.C., I’ll be on site again with a video camera ready to put together a couple pieces for the Web site.
If you’re in the field at Saddlebrook, stop over and say hi. Better yet, make sure to stiff an approach iron or roll in a long putt when our trusty photog Jared is on the course Sunday morning.
– Dan Mirocha Posted April 1
ORLANDO, Fla. — Winning the AJGA's Annika Invitational wasn't enough for Simin Feng.
Feng, who won Annika Sorenstam's event in January, was hard at work on the range at Bay Hill. Despite the fact everyone and their mother followed Tiger Woods around the Orlando, Fla., track in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Feng quietly beat balls on the range.
Like Hogan said, you've got to dig it out of the dirt.
– Ray McCarthy Posted March 28
GOLFWEEK STAFF
Golfweek’s junior golf platform is expanding.
For the first time, Golfweek will conduct five juniors events in 2009. The Golfweek Junior Series hosted by Lance Ringler, will start April 18-19 at Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa, Fla., and will conclude with the Golfweek Junior Invitational Nov. 7-8 in Orlando, Fla.
The Golfweek Junior Series will be 36-hole events, and will serve as qualifiers for the Golfweek Junior Invitational. The top 5 boys and girls, including ties, in each event will be given an exemption into the Golfweek Junior Invitational.
Invitations for the Golfweek Junior will also be sent to the top 200 boys and top 200 girls as of Sept. 7.
The
four events that make up the Junior Series will be open to all juniors
under the age of 18. The events will be filled on a first-come
first-serve basis, and will be limited to 84 players.
All five events in the Golfweek Junior Series will be ranked by Golfweek.
– Golfweek Staff Posted March 17 Two of the top 15 players in the Class of 2010 shared their commitments with Golfweek today. Bobby Wyatt, No. 2 in the class, is staying in-state to go to Alabama, while 12th-ranked Michael Cromie is headed to Georgia.
– Sean Martin Posted March 6 Apparently, Alexis Thompson – the top-ranked girl in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings – received a sponsor exemption to play in this week's Honda Classic. Oh wait, check that: Thompson was actually following her oldest brother, Nicholas, a member of the Tour. Alexis was shown briefly on Golf Channel's telecast. Her brother was 1-under through 15 holes, three shots off Sergio Garcia's lead at the time.
– Ray McCarthy Posted March 5
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF UPDATE
Tough to tell if it was more intense between the players at Carlton Woods or the Web guys at Golfweek Headquarters who were hitting refresh on live scoring. Either way, Eric Soderstrom came away as the week’s big winner thanks to Patrick Winther’s playoff victory.
Eric Soderstrom (Patrick Winther, 1) earned 50 points and is leading with 55 total. Sean Martin (Jordan Spieth, 2) went from last to second with 30 points. Ray McCarthy (Emiliano Grillo, T-5) earned 20 points and has 25 total. Dan Mirocha (Cory Whitsett, T-8) went from first to worst after getting just 10 points. He has 20 total.
– Golfweek staff Posted Feb. 16 JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
Dan Mirocha (10):Cory Whitsett. Gotta go with the Texas kid in Texas, who will eak out a victory over two other Texans – Jordan Spieth and Anthony Paolucci. That enough Texas talk for you?
Eric Soderstrom (5):Patrick Winther. He was playing so well at the Polo, he probably would have won with three clubs. I say at least a top-3 finish this week.
Ray McCarthy (5): It’s too easy to go Texas here... Spieth, Whitsett, Paolucci, the list is seemingly endless. I’m going even deeper South than Texas. That’s right, Argentina. Emiliano Grillo is my guy this week. Kid went 64-71 to co-medal at Polo but was knocked out in the first round. He also endured a 5-and-4 drubbing from Cameron Peck at the U.S. Junior. Match play ain’t his thang, but this is stroke play, and Grillo is the guy to beat this week.
Sean Martin (0):Jordan Spieth.
For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5
(20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for
anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule:
You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Here’s a name to watch from – New Zealand’s Cecilia Cho. The 14-year-old finished 14th this week in the New Zealand Women’s Open to finish as the low amateur and low Kiwi. She was on pace for a top-3 finish until a back-nine 43. Still not bad for a teenager. Cho finished runner-up earlier this year in the New Zealand U-23 Championship.
Alexis Thompson beat a field of pros and amateurs to win the second Ginn Open Got Game Challenge in late December and earn a spot in the Ginn Open April 16-19. Thompson finished two shots ahead of fellow juniors Erica Popson of Davenport, Fla., and Ginger Howard of Bradenton, Fla.
Davenport is No. 41 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, while Howard is No. 27 and the second-ranked player in the Class of 2012.
The Ginn Open would have been Thompson’s first regular LPGA event. She has played in the past two U.S. Women’s Opens.
Thompson also is expected to earn an invitation to the Kraft Nabisco Championship as the No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
As reported earlier in this space, Thompson also is going to up her amateur schedule this year, probably with an eye on the 2010 Curtis Cup. Thompson will play in the Women’s Western, the Trans-National and the North & South, according to the Miami Herald.
Thompson has already had a succcessful year on the amateur front, finishing runner-up to Candace Schepperle at the Dixie Amateur, and dominating ‘The Sally’ and the Jones/Doherty Amateur.
– Sean Martin Posted Jan. 28
Just when you thought you were impressed to see 13-year-old Simin Feng win the AJGA’s Annika Invitational in a field that included players 5 years her senior, don’t forget that the 36-hole leader was even younger.
Cindy Feng (also living in Orlando, Fla., by way of China, but of no relation to Simin) carded a 4-over 76 in the final round Monday to finish T-4, proving she is definitely capable of playing with girls much older than her.
She is No. 60 in Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and No. 1 in the Class of 2014. In 2008 she won 6 of the 7 AJGA tournaments she played in, while managing a T-9 in the one she didn’t win. Not too shabby for a 12-year-old.
– Will Perry Posted Jan. 23
GOLFWEEK JUNIOR FANTASY UPDATE
Dan Mirocha (Victoria Tanco) earned 10 points. Ray McCarthy (Kristina Wong) earned 5 points. Eric Soderstrom (Kristina Wong) earned 5 points. Sean Martin (Amelia Lewis) was shut out.
– Golfweek staff Posted Jan. 21
REUNION, Fla. – Victoria Tanco’s hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole was the highlight of the final round at the inaugural Annika Invitational.
Tanco’s 9-iron tee shot landed a few feet short of the pin before sliding into the hole for an ace.
“I was really excited because I just made birdie on No. 2, so I was 3 under,” said Tanco, No. 2 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
It was her first hole-in-one in a tournament. A quick start gave her hope of surging up the leaderboard, however a triple-bogey two holes later set her back.
After her fifth-hole blunder, she made two more birdies to finish the day at 1 under par. After starting the day in 16th place, she finished the tournament T-7 at 8-over 224.
– Will Perry Posted Jan. 19
Tyler Gann won the Texas Legends Junior Tour’s D.A. Weibring Kickoff Classic by two shots today with rounds of 68-78. Gann had room to slip a little in the final round after starting the day with a seven-shot lead.
Gann may not have played much national junior golf, but he’s definitely a name to watch when he starts college this fall at Wichita State, a place that has developed some top-notch talent in the past couple years (Ryan Spears, Dustin Garza).
Gann, from Houston, finished T-25 in stroke play at the 2008 U.S. Amateur to advance to match play.
– Sean Martin Posted Jan. 18
Junior Extra fantasy golf kicks of its third season with the AJGA’s Annika Invitational. For those keeping score at home, Dan Mirocha and Eric Soderstrom were co-medalists in 2007, and Eric Soderstrom won last season. Anonymous sources report that Sean Martin and Ray McCarthy have been seen studying late into the night since mid-December, vowing to have a breakout 2009 season.
Onto the picks . . .
Ray McCarthy: Kristina Wong – It’s only a matter of time before Wong wins her first invitational. In 2008, Wong had two top 10s in invitationals, including a runner-up finish at The Ping Invitational. More importantly, Wong is coming off a fourth-place finish against a strong field at the Junior Orange Bowl. If not for a final-round 75, she could have contended for the title.
Eric Soderstrom: Kristina Wong – A lot of new names here, so I’m going to be unexciting and pick Wong, one of the strongest players in the field. She also fared well in stroke-play qualifying at the Polo, so she should be pretty comfortable this week.
Dan Mirocha: Victoria Tanco – After missing the match-play cut at Polo on this same course two months ago, you’ve got to think the ultra-competitive Tanco has extra motivation to make a statement this weekend. She’s too talented and dedicated not to.
Sean Martin: Amelia Lewis – I’m going to go with the hot hand here. She’s finished second in her past two tournaments, the Doral-Publix Junior and Harder Hall Invitational. She’ll break through this week. For stroke play: win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek Staff Posted Jan. 16
This time of year is a slow one for junior golf, but several players have used the past months to fill their trophy cases and establish themselves as players to watch in 2009. Here’s a look at four:
• Jim Liu Smithtown, N.Y. Golfweek/Titleist Junior Ranking: 131 (No. 1 in Class of 2013) Liu, 13, shot 6-under 209 to win the IJGT’s stop at Sea Pines Resort by 13 shots over Richard Werenski, Golfweek’s 84th-ranked junior. The victory was Liu’s fifth in 10 IJGT starts this season; he’s finished outside the top three just once.
• Patrick Rodgers Avon, Ind. Golfweek/Titleist Junior Ranking: 33 (No. 6 in Class of 2011) Rodgers, 16, has won four of six FCWT starts this season, and finished no worse than third. He was second in his most recent start Jan. 3-4 at the FCWT/Golfweek Invitational at TPC Sawgrass.
• Romain Wattel France Wattel came to the States from his native France to play in two tournaments in December, finishing T-3 at the Dixie Amateur and T-4 at the Junior Orange Bowl. Wattel played in the European Tour’s French Open last June, shooting 75-73 to miss the cut by four shots, and represented Continental Europe at the 2008 Jacques Lelise trophy. The Lelise is a junior team competition between Continental Europe and Great Britain & Ireland.
• Amelia Lewis Jacksonville, Fla. Golfweek/Titleist Junior Ranking: 43 Lewis finished second in two prestigious events – the Doral-Publix Junior Classic and the Harder Hall Invitational, one of the country’s top amateur events. Lewis has signed a letter of intent to play this fall for Central Florida, but may not make it to campus. She earned status on the Duramed Futures Tour last November and plans to use it as soon as she recovers from surgery on her left hand.
“You never know,” she told Golfweek’s Beth Ann Baldry after the Harder Hall.
– Will Perry Posted Jan. 16 Alexis Thompson’s schedule for 2009 is going to include more amateur tournaments. The 13-year-old, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, is showing she’s more than ready to play against older competition.
Thompson has a six-shot lead halfway through ‘The Sally,’ after rounds of 68-70 at Oceanside Country Club in Ormond Beach, Fla. – Sean Martin Posted Jan. 16
Richard Werenski, No. 78 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, has given a verbal commitment to Georgia Tech. Werenski, of South Hadley, Mass., is No. 21 in the Class of 2010.
Werenski finished sixth in stroke play at the 2008 U.S. Junior and advanced to the second round of match play. He has four victories in three season on the IJGT and finished 11th or better in three of five AJGA starts this season.
Paige Spiranac is closing in on a bit of FCWT history. Spiranac, 15, won the Wigwam Challenge by eight shots this past weekend for her fifth victory in six starts this season. She’s one off the record held by Ji Young Oh, who went six-for-six in 2005-06. Oh is now on the LPGA tour, winning last year’s State Farm Classic.
Spiranac’s average margin of victory has been 7.6 shots, including a 22-shot romp Dec. 20-21 at the Grayhawk Raptor Challenge.
– Sean Martin Posted Jan. 12
Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo should be totally immersed in American culture by the time he finishes his current whirlwind tour of U.S. colleges. The highly sought after Portuguese amateur, one of the highest-rated amateurs in European golf, is reportedly on a tour of 10 American colleges.
Figueiredo finished T-8 at the Doral-Publix Junior and T-4 at the Junior Orange Bowl before embarking on his journey. My source tells me that Texas, Duke, Stanford, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, ETSU and Washington are among the colleges vying for the 17-year-old.
Figueiredo would be a great addition to any program, especially after the talented youngster made his presence known in Europe last season. Victory in the Portuguese Amateur Championship may have been predictable, but his triumph in the Irish Amateur Stroke Play Championship made a lot of people sit up and take notice. He then made the quarterfinals of the British Amateur Championship, where he lost out to eventual champion Reinier Saxton.
Figueiredo also played in three European Tour events last year, finishing T-27 at the Madeira Islands Open.
Remember the name – Figueiredo. He has a big future in front of him. I say he will go on to become Portugal’s best-ever golfer. He should also light up college golf, too, no matter where he settles.
– Alistair Tait Posted Jan. 7
Austin Cody made a verbal commitment to the Duke men’s golf program while O.D. Vincent was in charge. Good news for the next coach.
In an e-mail Cody sent me he said: “I know there are a lot of speculations circulating about my verbal commitment to Duke. At this point, my commitment stands.”
Cody, who is from North Charleston, S.C., is ranked No. 9 in the class of 2010.
- Lance Ringler Posted Dec. 16
FINAL STANDINGS JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
The second year of Junior Fantasy Golf came to end Friday at the Polo Golf Junior Classic.
The winner: Eric Soderstrom.
After tying with Dan Mirocha at the end of the points race last year, Soderstrom just nudged past Mirocha by 10 points this year. Newcomer Ray McCarthy finished third, a solid, yet surprising result for someone so versed in the junior game. And for the second year in a row, Sean Martin finished fourth. At last word, he was locked inside Golfweek Headquarters preparing for the 2009 season.
Results from the Polo Golf Junior Classic:
Eric Soderstrom (Jordan Spieth, Victoria Tanco) earned 5 points for a total of 270.
Dan Mirocha (Jordan Spieth, Alexis Thompson) earned 10 points a 260 total.
Ray McCarthy (Byeong-Hun An, Tanco) was shut out, but still finished third with 245 points.
Sean Martin (Pontus Widegren, Tiffany Lua) earned five points and finished with 240.
Point system: For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), second round (5 points).
– Golfweek staff Posted Nov. 28
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
Eric Soderstrom (265 points): Jordan Spieth and Victoria Tanco.
In my run for No. 1, I'm going with both No. 1s. Of course, this is an especially interesting move, considering it would mean back-to-back AJGA invitationals for both players – however, I was also the only one at Golfweek to pick Paddy Harrington at both the British Open and PGA Championship. (I mention that only to drive Sean Martin crazy.) Though I have a feeling I may regret not picking Pontus Widegren.
Dan Mirocha (250):Jordan Spieth. The No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings ends 2008 with a victory and takes an early lead in the 2009 Rolex Player of the Year race.
Alexis Thompson. She already played pretty well in another big match-play event earlier this summer.
Ray McCarthy (245): Byeong-Hun An. An has quietly crept to No. 9 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings without an AJGA win in 2008. He has two top-5 finishes in AJGA invitationals this year, including a T-3 at the Ping Invitational. It’s all about consistency for An. He went 72-73-71-81 at HP for a T-26 and went 76-77-70 at Ping. He just has to get through stroke play, and An can take advantage of the leeway that match play will give him at Polo. Mistakes won’t be as costly, and he can focus on playing his opponent.
This is definitely the toughest pick I’ve had to make all year. Every match-play giant has converged on Polo this week including Alexis Thompson, U.S. Girls’ champion, Karen Chung, U.S. Girls’ runner-up, Erynne Lee, semifinalist at the U.S. Women’s Am, Kristen Park, 2007 U.S. Girls’ champ... the list goes on.
That being said, I’m going with Victoria Tanco. Call me a front runner, but the top-ranked player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings is hardly a favorite at Polo. Along with two AJGA invitational wins already in 2008, Tanco learned invaluable lessons when she lost to Alexis Thompson in the Round of 16 at the U.S. Girls’. Tanco’s conservative style didn’t work against bomb-and-gouge Thompson. If Tanco can get past stroke play, she’ll go far in match play.
Sean Martin (235): Pontus Widegren. He has karma on his side – he received the AJGA’s Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award Sunday evening – as he tries to become the second consecutive Swede to win this event.
Widegren, who signed a letter of intent with UCLA, has played sparingly in the U.S., but when he does, he makes the trans-Atlantic trip from Sweden worthwhile. Widegren has played in the Thunderbird and Junior Players the past two years, and never finished worse than 12th against two of the strongest fields in the world.
Tiffany Lua. Maybe it’s my Southern California bias, but I’m going to pick another future UCLA Bruin on the girls’ side. Lua, No. 6 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, hasn’t finished worse than seventh in four AJGA starts this year.
– Golfweek staff Posted Nov. 24
REUNION, Fla. – The AJGA put on a nice show Sunday night at its annual awards banquet. Especially impressive were the year-in-review and sportsmanship award videos. Top notch production all around.
However, it was the speeches given by the night’s Big 3 that stole the show.
• Pontus Widegren, who won the Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award, gave a heart-felt recount of his first time coming to the U.S. from his native Sweden to play at the Thunderbird.
• Victoria Tanco, all of 14 years, and already the Rolex Girls Player of the Year, delivered a very strong speech in which she promised to “double her efforts” to become a better golfer. Wow.
• Cameron Peck, the Boys Player of the Year, normally reserved and polite in group settings, took a page from Will Ferrell’s ESPY speech by thanking “his sponsors” which included Little Debbie Snack Cakes, B.F. Goodrich Tires, Tab cola and Ticonderoga pencils (Nos. 2 and 3, but not No. 4). The entire ballroom was rolling with laughter.
– Dan Mirocha Posted Nov. 23
Madison Pressel will buck family tradition when it comes to choosing a college. The 17-year-old comes from a long line of Michigan grads but will sign a National Letter of Intent Nov. 12 with the Longhorns.
“I’ve never even seen snow,” said Pressel, who grew up in South Florida and is the younger sister of LPGA pro Morgan Pressel. She took visits to Michigan, Texas and Florida State.
Pressel, currently ranked No. 34 by Golfweek, chose Texas because she wanted a strong mix of golf and academics. The Spanish River High School senior plans to pursue a business degree. The McCombs School of Business offers a BBA that is currently ranked sixth by U.S. News and World Report.
The Longhorns ended the fall season at No. 41.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted Nov. 11
The Women’s Western Golf Association Junior Championship was first played in 1920 and for many years it was considered one of the premier events on the junior schedule. With the explosion of junior golf in the last couple of decades many new events and formats have pushed this event further down the list.
However, a change to next year’s format might help this event get some of its glamour back.
In year’s past contestants would play a single 18-hole qualifier to determine the top 32 for match play. We all know that just about anything can happen over the course of 18 holes. But, new this year at the Hope Valley Country Club if Durham, N.C., the committee has decided to use a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying format.
Some of the past champions of this tournament include: Nancy Lopez, Cristie Kerr, Grace Park, JoAnne Gunderson, Carol Mann, Pat Lesser, Mary Budke, Pearl Sinn, Candie Kung and Candy Hannemann. Many of the top names in recent years have not played in this event.
This change along with the great venues this tournament is often played can only help to attract some the nation’s top juniors again.
– Lance Ringler Posted Nov. 11
Kimberly Kim helped Xavier College Prep win its 11th consecutive 5A state championship by 28 strokes. But she lost the individual race to a teammate who has lived in the U.S. all of four months.
Katerina Ruzickova shot 71-71 to beat teammate Kaira Martin by one stroke and Kim by two at Aguila Golf Course in Laveen, Ariz. Ruzickova, a junior, came to the U.S. from the Czech Republic. Head coach Sister Lynn Winsor already is singing her praises to college coaches.
No word yet on Kim’s college plans.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted Nov. 10
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF UPDATE:
Eric Soderstrom (Crawford Reeves, Courtney Ellenbogen) scored 25 points. Total: 265.
Dan Mirocha (Logan Harrell, Karen Chung) moves into second after picking up 30 points. Total: 250.
Ray McCarthy (Logan Harrell, Karen Chung) stays in the hunt with 30 points. Total: 245.
Sean Martin (Chase Parker, Courtney Ellenbogen) went from second to last after getting only 5 points. Total: 235.
Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Note: One event remains – Polo Golf Junior Classic. Last year’s results: Soderstrom and Mirocha tied.
– Golfweek staff Posted Oct. 28
PINEHURST, N.C. – After a couple damp and cloudy days, we’ve got bright sunshine for the final round of the Golfweek Junior Invitational.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see some low numbers today. Stay tuned. . .
– Dan Mirocha Posted Oct. 26
PINEHURST, N.C. – Welcome to college golf!
Well, not yet, but today’s experience for the players at the Golfweek Junior Invitational is a good example of golf at the next level. A little rain, some sunshine and 36 holes stretched out from dusk to dawn. There’s no time to sit and eat – get your box lunch and go.
Several college coaches were seen: Virginia, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Duke and Central Florida.
One coach made said he enjoyed seeing the players compete under the 36-hole format to see how they handled it. Another coach said he told a recruit prior to the trip that if he did not want to get up at 5 a.m., play golf all day and get back to his room at 9 p.m. a few times a year, he better do something else.
Hopefully the Golfweek event will give these juniors an experience that will benefit them in the future.
- Lance Ringler Posted Oct. 25
PINEHURST, N.C. – The first round is complete. Check out our online scoring page to see who’s leading the tournament.
– Dan Mirocha Posted Oct. 25
PINEHURST, N.C. – The inclement weather that was predicted to make an apperance on Day 1 at the Golfweek Junior appears to be staying away. Players are on the course and we are expecting to see some good scores today.
The field this year may not be loaded with heavyweight names, but that does’t mean the list of players is any less. All but 18 players in the boys’ field are ranked inside the top 200 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. For the girls, there are 11 players in the top 100.
- Lance Ringler Posted Oct. 25
PINEHURST, N.C. – Been running around enjoying my time here at the Golfweek Junior. . . and the tournament hasn’t even started yet.
We shot a fun video today with the girls. This afternoon, on our way to the boys’ course – which is 10 miles away from where the girls are – it started pouring rain. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to put together a video with the guys.
Looking forward to spending more time with them, though. According to the information sheets the kids filled out, Carson Weinand mixes his own techno songs, Jordan Skleys plans to coach college basketball after college, and Bo Andrews is a “really good singer.”
Oh . . . and at age 2, Blaine Woodruff “played my first nine holes and was potty-trained the same week.”
Looking forward to getting to the bottom of that (no pun intended) this weekend.
– Dan Mirocha Posted Oct. 24
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF
Eric Soderstrom (240 points): Eric is currently in Ireland, so we’ll give him the two highest-ranked players in the field – Crawford Reeves and Courtney Ellenbogen.
Sean Martin (230): Chase Parker. At No. 35 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, Parker is one of the highest-ranked players in the field.
Courtney Ellenbogen. She’s due at this event after two runner-up finishes.
Dan Mirocha (220):Logan Harrell is coming off a nice finish at the Junior Players and may have more motivation that anyone else in the field to hoist the coveted Golfweek Junior Invitational trophy this year after finishing a shot out of a playoff at last year's event.
Karen Chung had a great summer and played great at Ping. Her game should fit Little River Golf Club like a glove. Ray McCarthy (215): Logan Harrell. Harrell has good numbers in him, but the problem this season is that he’s had a couple bad numbers inside him, too. He went 72-80-71 at the Junior Players for a T-20. A 73-75-82-69 week at HP netted him a T-28. If he can iron out a solid, consistent week, then Harrell will be near the top. I’m banking on one thing, though. Harrell is a North Carolina boy, and local knowledge is something I’m a big believer of.
Yikes. Strong field. Tough choices, here. I’ve got to go with what I know. Karen Chung can’t hit it outside of her shadow, but this girl can aim at your shadow and hit it if you were standing 200 yards down the fairway. She’s straight and doesn’t miss, and I watched her go toe-to-toe with Alexis Thompson (one of the longest girls in junior golf) in the finals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior. A fourth-place finish at the Ping Invitational a couple weeks ago will fuel her.
PINEHURST, N.C. – We’re already rockin’ and rollin’ at the Golfweek Junior.
Keep up with the Golfweek Junior this year with online scoring.
The event starts Saturday with 36 holes, and concludes Sunday with 18 holes.
Lance Ringler and I will be on hand to help run and cover the event.
– Dan Mirocha Posted Oct. 22
The winners at the AJGA’s Ping Inviational just happened to be the current No. 1s in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Victoria Tanco took her top ranking with her into the event and proved she was worthy of being called the best in the girls game.
However, on the boys side Jordan Spieth won the event and moved ahead of Cory Whitsett.
- Lance Ringler Posted Oct. 23
I met Seung-Yul Noh at the 2006 U.S. Junior, where he smoked everyone in stroke-play qualifying, then waltzed through the early rounds of match play, eventually losing to champ Cory Whitsett in the Round of 16.
Noh turned pro last year and is now a winner on the Asian Tour. The 17-year-old won the Midea China Classic today, becoming the third-youngest winner on tour.
His prize: $79,250.
Not too shabby.
– Dan Mirocha Posted Oct. 19
JUNIOR FANTASY GOLF UPDATE: Eric Soderstrom (Cory Whitsett, Tiffany Lua) moves into first place with a 50-point performance. It’s about time Soderstrom showed up. Total: 240.
Sean Martin (Evan Beck, Tiffany Lua) notched 20 points. Total: 230.
Dan Mirocha (Evan Beck, Jessica Korda) picked up 20 points. Total: 220. Ray McCarthy (Patrick Cantlay, Jennifer Johnson) went from second to last after earning just 10 points. Total: 215. Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted Oct. 19
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF
The race for Junior Fantasy World Champion is heating up as the season nears its end, and with The Ping Invitational beginning tomorrow, Golfweek staffers need to be precise with their picks to make a run at the title. It’s been a while since we picked for the Junior Players, and rust could play a factor.
• • • Sean Martin (210):Evan Beck. Let’s see. After finishing runner-up at the U.S. Junior, Beck has gone 2-for-2 in AJGA events (including his Junior Players victory) and was T-3 in the Virginia Junior. Pretty hard to bet against that.
Tiffany Lua. Lua was T-3 at last year’s Ping, and has finished runner-up in her past two invitational starts. Lua could’ve been in Australia this week – she was second alternate for the U.S. team for the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. Instead, she’s in Oklahoma, where I’m betting she’ll pick up her first invitational victory.
• • •
Ray McCarthy (205):Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay had a chance at the Junior Players, but a second-round 79 in tough conditions derailed him. He still finished T-6. Big numbers are a rarity for the Californian, and steadiness is a must on a tough Karsten Creek course. If he’s not winning, Cantlay will be up there.
Jennifer Johnson. The 10th-ranked player in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings has something not many players in the Ping field will have: a positive experience from last year to draw upon. Johnson finished T-3, and that experience is invaluable on a tough golf course. Like Cantlay, Johnson is unflappable and steady. Look for her to finish high.
• • •
Dan Mirocha (200):Evan Beck. The kid finished runner-up at the U.S. Junior and won the Junior Players. He’s not an underdog anymore.
Jessica Korda. She took some time off after her fantastic performance at the U.S. Women’s Open and went back to the Czech Republic to hang with family and friends. Should be rested and ready to rock at Karsten Creek.
• • •
Eric Soderstrom (190):Cory Whitsett. I need a big week. I know he can help. (No pressure, C-Dub.)
Tiffany Lua. Solid finishes all year, and played well at Karsten Creek last year. Would be surprised if she fell out of top 5.
– Golfweek staff Posted Oct. 9
A couple notes from Golfweek headquarters in Orlando:
Some of the bigger names in the field include Canon Cup participant Crawford Reeves; Zhong Yang Fu, who shot 61 in the final round of this year’s Western Junior; Zeyu He, the 2007 Southern Junior champ; Clark Palmer, No. 43 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings; 2007 Rolex Tournament of Champions winner Courtney Ellenbogen; U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up Karen Chung; Junior Ryder Cup team member/Junior PGA runner-up Sarah Brown; Erica Popson, No. 35 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Tyler McCumber, son of former PGA Tour player Mark, has made a verbal commitment to Florida, giving the Gators the No. 10-12 players in the Class of 2009 (along with No. 10 Tommy Chung Hao Mou and No. 12 Phillip Choi).
Also, Zeyu He, the 2007 Southern Junior champ, has made a verbal to UC Irvine.
Also, Denmark’s Patrick Winther has been featured in the Golf Channel series “School of Golf,” which takes place at the International Junior Golf Academy. Winther now attends the new Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
– Sean Martin Posted Sept. 18
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF UPDATE
Results after the Junior Players Championship:
Sean Martin (Pedro Figueiredo) jumped ahead with 20 points and has a total of 210.
Ray McCarthy (Anthony Paolucci) notched 10 points and holds solo second at 205.
Dan Mirocha (Cory Whitsett) went from a tie for first to third after earning just five points for the second week in a row. He has 200 points. Eric Soderstrom (Pontus Widegren) took home 30 points for the second consecutive week and moved to 190 for the year.
Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points),
top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside
the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the
same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted Sept. 1
The Golfweek staff weighs in with their Junior Players picks:
Dan Mirocha (195): After being defeated in the first round at the U.S. Junior, Cory Whitsett specifically told me to pick him for the Junior Players. I’m just following instructions.
Ray McCarthy (195):Anthony Paolucci. He was burned at the U.S. Amateur – getting knocked out of a 26-player-for-2-spots playoff to reach match play – and will be looking for vindication at the Junior Players. The winner at the Junior PGA in a playoff with fellow Dallas-native Jordan Spieth, Paolucci could be the hottest player in the field other than U.S. Junior champ Cameron Peck. Paolucci will have to keep it straight on a brutally hard Sawgrass course.
Sean Martin (190):Pedro Figueiredo. Player of the year favorites Cameron Peck and Cory Whitsett are paired together for the first round of the Junior Players. While most of the attention will be on them, I’m picking the third member of their threesome – Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo.
Figueiredo is No. 35 in the Golfweek/Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking, and winner of this year’s British Boys, Irish Amateur and Portuguese International Amateur. He also finished T-27 in a European Tour event. Don’t be surprised if he adds the Junior Players to that resume.
Eric Soderstrom (160):Pontus Widegren. I picked him to win AJGA player of the year, so he has to win this event to even have a chance.
– Golfweek staff Posted Aug. 28
PORTLAND, Ore. – Met a family of three from Boise, Idaho, on the first
hole this morning at the Safeway Classic. They volunteered at the 2005
U.S. Girls’ Junior at BanBury Golf Club, where their daugther takes
lessons, and were amazed at how much some of the girls had grown up.
Who could’ve predicted that three players in that field -- Morgan
Pressel, Yani Tseng and Inbee Park – would already be LPGA major
champions?
If you can’t make it to a nearby LPGA event, check out the Girls’ Junior schedule. Nice little preview.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted Aug. 22
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF UPDATE
Results after the Junior PGA Championship:
Dan Mirocha (Andrew Yun, Cassandra Blaney) earned just five points and has 195 points.
Ray McCarthy (Jordan Spieth, Erynne Lee) took home 50 points to move into a tie for first at 195.
Sean Martin (Jordan Spieth, Alexis Thompson) also earned 50 points and is 5 points off the lead at 190.
EricSoderstrom (T.J. Vogel, Alexis Thompson) took home 30 points to give him 160 for the year.
– Golfweek staff
Posted Aug. 17
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Cameron Peck won’t be the only FootJoy Invitational champion to play in the Wyndham Championship. Mark Brazil, the Wyndham tournament director, said Sunday that the FootJoy champ will be invited to this PGA Tour event every year.
“That will help build (the FootJoy) up, and I get to know the top players in the world and they get to see Sedgefield,” said Brazil, a former AJGA employee. – Sean Martin Posted Aug. 15
The Golfweek staff weighs in with their Junior PGA Championship picks:
Dan Mirocha (190):Andrew Yun. His game looked back to his 2006 form at the U.S. Junior a few weeks ago. More importantly, Yun's got the mental strength to succeed.
Cassandra Blaney. The PGA postergirl, who finished third last year, gets it done in her final Junior PGA.
Ray McCarthy (145):Jordan Spieth. As if his year wasn't good already, Spieth
reaffirmed his name in junior golf by making it to the semifinals at
U.S. Boys'. Spieth will use that momentum to run away with the Junior
PGA title.
Erynne Lee. Lee captured the hearts of those
who watched her make it to the semifinals at the U.S. Women's Amateur.
If she dials down her aggressiveness, Lee will make fewer mistakes and
capitalize on her chances. Can she make the switch from match play to
stroke play successfully? I think so.
Sean Martin (140):Jordan Spieth. Spieth is junior golf’s Stewart Cink; he’s always on the leaderboard. Spieth has finished in the top seven in all five AJGA events this year, including a victory at the AJGA Championship at Traditions where he beat player of the year front-runners Cory Whitsett and Cameron Peck. Spieth also made the semis at the U.S. Junior and won the EDS Byron Nelson Junior by nine strokes.
Alexis Thompson. Hard to pick against the U.S. Girls’ Junior champ.
Eric Soderstrom (130):T.J. Vogel. Vogel, No. 3 in the Class of 2009, recently made a verbal commitment to USC. His season is higlighted by a pair of sixth-place finishes at FootJoy and HP, both of which included solid final rounds. He adds a victory this week before heading off to the Junior Ryder Cup.
Alexis Thompson. The U.S. Girls’ Junior champ will successfully defend her title with a three-shot victory.
- Golfweek staff T.J. Vogel, of Cooper City, Fla., will cross the country to attend college. Vogel, No. 13 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings has given a verbal commitment to play for USC in 2009.
Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team member Sally Watson has made a verbal commitment to play for Stanford in 2009. Watson is No. 16 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and ranked eighth in the Class of 2009.
Watson, 16, hasn’t played since the Curtis Cup because she had surgery on her right knee. Watson, who used to play for Scotland’s junior national basketball team, suffered the injury while playing hoops.
– Sean Martin Posted Aug. 1
JUNIOR FANTASY EXTRA GOLF UPDATE
Results after U.S. Juniors:
Dan Mirocha (190) always peaks at the right time. He notched 100 points and went from worst to first by predicting both Cameron Peck’s and Alexis Thompson’s victories.
Ray McCarthy (145) got five points with Victoria Tanco’s third-round appearance.
Sean Martin (140) went scoreless with Cory Whitsett and Kimberly Kim exiting early.
Eric Soderstrom (130) also went scoreless after Cody Gribble and Kimberly Kim were bounced early.
Point system: For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points).
– Golfweek staff Posted July 28
I'm sitting down to write my story about Alexis Thompson winning the U.S. Girls' Junior. I set my iPod to shuffle, and the first song to come on is by a band called Alexisonfire.
Weird.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 27
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — If Alexis Thompson goes on to win the U.S. Girls' Junior, it will be because of the back nine at Hartford Golf Club.
Thompson, who admits she favors the back nine over the front, has used her unmatched length to dissect the back, and did so in the first 18 holes of her 36-hole final with Karen Chung.
Trailing 1 down to Chung making the turn, Thompson birdied the next three holes and five altogether on the back to finish the first 18 2 up on Chung.
Chung, who has been routinely outdriven by Thompson 50-60 yards, will have the be more aggressive on the next 18 if she hopes to catch Thompson.
If Chung doesn't find a way to stick her fairway-wood approach shots closer, Thompson will cruise the U.S. Girls' title.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 27
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Cameron Peck is a few hours away from the U.S. Junior title. He birdied three of his first six holes to created a 5-up lead over Evan Beck. After 18 holes, Peck is 6 up.
Start engraving the trophy now.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 26
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Quarterfinal play at the 60th U.S. Girls’ Junior has completed, and the upcoming afternoon semifinals are ripe with storylines.
In one of the most compelling matchups of the week, 2006 U.S. Girls’ champion Jenny Shin will face 13-year-old powerhouse Alexis Thompson.
“I was actually wanting to play Alexis,” Shin said. “She is a good player... so I’m expecting some fun.”
Shin reached the semifinals by way of a 1 up win over Lindy Duncan in a rematch of their quarterfinal match in 2006. Much like ‘06, Duncan gave Shin everything she had.
A disobedient putter had Shin 2 down through four holes, but she rebounded with five birdies in her next seven holes to eventually go 2 up. A 4-foot par putt on No. 18 gave Shin the win.
The run of stroke-play medalist Lisa McCloskey ended in the quarters with a 2-and-1 loss to Kristina Wong. McCloskey was 4 down through eight holes and never managed to rebound.
Wong will play Karen Chung in the semis. Chung managed a tough, short-sided up-and-down on No. 18 to win 1 up over Courtney Gunter, who failed to make par to extend the match.
Chung’s cousin, Stephanie Kim, fell victim to a red-hot Alexis Thompson. Despite being 2 down early in their match, Thompson hit her stride with a conceded eagle on No. 10 and took over the match.
Thompson squared the match on No. 11, and birdied Nos. 15, 16, and 17 to win, 3 and 1, over Kim.
“I think the back nine is easier, and I always play it better... I don’t know why,” Thompson said.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 26
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Met a really cool kid this morning while walking the course. Birmingham, Ala., native Patrick Harris is going into his junior year at Shades Valley High School and has been a caddie at Shoal Creek for three months. At 16 years old, Harris is the youngest caddie at Shoal Creek. He said he loops three or four times a week at $70 a bag. That money goes towards golf equipment and tournaments.
He’s attempted to qualify twice for the U.S. Junior, but has come up short both times. Friday he was simply a spectator. Last year, the qualifier was held at Shoal Creek, and of the 58-man field, Harris was the only black player.
Established in 1977, Shoal Creek admitted its first black member on the eve of the 1990 PGA Championship. Prior to the event, club founder Hall Thompson told the Birmingham Post Herald he wouldn’t be pressured into accepting a black member into his exclusive club. Since, Shoal Creek has accepted three other black members, two of which are still with the club. U.S. Junior general chairman Mike Thompson, who is the son of Hall, said the club has reached out to 10 additional black candidates, but eight have declined.
Harris played last month at the Bill Dickey Invitational and finished in the top 15. He told me his dream is to play college golf.
Hopefully we’ll see him in next year’s Junior.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 25
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Dominic Bozzelli is living under the right stars. He’ll be in the U.S. Junior Final Four this afternoon after defeating Andrew Steinhofer in 19 holes. Steinhofer, of Madison, Wis., missed a 5-footer on No. 16 that would have closed out the match, then three-putted 18 to send the match to extra holes. Bozzelli got up and down from a greenside bunker on No. 19 for par, and when Steinhofer missed a 6-footer for par, the match was over.
“I hate having that feeling – you can’t control what happens,” said Bozzelli, who knocked off defending champ Cory Whitsett in the first round. “I’m really relieved to still be in the tournament.”
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 25
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Talk about being happy to be here. Evan Beck got into the field at the Junior as the first alternate. He’s now in the Final Four.
Beck, 17, defeated Ernesto Marin, 1 up, this morning in the quarterfinals and will face Jordan Spieth in the semis this afternoon.
“I’m feeling pretty good about myself,” Beck said. “This is pretty special. I was just excited to be here.
“Now I feel like I belong here.”
Two spots at the U.S. Junior are held in case the finalists at the Amateur Public Links are 17 or younger. Beck lost in a playoff for the lone qualifying spot in Manakin Sabot, Va., and was awarded his place at the Junior when collegians Jack Newman and John Chin reached the finals at the APL.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 25
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The top two girls in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings have been ousted from the U.S. Girls' Junior.
Tiffany Lua was upset in Wednesday's first round, and top-ranked Kimberly Kim followed suit with a 2-and-1 loss to Marina Alex in their second-round, morning match today.
Kim was 3 down through 12 holes, but won the next two to get to 1 down. Kim teed off on the par-17th needing a halve or win but her tee shot found a greenside bunker and plugged. She skulled her bunker shot through the green and couldn't salvage the bogey.
“It wasn't meant to be,” said Kim.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 25
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Besides watching some great golf, the best part of the U.S. Junior is getting to know kids we don’t normally write about. Near the top of that list has to be 17-year-old Ernesto Marin of Miami, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-and-2 victory over T.J. Vogel.
“I’m just chillin’ right now,” Marin said. “People don’t know me, so when I win people are like, “Ernesto? Who’s this?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m Ernesto. Everyone in Florida knows me.’ ”
Marin is playing his first U.S. Junior after qualifying at Kenzington Country Club in Naples, Fla., with a course-record 64 on the first day. He plays most of his golf on the Florida Junior Tour and was the 2006 and ‘07 Nicaraguan National champion.
“I’m not the AJGA-kind of player,” Marin said. “I don’t want my dad to spend like, $2,000 on a tournament. I like Miami, I like Florida. But coming up here, I’m having the time of my life.”
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 24
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Most surprised look of the day goes to Boom Sritart, who lost his final two holes and the match to Cameron Peck. When told that Peck was the highest-ranked player left in the field, Boom (it’s just more fun to call him by his first name) looked like he was told there was no Santa Claus.
“I was? I didn’t know that,” said the 17-year-old Boom. “I really didn’t even know he was the highest-ranked kid at all. Actually, I can’t believe that now. It makes me feel a lot better, to be honest. I thought I was just playing another random kid, to now find out I’m playing one of the highest-ranked golfers. That’s an honor. And I gave him a run for his spot.”
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 24
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Big pickup for J.T. Higgins and Texas A&M.
Cameron Peck, a winner of two AJGA invitationals this year, gave
Higgins his verbal commitment Wednesday at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
“I’m really excited,” Peck said. “I really like the people on the team and really like J.T.”
Peck, No. 6 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, won his final two
holes this afternoon to advance to the Round of 16 with a 1-up victory
over Boom Sritart.
– Dan Mirocha
Posted July 24
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – So who, exactly, is David Persons?
“I’m just an El Paso boy just coming out here to play some golf,” said Persons after advancing to the Round of 16 with a 1-up victory over Richard Werenski.
Two down with four holes to play, Person birdied Nos. 15-17 – two of which were conceded – to go 1 up. The 17-year-old then made an all-world up and down on No. 18 for par to close out the match.
“I know that no one knows who I am,” Persons said. “Yesterday the guy that was playing me (Matthew Ceravolo) said, ‘Who’s this Persons kid?’ But I kind of like it because I don’t have that many people thinking. But I’m moving on and showing people what I’m made of.”
On the media information sheet, Persons listed winning the El Paso City Championship at his home course as his most memorable golf experience. He also wears the initials of a former high school teammate who died of Leukemia last December on his shirt sleeve.
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of this Persons kid this afternoon. He plays fellow Texan Jordan Spieth in the next round.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 24
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – I'm sensing a recurring theme here.
Play has officially been called for all of Day 3 at U.S. Girls'.
Play was halted last night due to darkness with one match remaining on the course. Rachel Rohanna and Julie Yang were all square through 17 when they were called in.
Rohanna and Yang resumed their match this morning and when play was called, the two decided they'd finish despite the rain. As of 10:26 a.m., they're still on the course.
The original plan for today was two rounds of match play, but now everything will be pushed back a day. The second and third rounds will be held on Friday, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be held Saturday, and the 36-hole final will be held Sunday.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 24
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Play has been called at U.S. Girls' with one match remaining on the course. Rachel Rohanna and Julie Yang are all square through 17 holes and will have to finish tomorrow.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Talk about luck of the draw. Gaston De La Torre, a 17-year-old from Brush Prairie, Wash., applied for housing at the U.S. Junior Amateur and was assigned to stay with Shoal Creek president Dr. Martin Bailey, who lives on property.
Staying with the president is a nice perk in itself. But getting to drive his Porsche 911 Carerra this afternoon after qualifying for match play, that’s like hitting the lottery.
“He took me out for a ride, then he let me drive,” De La Torre said. “I just floored it right off the bat. He told me to slow down about five times when I was going around the curves. It was so fun. I got up to like 75-80 mph, so not too bad.”
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 23
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – After a five hour and 12 minute delay, play has resumed at the U.S. Girls'. However, it has been confirmed that there will not be a second round of match play held today.
– Ray McCarthy July 23, 2008
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Dozens of coaches met Monday night at the U.S. Girls’ Junior to talk about implementing a new recruiting calendar in college golf.
Right now there are only eight quiet days on the recruiting calendar, four leading up to each signing period. That’s not a lot of downtime for a sport that has two seasons. Many coaches are on the road 200-plus days a year.
There are several options on the table, but right now it looks like the majority are leaning toward a total number of days (likely around 50) for recruiting.
Some say it’s difficult to schedule extended mandatory quiet periods in the offseason because it handicaps programs who, for example, go to Florida in the winter to recruit.
Another option would be to limit the total number of events, but then coaches would be less likely to go to their local high school matches. The intention of the calendar isn’t to hurt tournaments.
As it stands now, a coach can recruit 357 days a year. As the competition grows stronger and the talent deepens, recruiting demands have the potential to spiral out of control. If we’re not there already.
– Beth Ann Baldry July 24, 2008
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Kimberly Kim wanted to see “The Dark Knight” Tuesday night but she couldn’t.
“Everybody went [to see it] last night,” Kim said. “That’s the problem with making the cut.”
What a shame... making the cut and advancing to match play at U.S. Girls. If only we could all be so unlucky.
Kim’s off-the-cuff remark drew loud laughter from the media types around her.
“People who don’t make [the cut] they all have fun together,” she said. “It’s not like when you’re playing you want to hear about Batman... like [from] someone else who went to see it.”
Kim’s match was one of two to finish midway through a rain-soaked, frequently-delayed Day 1 of match play. Kim topped Stacy Kim, 5 and 4, and will most likely face Marina Alex in the next round. Alex is 6 up on Katie Sylvan through 12 holes.
Kim has no choice but to suffer until it finishes.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Best Day 2 comeback? Check out Simon St. Louis. After shooting 82 Monday, the 17-year-old from Montreal shot 68 yesterday to make the cut by two shots.
“Under the circumstances, it was the best score I’ve ever made,” said St. Louis, who is playing in his first USGA event.
St. Louis is a member at Golf Le Mirage, a golf club outside Montreal owned by singer Celine Dion.
“She comes to the club two weeks out of the year and I have met her a few times, but have never golfed with her,” St. Louis said.
No word yet on if they have sung together.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 23
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Ever heard of making a bogey on purpose? Well, let’s not say Cody Gribble’s bogey on No. 18 this morning was a deliberate act, but it did keep him from earning co-medalist honors by a shot. And everyone knows the medalist never ends up winning the championship, right?
“I know all the history and records and everything,” said Gribble, who finished at 4-under 140, a shot behind medalist Jorge Valdes Fernandez. “But I don’t know. Whatever. All I know is I’m hitting the ball well. This is where the game begins.”
Something tells me it may turn out to be the best bogey Gribble’s ever made.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 23
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Cory Whitsett had the professional caddie services of Ryan Rue last year on his way to his U.S. Junior title. Rue was Chris DiMarco’s bagman a couple years ago, and looped for DiMarco at the British Open.
This week, Whitsett has Josh Jones on the bag. Jones, a former Rolex Junior All-American, has played just two AJGA events this year (T-8 at Thunderbird) and also played the Sunnehanna Amateur (49th). He’ll be a freshman next year at LSU.
“Cory called me up a week ago today and was like, ‘Dude, I need a caddie,’ ” Jones said. “I’m like, ‘Cool, I’m not doing anything.’ ”
Jones said this is just his second time as a caddie, and he’s slowly getting used to the hills and humidity at Shoal Creek.
“My feet hurt a little,” Jones said. “But hopefully we’ll be around until the end of the week.” – Dan Mirocha Posted July 23
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – As predicted, play has been suspended again at U.S. Girls at 12:35 p.m.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Play has resumed once more at U.S. Girls' after a 110-minute delay.
The radar still looks ominous so there's a good chance play will be suspended within 15 minutes.
Fun stuff.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
Anyone has the potential to win U.S. Girls’, but there is a noticeable difference in strength between the upper bracket and lower bracket.
Seven of the top 20 players in the Golfweek/Junior Titleist Rankings are in the upper bracket including Kimberly Kim (No. 1), Pearl Jin (No. 4), and Danielle Frasier (No. 5).
Just three players ranked in the top 20 are in the lower bracket: Tiffany Lua (No. 2), Alexis Thompson (No. 3), and Lindy Duncan (No. 11). However, the lower bracket is more recognizable based on what some players have done in the past. Defending champion Kristen Park, 2006 champion Jenny Shin, 2008 Rolex Girls winner Victoria Tanco, last year’s Rolex Tournament of Champions winner Courtney Ellenbogen, and Madison Pressel are all in the lower bracket.
In no way will the winner of each bracket have an easy road to the finals, and there will always be upsets along the way. Such is the beauty of match play.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
Check that: Play has been suspended again at U.S. Girls' at 10:15 a.m.
This is not a good sign.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Play at the U.S. Girls' Junior has resumed after a 43-minute delay.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – It seems as if the U.S. Junior Championships
have been cursed this year. Play was suspended at U.S. Girls' at 9:18
a.m. due to the threat of lightning.
Updates are upcoming...
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23
The Golfweek staff weighs in with their U.S. Junior picks:
Ray McCarthy (140):Cory Whitsett. I’m going to be roasted for this pick, but besides Cameron Peck, is there any player with more momentum heading into this championship? Plus, he’s done it before. I think Whitsett will make history this week.
Victoria Tanco. Tanco has loads of talent but lacks in match-play experience. However, Tanco, who won earlier this year at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, has her coach, Shane Reiser, on the bag this week and will be guided around a tough Hartford Country Club course. Combined with a knowledgeable caddie, Tanco’s talent will carry her to the top.
Eric Soderstrom (130):Cody Gribble. I picked him at his first junior, and I'll pick him at his last.
Kim Kim. I just don't see how a U.S. Women's Amateur champ can go without adding a Junior title as well.
Sean Martin (140): Cory Whitsett. Can he become the first multiple winner of this tournament since Tiger Woods? I see no reason why not.
Kimberly Kim. She's already got a U.S. Women's Amateur title on her resume, plus a finals appearance at last year's Polo and made the quarterfinals at last year's Junior. Kim is tough to beat.
Dan Mirocha (90): No one has more confidence right now than Cameron Peck. He’ll knock off Cory Whitsett in the finals (if they're on opposite sides of the bracket).
The ultra-competitive Alexis Thompson will turn head’s again, this time with a Girls’ Junior title.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 23 WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The UCF-Lendl connection got a little stronger this summer when Isabelle decided to join Marika in Orlando. Marika will be a freshman this fall while Isabelle, who committed last month, is entering her senior year of high school.
“I told the coach I might not stay for four years and she was OK with that,” said Lendl, who liked the idea of being close to swing instructor Tim Sheredy. “School is not what I’m looking for, it’s just golf.”
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 22
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Have to admit, I didn’t see this bit of news coming. Kimberly Kim, one of the most laid-back kids I’ve ever met, is headed to Xavier College Preparatory this fall.
“I want to get my academics in order,” said Kim, who has been taking classes online the last year.
Enrolling in the academically stringent Xavier Prep is Kim’s way of gearing up for college life. That’s right, the youngest player to ever win the U.S. Women’s Amateur has decided to put professional golf on hold for a least a little while.
“I’ve never seen anyone regret going to school,” said Kim, who will be a senior this fall.
Kim said her father’s had a bit of a “social outburst” this week, talking to coaches about the ins and outs of college golf. His daughter is a little late to the recruiting party, with many of the nation’s top college programs out of scholarships for the class of 2009. No doubt someone will pick her up. She’s only the most talented player in the country right now, ranked No. 1 by Golfweek.
It’s tough to say how many years Kim will give it the old college try. But if there’s a place that can get her focused and prepared, it’s Xavier. Players like Heather Farr, Grace Park, Amanda Blumenherst and Cheyenne Woods played for Sister Lynn. They’ve won 26 state championships since 1980.
Just don’t look for Kim to show up with blonde streaks in her hair again anytime soon. Sister Lynn runs a tight ship.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 22
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – So what do people do at the Hartford Golf Club in the winter?
They go bowling! Downstairs of the club members can enjoy a four-lane bowling alley with heat. Talk about relaxing.
Also, today I got to go to Mark Twain's house, which happens to be a five-minute drive from the golf course. Did you know he was a redhead? That explains so much.
How many of these players do you think are reading his books for their summer reading?
– Asher Wildman Posted July 22
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – An announcement was just made to the large gathering here in the media room that play may be called for the day – the USGA will decide in 30 minutes.
Will keep you updated.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 22
SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – The once quiet and sparse media room has been overrun by players, caddies, parents, spectators, rules officials, marshals, and security personnel. We’re in a weather delay at the U.S. Junior.
There’s got to be more than 100 people in here, and everyone got a little anxious when the lights flicked on and off due to the thunder and lightning outside.
One good sign: No one yet has been seen hiding under a table.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 22
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — If you make it to U.S. Girls', it's an accomplishment in itself. If you reach match-play competition, that's another notch in your belt. If you win, then you've achieved the ultimate goal.
But what if you make a hole-in-one at U.S. Girls? Where does that rank?
Brittany Altomare aced the 161-yard sixth hole with a 5-iron on Day 2 of stroke-play qualifying. Altomare, who is currently T51 through nine holes, finished T4 at Betsy Rawls last week where her lowest one-hole score was a 2 on several par 3s.
Not quite an ace.
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 22
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. —The U.S. Girls’ Junior may not be the U.S. Women’s Open, but Tiffany Lua is geared up for U.S. Girls’ nonetheless.
After going 74-72, Lua stands at T27, well within the cut midway through Day 2 of stroke-play qualifying.
“You go into every single tournament wanting to win,” Lua said. “You want to do your best.”
Almost a month ago, Lua played to her potential at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she made the cut and was T35 through two rounds before going 80-81 on the weekend to finish T71.
“It was cool, it was really intense,” 17-year-old Lua said. “I was kind of nervous. The intensity of that tournament is so high. It’s the Open.”
– Ray McCarthy Posted July 22
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF UPDATE
Results after the HP Boys Invitational and McDonald’s Betsy Rawls:
Ray McCarthy (Byeong-hun An, Victoria Kiser) earned just 5 points and has 140 total.
Sean Martin (Cameron Peck, Victoria Sungmin Park) zoomed into a tie for first with Cameron Peck’s victory. He has 140 points.
Eric Soderstrom (Cameron Peck, Jennifer Johnson) earned 55 total points to bring his season standings to 130 points.
Dan Mirocha (Tommy Chung Hao Mou, Allie White) needs at big week at the U.S. Juniors. He did not pick up any points and has 90 total.
Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted July 21
ORLANDO, Fla. – Forget birdies and bogeys, driving distance and scrambling percentage, the stat of the week from the HP Boys Invitational at Bay Hill was pace of play.
Check this out: In the third round, the average 18-hole trek (twosomes) took 3 hours, 40 minutes. The quickest group clocked in at 3:21 and the slowest was 3:52.
On average, the final round played only six minutes slower at 3 hours, 46 minutes. Most impressive, the final pairing that included champion Cameron Peck and runner-up Christopher Walker, were right on the money at 3:46, too.
Nice work by the AJGA staffers and nice work by the players in moving quickly.
– Dan Mirocha Posted July 18
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF
Two of the biggest consecutive weeks in junior golf are upon us, beginning with the HP Boys Junior Championship and McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship this week followed by the U.S Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Championships next week. More importantly, things are heating up in the race for Junior Extra Fantasy champion. Let’s see if the Golfweek staffers can maintain their momentum (Year-to-date point totals listed in parentheses):
Ray McCarthy (135): For HP, I’m going with a lesser-known player who had a chance at Rolex. Byeong-hun An finished fifth at Rolex only because he faded with a 77-75 finish, but An went 74-77-70-65 at FootJoy and had a T7 at Houston Boys. An’s close, and he’ll get there this week at HP. I know he can win because I was there when he picked up his first title two years ago at the Nike Golf Junior at Marshalia Ranch where he closed with a 68.
I chose Victoria Kiser as a player to watch in Golfweek’s junior preview, and it seems as if I’m onto something. In three AJGA events this season, Kiser has won twice and had a T6 at the Mizuno Junior. Kiser won last week, and has gotten used to being at the top of leaderboards. Look for her to contend at Betsy Rawls.
Sean Martin (90): It’s easy to be overshadowed by what Cory Whitsett is doing, but Cameron Peck has a strong chance of placing himself in the forefront this week at HP. Peck has two wins this season, including one the FootJoy Invitational in June. Peck finished 11th at the Rolex TOC, and if not for two 78s, he could have threatened Whitsett. Perhaps the strongest player at HP, look for him to lift the trophy.
Victoria Sungmin Park has been right there in her past two starts. Park got off to a hot start at Rolex Girls with a first-round 68 but faded to a T6. And if not for a third-round 79 at Rolex TOC, Park was in prime position to do better than her fourth-place finish there. If Park can string together a consistent tournament at Betsy Rawls, she can win.
Dan Mirocha (90):Tommy Chung Hao Mou closed 69-70 to tie for 11th last year at HP. He’s a Florida boy and will handle the heat and humidity like a pro.
Allie White finished second at Rawls last year and has two runners-up this year. This will be her week. Plus, according to Google maps, her Lancaster, Ohio, home is exactly 7 hours, 17 minutes from Malvern, Pa., site of the tournament. Seven plus 17 equals 24. Divide that into 437 total minutes in the car and you get 18, which is Allie’s age. Coincidence? I think not.
Eric Soderstrom (75): Rumor has it when you appear in a pre-tournament GolfweekTV video (upcoming), you play well in that tournament. Cameron Peck is your guy this week.
Since I think Padraig Harrington is going to go back-to-back at the British Open, I’m going with Jennifer Johnson for back-to-back invitationals after her Rolex TOC win.
— Ray McCarthy Posted July 14
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF UPDATE
Results after the Rolex Tournament of Champions:
Ray McCarthy (Cory Whitsett, Alexis Thompson) picked up 50 points for Whitsett’s win and another 10 for Thompson’s seventh-place finish. McCarthy leads with 135 points on the year.
Sean Martin (William Sjaichudin, Lindsey Weaver) picked up 5 points for Sjaichudin’s 13th-place finish and another 10 for Weaver’s T-8. Martin stands in second with 90 points on the season.
Dan Mirocha (Cory Whitsett, Tiffany Lua) cleaned up this week
with Whitsett’s win and Lua’s runner-up finish, giving him 80 points on
the week. He has 90 on the season and is tied with Martin for second.
Eric Soderstrom (Cody Gribble, Alexis Thompson) earned 5 points for Gribble’s 14th-place finish and 10 points for Thompson’s seventh-place finish. Soderstrom has 75 points on the year.
— Ray McCarthy Posted July 5
JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY GOLF
The Rolex Tournament of Champions begins tomorrow, and with several juniors coming off starts at the U.S. Women’s Open, Rolex is ripe with storylines. Among others, Tiffany Lua (T-71) had a strong start and is looking to carry that momentum into this week. On the boys’ side, can Cory Whitsett — perhaps the hottest player in the country — win another prestigious title after taking home the Western Junior title in convincing fashion? The Golfweek staff weighs in with their picks (Year-to-date point totals listed in parentheses):
Ray McCarthy (75): Fine, call me a front-runner, but Cory Whitsett is clearly the one to beat this week. If he doesn’t win, he’s almost a lock for a top-10 finish. If Whitsett claims a Rolex title, and successfully defends his U.S. Junior title in July, his season will go down in junior golf lore as one of the best ever and best since 2006, the year of Philip Francis, who will play in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in two weeks.
Rolex is obviously a strong tournament, but it may seem like a cakewalk to those juniors who played in the U.S. Women’s Open. Alexis Thompson has five top-10s in five AJGA starts this season, and missed the Women’s Open cut by just two shots. She’ll land her second AJGA win of the season at Rolex.
Sean Martin (75):William Sjaichudin first caught my attention when he finished second at the Ventura (Calif.) City Championship. I grew up playing BuenaVentura Golf Course (can’t beat the $6 junior green fee), and played the city championship several times. But this isn’t a sentimental pick; I’m focused on winning Junior Extra fantasy golf this year.
Sjaichudin finished second one week later at the FootJoy Invitational, and was T-4 at the Mizuno Junior at Innisbrook. He can play with the big boys.
Lindsey Weaver finished fifth and first in her only two AJGA starts this year. Can’t beat that. She was 15th at last year’s Rolex Girls’ Junior, her only invitational start to date.
Eric Soderstrom (60): Look for Cody Gribble to avenge his quadruple bogey on the last hole of the Houston Boys Invitational. Gribble has a T-25 at Thunderbird, but will rebound and have a strong finish at Rolex.
Alexis Thompson has been steady throughout the year and will continue her good play at Rolex. She’s due for an AJGA invitational win considering what else she has done in the golf world. Thompson will add a Rolex title to her resume this week.
Dan Mirocha (10): I’ve got to make up some ground, so I’m going with a sure thing. Cory Whitsett will win Rolex going away this week.
I had the pleasure of attending the U.S. Women’s Open last week and caught a glimpse of Tiffany Lua’s game. If not for an 80-81 finish over the weekend, Lua had a chance to finish high in the field and make a name for herself. Using that experience, Lua will hoist the Rolex trophy.
— Ray McCarthy Posted June 30
Jessica Korda finished T-19 at the U.S. Women’s Open after shooting the low round of the final day. Korda’s 4-under 69 Sunday was one of just eight sub-par scores Sunday at Interlachen.
Korda was the second low amateur, finishing four shots behind UCLA’s Maria Jose Uribe.
Korda, 15, is the daughter of 1998 Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda. He caddied for his daughter at Interlachen.
– Sean Martin Posted June 30
EDINA, Minn. – The youngest player at this year's U.S. Women's Open,
13-year-old Alexis Thompson, may stick around Interlachen for the
weekend. If she does, she'll be watching, though, and not playing.
Thompson,
playing in her second Open, bogeyed three of her last five holes and
shot 77, leaving her at 6-over 152. Too many. And her disappointment
was evident, as she was expecting a little better outcome here.
"I
definitely expected a lot more this year – I'm so much longer," said
Thompson, who figured she's picked up 30-40 yards in length since last
summer's Open at Pine Needles. "I just looked. I'm in 109th place. That
pretty much stinks."
Her dad, Scott, who was on Alexis' bag the
last two days, sees the bigger picture, and realizes the experience his
daughter is getting will be valuable down the road. He knows the
journey. His son, Nick, plays the PGA Tour.
"It's all good,"
he said. "She doesn't realize she's only 13. She wants to do it 'now.'
She doesn't realize she's got a lot of years to do it."
How
many? Well, consider Thompson's two fellow competitors in her threesome
the last two days were Martha Nause, 53, and Sherri Turner, 51.
– Jeff Babineau Posted June 27
Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update:
Results after the FootJoy Boys and Rolex Girls:
Sean Martin (Jordan Spieth, Victoria Tanco) picked up 60 points with a Tanco victory and a Spieth top-10.
Ray McCarthy (Brinson Paolini, Kimberly Kim) posted 40 points with Kimberly Kim’s runner-up finish.
Eric Soderstrom (Austin Cody, Kimberly Kim) notched 30 points.
Dan Mirocha (Mu Hu, Markia Lendl) needs to study. He did not earn any points.
Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Golfweek staff Posted June 14 JUNIOR EXTRA FANTASY
What U.S. Open? Two of the year’s biggest events — the FootJoy Invitational and Rolex Girls Junior Championship — are taking place this week and Junior Extra Fantasy is back to pontificate about who will reign over the world of junior golf. Without further delay, here are our picks (Note: Year-to-date point totals listed in parentheses):
Ray McCarthy (35)
FootJoy: Brinson Paolini. Paolini’s coming off a three-way playoff win in April at the Horseshoe Bend Junior Classic where he went 72-68. Paolini finished T-14 at Thunderbird, and if not for a first-round 76, his 68-72 finish could have done more damage. Paolini will continue his strong play.
Rolex: Kimberly Kim. Going 3-1 at the Curtis Cup will do a lot for your confidence. Kim has staked her claim on junior golf up to this point, and she'll continue to imprint her name on the history books with a win at Rolex. Kim's best AJGA finish this year is a T-3 at Heather Farr.
Eric Soderstrom (30)
FootJoy: Austin Cody. Cody just celebrated his 16th birthday Sunday, and will top off the week with his first AJGA invitational victory. A first-round 76 kept him out of the running at Thunderbird, but he bounced back with 68-72 to finish T-14. A good start this week should go a long way for him.
Rolex: Kim Kim. She’s coming off a life-changing week at St. Andrews at the Curtis Cup, and could ride that excitement to a lopsided victory.
Sean Martin (15)
FootJoy: Jordan Spieth. What can I say? This kid is good. Sure, Big Brown taught us that there’s no such thing as a safe bet, but Spieth hasn’t finished worse than seventh in four starts this year (and has finished inside the top 15 in nine of 10 career AJGA events). He’s coming off a T-5 at Thunderbird, too.
Rolex: Victoria Tanco. If you’ve been following Blog Jr., you know I think big things will come from this 14-year-old from Bradenton (by way of Argentina). Tanco won this year’s Scott Robertson Memorial, and as I wait in the Orlando International Airport, I just received an e-mail that shows she’s in second after the first round of U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifying in Florida, two strokes behind Amy Yang, who won two weeks ago on the Ladies European Tour. I think it’s an omen.
Dan Mirocha (10)
FootJoy: Mu Hu. He closed with a 78 at the Thunderbird to fall back to T-18. That won’t happen again.
Rolex: Marika Lendl. Had a nice T-5 at Thunderbird and in an AJGA press release after the first round said that “everything in my life (has) stopped and I just started focusing on golf, and it’s really paying off now.” Who’s to argue with her?
– Ray McCarthy Posted June 9
Your weekly junior golf roundup... 1. Sunny Hills High School of Fullerton won the California State High School Championship Monday with an impressive lineup, including two girls.
The Lancers’ roster consisted of Michael Jae Woo Im (No. 16 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings), Alex Shi Yup Kim (24), Jeffrey Kang (34), Kevin Lim, U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Kristen Park and Inah Park.
Kang shot 2-under 70 to win the individual title by two strokes, while Kristen Park’s 80 at the 6,505-yard Santa Maria Country Club counted toward the team total. Inah Park’s 83 was the team’s throw-out score, but her contributions were felt earlier in the postseason.
Park’s 75 in the CIF-Southern California Golf Association Southern Regional Championship included a hole-in-one.
2. Julian Suri, No. 17 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, almost made it to the U.S. Open, falling on the ninth hole of a playoff at the qualifier at Jupiter Hills Country Club in Tequesta, Fla. Suri missed a 45-foot birdie putt on the final extra hole, and Lamielle holed a 15-footer to earn a spot at Torrey Pines.
3. Maria Piccio, of Bradenton, Fla., made her first AJGA event memorable, setting a tour record for largest margin of victory. The 17-year-old shot 9-under 135 (66-69) for an 18-shot victory at the Medicus Preseason Junior at Callaway Gardens.
The old record of 16 shots was held by seven other players, the most recent being Morgan Pressel’s victory over Casey Hines in the 2004 Valero Texas Junior Open.
4. The three juniors competing at the U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier in Hawaii have to like their odds. That’s because they’re the only players in the field, and they’re competing for one spot. The three players are Anna Jang, 16, of Aiea, Hawaii; Cyd Okino, 14, of Honolulu; and Margarita Ramos, 18, of Phoenix.
At least none of them will have to watch the leaderboard for hours to see if they got in. They’ll know as soon as they walk off the 18th green.
5. The fifth spot in the lineup is reserved for players who are making a name for themselves outside of national tournaments. This week it’s Mariah Stackhouse, 14, of Riverdale, Ga.
Stackhouse won her second consecutive Georgia Women’s Match Play Championship in April, then finished second behind former University of Georgia player Alina Lee at last month’s Greater Atlanta Women’s Amateur. She finished second in her first AJGA start of the year at the AJGA Cliffs Championship and T-3 this week at the AJGA's Ringgold Telephone Company Junior Classic.
– Sean Martin Posted June 5
Julian Suri, No. 17 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, has made a verbal commitment to Duke.
Last fall, Suri won the Golfweek Junior Invitational and Florida 2A High School Championship. He lost in a playoff to Andrew Yun at the Verizon Junior Heritage in February.
Suri will play in U.S. Open sectional qualifying June 2 at Jupiter (Fla.) Hills Country Club.
Suri, of St. Augustine, Fla., is No. 2 in the Class of 2009.
– Sean Martin Posted May 28
Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update:
Results after the Thunderbird International:
Eric Soderstrom (Pontus Widegren, Stephanie Kono) came in as the biggest winner on the week with 30 total points. Widegren finished T-5 to net Soderstrom 20 points while Kono finished ninth to earn him 10 more points. Soderstrom has 30 points on the season.
Ray McCarthy (Jordan Spieth, Marta Silva Zamora) nipped at Soderstrom’s heels this week with Spieth finishing T-5 and Silva placing T-14 for a total of 25 points. McCarthy also leads the year-long competition with 35 points.
Sean Martin (Cody Gribble, Marta Silva Zamora), missed with Gribble but rebounded a bit with Silva for five points on the week. Martin stands in third with 15 points in the year-long race.
Dan Mirocha (Luke Guthrie, Rachel Morris) was shutout on the boys’ side, but picked up five points from Morris, who finished T-19. Mirocha has 10 points on the season so far.
Junior Extra fantasy is back for the Thunderbird International Junior. Sean Martin and Ray McCarthy are tied for the lead after the Houston Boys Invitational. They have 10 points. Dan Mirocha is third with five points, and with zero points, Eric Soderstrom has been cramming like crazy for weeks in order to get on the board.
Sean Martin (10): Cody Gribble knows how to play Grayhawk, as shown by
his second-round 68 at last year’s tournament. He’ll rebound nicely
from his final-hole disaster at the Houston Boys Invitational to pick
up his first AJGA major. This is the year
we put the “international” back in Thunderbird International. Marta Silva,
who finished third at last year’s event, will follow in the footsteps
of countrywoman Belen Mozo and walk away with a victory at Grayhawk.
Ray McCarthy (10): Jordan Spieth tied for seventh at the Houston Boys, won the Traditions and a finished third at the Wellstone Communities at Craig Ranch. He’ll continue to roll. Marta Silva Zamora is on fire. With a win at the Junior Heritage and a season at Georgia to look forward to in the fall, Zamora will pick up her first AJGA invitational title at Thunderbird.
Dan Mirocha (5): Luke Guthrie is a Midwest guy. I’m a Midwest guy. Keeping this one in the family. Rachel Morris just won a U.S. Women’s Open local qualifying event by two shots in Yorba Linda, Calif.
Eric Soderstrom (0): Pontus Widegren and Stephanie Kono. Enough said.
Scoring: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can’t pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Dan Mirocha Posted May 22
Sorry for the delay, but here is the top 5 list from the week that was in junior golf, written on a plane somewhere between Orlando and Albuquerque...
1. For those who follow Blog Jr. closely, you may have seen Victoria Tanco’s name back in December. If you haven’t heard of her, she’s a name worth remembering.
Tanco, 14, won the Scott Robertson Memorial, one of the country’s premiere independent events. She’s originally from Buenos Aires, but recently started attending the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton.
“This is the first time I’ve won a (15-18) title like this and it’s the most important tournament I’ve won,” Tanco told The Roanoke Times.
Tanco also finished T-3 at the 2007 Junior Orange Bowl. Before that, she dominated age-group competition.
Tanco won the 12-13 age division at last year’s Doral-Publix Junior Classic by 11 shots. Tanco also won the girls’ 13-14 division at this year’s Junior Worlds and the 12-13 flight at the 2006 Optimist International Junior Championship.
The Optimist victory was another 11-shot romp after she posted a 202 total (64-71-67).
2. Yueer Cindy Feng, 12, is a winner for a second consecutive week, and if her winning total of 157 at the AJGA Medicus Preseason Junior at Rochester didn’t impress, how about a first-round 66 at Harmony (Fla.) Golf Preserve in a Junior All-Star event?
“To be honest, last week I wasn’t pleased with my scores and didn’t feel I played that well,” Feng said. “But the win really showed me where I needed to improve and that helped in my preparation for this tournament. I just knew that today I had to really focus on my own shots and not make any silly mistakes.”
3. Memorial Day weekend may be one of the biggest weekends in junior golf. There’s the AJGA’s Thunderbird International Junior as well as the FCWT and IJGT season-ending events.
The IJGT Tournament of Champions will be held at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Fla., while the FCWT National Championship will be at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Take a break from the beach and your barbecues to check golfweek.com for all the results.
4. The Duramed Futures Tour is starting to look like child’s play, as another girl won this past week around the same time she should’ve been graduating high school.
Mindy Kim, winner of the 2006 AJGA Mission Hills Desert Junior and a member of that year’s Canon Cup team, turned pro last year. She was originally scheduled to graduate in 2008, but completed high school more than a year early.
Vicky Hurst’s decision to turn pro didn’t catch many people offguard. Kim’s choice was another story. Sure, she was No. 5 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, but her Mission Hills victory was her only AJGA victory in her self-described “OK” junior career.
Congrats to her. It seems like she’s learned a lot in her year as a pro.
5. There’s plenty of good players who stay close to home and sometimes don’t get the attention they deserve. I want to use this spot to point one out each week. Martin Trainer, a 17-year-old from Palo Alto, Calif., is one name I’ve been seeing a lot of lately.
Trainer, who’s in his junior year of high school, won the San Francisco City Championship March 9 to surpass former U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi as the youngest winner in tournament history. He finished fourth last month at the Alameda Commuters, one of Northern California’s top amateur events. Last week, he was co-medalist at U.S. Open local qualifying with a 67 at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Trainer also qualified for the 2007 U.S. Amateur (T-161 in stroke play), U.S. Amateur Public Links (T-115 in stroke play) and U.S. Junior (T-83 in stroke play). He’s played only one career AJGA event, finishing T-6 at the West Coast Championship.
– Sean Martin Posted May 20
Georgia coach Kelley Hester now has six players for the 2008-09 season, after the signing of two-time Georgia High School Class AA champion Tess Fordham last week.
Three Bulldogs will return from this year’s team (Mallory Hetzel, Carolina Andrade and Krystle Caithness), while UCF sophomore Leigh Crosby will transfer to her hometown of Athens. Crosby is No. 327 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. Marta Silva, No. 10 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, will also play for Hester next year.
First, Hester has to lead the No. 8 Bulldogs at next week’s NCAA Women’s Division I Championship. Two days later, she’ll head across the Atlantic for her first trip to Scotland to watch Caithness and Stacy Lewis, who Hester coached at Arkansas, compete for opposing sides in the Curtis Cup.
– Sean Martin Posted May 17
The top five from the week that was in junior golf...
1. Robbie Mamo wasn’t going to let leading a golf tournament get in the way of his senior prom. Mamo lives in Apple Valley, Calif., about two hours from Westin Mission Hills Resort, site of the AJGA Medicus Preseason Junior at Rancho Mirage. He shot a first-round 69 to tie for the lead, went to the dance that night, then only got two hours of sleep before shooting an even-par 71 Sunday to share the title with James Feutz of University Place, Wash.
Mamo would’ve won the title outright if not for a bogey-free 32 on the final nine by Feutz. He eagled No. 11, then made birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 to jump from a tie for 18th after the first round into a tie for first.
2. How about two sixth graders (that’s the Class of 2014, if you’re keeping track) finishing tied for first at the AJGA Medicus Preseason Junior at Rochester?
It’s scary how much talent there is among the Class of 2013, with Alexis Thompson, Julie Yang, Annie Park and Pearl Jin all winning AJGA open events, while Alison Lee, Karen Chung, Simin Feng won Nike Junior All-Star events. This is a different story; these players are in their first year of middle school. Shouldn’t they be playing four-square and dodgeball?
“I really cherish this win,” Feng said. “This is a once in a lifetime tournament and it tells me where I stand. I'm competing with really good girl golfers and it gives me confidence for the future.”
There’s a lot of junior golf in her future, considering high school graduation is still six years away.
3. Courtney Ellenbogen, No. 12 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior, shot 69 to Monday qualify for the LPGA Michelob Ultra Open. Ellenbogen opened with a 1-under 70, but missed the cut after a second-round 77. Ellenbogen also qualified for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open, where she missed the cut by a single stroke the week before her victory in the AJGA’s Rolex Tournament of Champions.
“It was pretty intense out here,” Ellenbogen told the Virginian-Pilot. “I was trying to just focus on the golf ... but it made it hard with the wind and rain. And my ball-striking was just really, really bad.”
4. Marta Silva won her fourth IJGT event in five starts this year (in addition to her Junior Heritage victory). Six of Silva’s eight rounds are in the 60s, and her scoring average is 69.0. Georgia coach Kelley Hester probably can’t wait to get the Spaniard on campus.
5. In other golf news from the Iberian Peninsula, 16-year-old Pedro Figueiredo of Portugal didn’t just win the Irish Amateur Open, he ran away with it, shooting 10-under 278 at Royal Dublin to win by seven. He fired a course-record 67 in the second round, including a holed 7-iron from 154 yards for eagle 2 on the eighth hole. Figueiredo is No. 44 in the Golfweek/Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings.
– Sean Martin Posted May 12
Taking a page out of Lance Ringler’s book in Blog U., here’s a list of the top five happenings over the weekend in junior golf:
1. The 2009s are starting to make their commitments. Tommy Chung Hao Mou, No. 18 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, will go to Florida next year. Mou is No. 3 in the Class of 2009.
On the girls’ side, Mary Michael Maggio has verbally committed to LSU. Maggio (or M-Cubed) advanced to the third round at last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior and is ranked 12th in her class. The Tigers have a pretty good class coming in this year, as well. Sweden’s Jacqueline Hedwall, runner-up at the recent Scottish Women’s Stroke Play, and eighth-ranked Tessa Teachman are headed to the Bayou this fall.
2. I appreciate the Brits’ frankness when explaining why they’d rather turn pro than attend college. I’m not endorsing anyone’s decision, but these quotes, as told to Golfweek’s Alistair Tait, are entertainingly honest.
“I don’t want to play college golf because education doesn’t interest me that much,” Matthew Haines said Sunday after becoming the youngest winner in the 43-year history of the Lytham Trophy.
“The academic side of college golf doesn’t really interest me. I’m not the sharpest in the class, and I’m quite lazy academically so I don’t think college golf is for me,” Stiggy Hodgson said April 18 after claiming the McEvoy Trophy.
3. Haines could’ve played in the Fairhaven Trophy, the under-18 competition that’s run concurrent with the Lytham Trophy. He decided to take on the big boys, and the decision paid off. He wasn’t the only junior to fare well.
Runner-up Dale Whitnell is also 18; Eddie Pepperell, who finished ninth at Lytham after losing a playoff at the McEvoy, is 17. Pepperell and Haines wil both play the Thunderbird International Junior May 24-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Oscar Sharpe, who attends the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy, finished T-18 at the Lytham; the 15-year-old has three victories and seven top 10s in 10 FCWT events this season. He is No. 77 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
4. Paige Spiranac tied the course record from the women’s tees (5,483 yards) at Arizona State’s Karsten Golf Club with her 5-under 65 in the first round of an IJGT event. Spiranac finished at 3-under 137 for a 12-shot victory. Spiranac spends most of her time competing on the FCWT. She has three victories and three runner-up showings in eight starts this season, and has never finished outside the top five. The 15-year-old is No. 131 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and 11th in the Class of 2011.
5. Seung-yul Noh is just 16 years old, but he’s already collected three runner-up finishes on the Asian Tour this season. Noh, who is professional, lost a playoff this past weekend at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship to move to 11th on the tour’s Order of Merit; he’s also leading the rookie of the year award race.
– Sean Martin Posted May 5
The long road of U.S. Open qualifying began today, and juniors are well-represented among the 8,390 entrants hoping to walk the fairways of Torrey Pines in our country’s national championship.
Kyle Kopsick is just one of many hopefuls, but he overcame the first hurdle by advancing past local qualifying with a 71 at the Dye Preserve Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., May 5.
Kopsick held the 36-hole lead at the AJGA's Houston Boys Invitational before finishing third.
How many others from the 18-and-under contingent who advance remains to be seen. A junior has played in each of the past two U.S. Opens – Tadd Fujikawa in 2006 and Richard Lee last year.
– Ray McCarthy Posted May 5
Katie Sylvan, No. 38 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, is really eager to try to qualify for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open. The San Diego resident was the first of 1,236 women to apply for the tournament.
The youngest entrant is 11-year-old Samantha Wagner of Eaton, Pa. The 4-foot-11 fifth grader has won three consecutive tournaments in the FCWT 11-14 age division and finished eighth in the 9-10 age division at the 2007 Callaway Junior World Championships.
– Sean Martin Posted May 1
It’s not hard to get a coach to speak glowingly about her team, but I have to believe Pepperdine coach Laurie Gibbs when she said about her recruiting class, “These five recruits would be a competitive top-25 team by themselves.”
Pepperdine announced two spring signees – Lisa McCloskey, who was originally scheduled to graduate high school in 2009, and Kaitlin Drolson. Both players made match play at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
All five Waves signees for next year are ranked in the top 40 of the Class of 2008. Pepperdine signed Jessica Wallace, Kiara Hayashida and U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up Ayaka Kaneko in the fall.
John Popeck, runner-up at last year’s AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, recently had a round to remember. He shot 11-under 60 April 20 in a casual round at his home course, The Golf Club of Washington (Pa.), a 6,001-yard, par-71 layout.
Popeck, who played nine of the holes with the club’s head pro, had two eagles and seven birdies, shooting 30 on each side. He has signed a letter of intent with Maryland.
Popeck’s first eagle came on the 298-yard, par-4 ninth hole, where he hit his blind tee shot on the uphill hole to 12 feet and converted the putt. He also made eagle on the 495-yard, par-5 16th, but not the way you would expect.
He hit his tee shot into the trees, punched out, then holed his third shot from 100 yards with a gap wedge.
Popeck’s round bettered by a shot the course record he set last July.
– Sean Martin Posted April 28
Entries for the U.S. Open closed April 23 after 8,390 golfers applied for the event at Torrey Pines Golf Course. The youngest of the bunch is Rico Hoey, a 12-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Hoey won the 2006 Junior World title in the 9-10 age division, and has two older sisters who’ve also seen success on the course. Kay Hoey is a redshirt senior at Long Beach State who has advanced to two NCAA Division I Women’s Championships as an individual, while Simone Hoey is a high school senior who will play for the 49ers this fall.
– Sean Martin Posted April 21
REUNION, Fla. – Cassandra Blaney was out at the LPGA’s Ginn Open, watching the pros she one day would like to play along. Blaney, a two-time PGA Junior Series player of the year in the 16-18 age division, was one of the best players yet to announce a commitment in the Class of 2008. She said Sunday she’s going to play for Emilee Klein at Central Florida.
Blaney finished third at last year’s Westfield Junior PGA Championship behind Alexis Thompson and Kimberly Kim. She also holed a 6-foot putt to salvage a tie in the 2006 Junior Ryder Cup.
– Sean Martin Posted April 21
Margarita Ramos, No. 76 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, made the cut last week at the LPGA’s Corona Championship, finishing T-58 at 12-over 304. Ramos, who will play this fall at Arizona, lives in Arizona but was born in Mexico City.
It was Ramos’ second LPGA event of the season. She missed the cut at the tour’s other event in Mexico, the MasterCard Classic.
Ramos finished T-22 in her only AJGA start of the year, at the ReBath Heather Farr Classic.
– Sean Martin Posted April 16
Slow play has become an epidemic in the golf world, but the AJGA has a vaccine.
The AJGA’s Pace of Policy — notorious for its multi-colored card system, timing stations, and one-stroke penalties to repeat slow-play offenders — has been an effective tool in combatting five-hour rounds.
Such was the case over Easter weekend at the AJGA Championship at Traditions.
Upon arrival, AJGA staff members were told by The Traditions Club at Texas A&M that they had never had one competitive round shorter than 5 hours. The Traditions has hosted the Texas A&M Women’s “Mo”morial tournament from 2005-08 and the NCAA Women’s Central Regional in 2006.
Needless to say, the AJGA’s Pace of Play policy shone once again. Here are some numbers the AJGA provided us with:
• The averages for the 3 rounds were 4:46, 4:48 and 4:48 for a tournament average of 4:47.
• The number of rounds under 5 hours for the 3 rounds were 39, 35, and 45.
• The fastest round of the week was 4:20.
In light of its success, the AJGA’s Pace of Policy will be implemented at the 2009 “Mo”morial tournament.
– Ray McCarthy Posted April 4
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Mina Harigae said she was nervous on the driving range at Mission Hills Country Club, site of this week’s Kraft Nabisco Championship. It’s an understandable feeling, except that the tournament doesn’t start for another two days. The butterflies came from the fact that she hasn’t played a tournament since November’s Polo Golf Junior Classic.
“I just took a couple months off to practice,” Harigae said.
It’s Harigae’s first Kraft, but not her first major. She made the cut in last year’s U.S. Women’s Open.
– Sean Martin Posted April 1
Somewhere in Stillwater, Laura Matthews is smiling. Earlier this week, her Cowgirls upset the top four teams in the country to win the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.
Over in Spain, half of the semifinalists at the Spanish Women’s Amateur were Oklahoma State signees, including champion Caroline Masson of Germany. Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall also made the semis.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who will attend Arizona State in January 2009, advanced to the quarterfinals. Ciganda won last year’s British Women’s Amateur.
In the men’s event, France’s Victor Dubuisson (Arizona State) and Germany’s Sean Einhaus (Oklahoma State) lost in the first round of match play. Einhaus lost, 1 down, to European Amateur champion Benjamin Hebert.
– Sean Martin Posted March 2
Several foreign players who are bound for U.S. colleges are competing at the Spanish Women’s Amateur, and surely making their future coaches proud.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who’s made a verbal commitment to Arizona State and is expected to arrive in Tempe in January 2009, shot 4-under 140 (69-71) to win medalist honors by three shots over Oklahoma State-bound Caroline Masson of Germany (75-68). Ciganda won last year’s British Women’s Amateur.
France’s Isabelle Boineau, who’s signed with Arizona, finished fourth at 146 (74-72). Caroline Hedwall, who’ll also play for Oklahoma State in the fall, finished fifth at 149 (78-71).
Ciganda, Masson and Hedwall all advanced to the quarterfinals, while Boineau lost in the Round of 16.
Check back Sunday for final results.
– Sean Martin Posted Feb. 29
Nice lil’ T-45 finish by Ayaka Kaneko at the LGPA’s Fields Open. Here are some notable players she beat:
• Brittany Lincicome, last year’s Ginn Open champ • Michelle Wie • Julieta Granada, 2006 ADT Championship winner • Se Ri Pak, LPGA Hall of Famer • Natalie Gulbis, last year’s Evian Masters champ • Pat Hurst, five-time LPGA winner (including a major) • Ai Miyazato, 14-time Japan LPGA winner
Had she been competing as a professional, Kaneko would have won $5,454, which isn’t a shabby three days of work for someone who just turned 18.
– Dan Mirocha Posted Feb. 24
U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up Ayaka Kaneko is making the most of her sponsor exemption into the LPGA’s Fields Open. Kaneko, who’ll play for Pepperdine in the fall, shot 70 Friday to finish at 2-under 142 and easily advance to the weekend. Golfweek’s second-ranked junior has nine birdies through two rounds.
– Sean Martin Posted Feb. 22
A couple post-Houston observations:
• Oklahoma State assistant Alan Bratton watched the final group for much of the day. After future Cowboy Morgan Hoffmann closed his junior career on a victorious note, Bratton pointed out that he missed the cut in his final junior tournament, an early version of the HP Boys Junior.
Bratton didn’t turn out too bad. He was a four-time All-American at Oklahoma State, and a first-teamer in 1994 and 1995. He was a co-recipient of the 1994 Jack Nicklaus Award, which honors the nation’s top player, and helped the Cowboys to the 1995 NCAA title.
• Hoffmann earned the prized AJGA putter cover for low final round, but it was after closing with a 73. Scoring conditions weren't ideal – there was an inconsistent breeze blowing Monday – but doesn't it say something when not one player in a strong field can break par? Maybe it's time to move the tees up a little, or the hole locations a little closer to the middle of the green. There wasn't much rough at Redstone, so just a few simple fixes would've done the trick.
The final hole was tipped out much of the week, and played into the wind. Many players were resigned to playing it as a par-5, and I didn't see one player record a GIR in the final two rounds.
• Cody Gribble won’t be deterred by his bogey-quadruple bogey finish. If anything, he said it will inspire him. Gribble was understandably upset after the round, but he took a couple minutes to collect himself and was laughing and joking by the time he left the scoring tent.
Gribble was able to focus on the positive – this was still his best finish in an AJGA invitational, and a good learning experience – which makes me think he’ll be ready to contend the next time he tees it up. And Gribble can win the big one, as evidenced by his victory at last year's Western Junior.
• Fun fact: the Houston Boys Invitational was the first AJGA tournament ever held in February.
– Sean Martin Posted Feb. 22
I can’t tell you how many e-mails I’ve received in the last week demanding that Junior Fantasy points get updated. And because last year’s contest was so hotly contested, I can understand why. So, without any further delay... here are your updated standings.
Sean Martin (Cory Whitsett) 10 points. Ray McCarthy (Cory Whitsett) 10 points. Dan Mirocha (Julian Suri) 5 points. Eric Soderstrom (Mu Hu) 0 points.
For stroke play, win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
– Dan Mirocha Posted Feb. 22
Junior Extra fantasy golf gets an early start this year thanks to the AJGA’s Houston Boys Invitational, and a fourth member will be added to the mix with Ray McCarthy. Enough with the formalities, let’s get to the picks.
Eric Soderstrom: Mu Hu. He won his first invitational at the 2007 HP Boys Invitational, so Golfweek’s eighth-ranked junior should have good vibes this week at the (take a deep breath before saying this title) Houston Boys Invitational at Redstone presented by HP and Administaff.
Hu's HP slam. I can see the headlines already.
Sean Martin: Cory Whitsett. I’m not very creative, so I’m going to go with the local lefty, who’s No. 4 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. Whitsett knows how to beat the best. His 80 wins against the top 25 players are the most in the country.
Dan Mirocha: Julian Suri. The Floridian keeps improving, winning the Golfweek Junior Invitational and Florida state high school title last fall. Look for him to make his AJGA breakthroug this week.
Ray McCarthy: Cory Whitsett. I'm even less creative than Sean.
– Sean Martin Posted Feb. 15
HUMBLE, Texas – The inaugural Houston Boys Invitational gets underway Saturday. Redstone Golf Club’s Tournament Course is located just outside Houston, making U.S. Junior champ Cory Whitsett the hometown favorite.
There’s a copy of Houston Links magazine in the media center, in which Whitsett is named the 2007 Houston Junior Boys Player of the Year. Apparently Whitsett, No. 4 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, has even bigger plans for ‘08.
“As far as specific goals for this year,” Whitsett told Houston Links, “I don’t want to share. But they’re pretty lofty goals. ... I’m really looking forward to the next level, whenever that may be.”
• Redstone will host the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open April 3-6, one week before the Masters. In preparation, Redstone has shaved banks around many of the greens to give the course an Augusta National feel.
It might not play hard and fast this week, though. It’s been raining most of the day, which will make the 7,376-yard course play even longer.
• Texas lefties Whitsett and Cody Gribble (No. 5 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings) will tee off with two-time AJGA player of the year Peter Uihlein at 8:39 a.m. off No. 1.
The next group off the first tee will feature Morgan Hoffmann, Mu Hu and Gregor Main, all of whom won AJGA invitationals in 2007. All three are in the top 15 in Golfweek’s junior rankings.
– Sean Martin Posted Feb. 15
In light of Marta Silva Zamora’s verbal commitment to Georgia, there are a couple other big international commitments to announce.:
• Fellow Spaniard Carlota Ciganda has made a verbal commitment to Arizona State. Ciganda won last year’s British Women’s Amateur, beating future teammate Anna Nordqvist, 4 and 3, in the final. Ciganda will join the Sun Devils in January 2009.
• Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer has committed to play for Florida, also in January 2009, because he hopes to represent his home country in October’s World Amateur Team Championship. Kieffer has the same home course as Sandra Gal, who played for Florida before turning pro in December, and said Gal spoke very highly of her experience in Gainesville.
Kieffer won the 2006 European Young Masters, and played well in several recent tournaments in the U.S. Kieffer finished T-6 in stroke play at the 2007 Polo Golf Junior Classic and advanced to the Round of 16. He also finished T-4 at the Junior Orange Bowl in December and T-8 at the Dixie Amateur earlier this year.
Ciganda and Kieffer were teammates on the 2006 Junior Ryder Cup team.
– Sean Martin Posted Feb. 14
Marta Silva Zamora, one of the last big-name players left from the class of 2008, verbally committed to Georgia. That’s huge for the Bulldogs, who are losing Alina Lee one year early. Zamora, No. 10 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, recently won the Verizon Junior Heritage.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted Feb. 11
Last year, Tadd Fujikawa followed his Sony Open success by winning Hawaii’s Pearl Open. The professional version of Fujikawa won’t be back to defend his title because he’s playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
There will still be plenty of teens on hand, most notably Stephanie Kono. The first-team AJGA All-American will give it a shot against the men professionals, according to the Honolulu Advertiser.
Ryo Ishikawa, who won a Japan Tour event last year as a 15-year-old amateur, will play his second pro event at the Pearl.
Lorens Chan, 13, will also be in the field. Earlier this year, Chan almost became the youngest player to participate in a PGA Tour event before losing a playoff to Alex Ching in the Sony Open’s amateur qualifier.
Chan might not be the youngest player in the Pearl field, though. Twelve-year-old Masamichi Ito will try to qualify for the event after missing by three shots last year.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 31
The Fields Open (Feb. 21-23) sent out a
press release announcing Michelle Wie and U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up Ayaka Kaneko as its 2008
sponsor exemptions. Just how far has Ko Olina Golf Club’s “adopted
daughter” fallen in the last year? In the subject line of the e-mail,
her named was spelled “Wei.” Ouch.
Kaneko is No. 2 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and will attend Pepperdine this fall.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted Jan. 29
The absence of the Junior Players Championship was a glaring omission when the AJGA announced its 2008 schedule. The event was a huge success its first year, attracting one of the year’s best fields to the famed TPC Sawgrass. Well, the Junior Players will be back. The 2008 edition will be played Aug. 29-Sept. 1. Also confirmed was the Polo Golf Junior Classic’s return to Ginn Reunion Resort outside Orlando.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 28
There’s no cover jinx at Junior Extra. Oscar Sharpe won the FCWT Leadbetter Open Jan. 27, his third victory in six starts but first since October. It was a sweep by Great Britain & Ireland at the Leadbetter Open, as Scotland’s Sally Watson, Golfweek’s 19th-ranked junior, won the girls title.
• Sharpe had finished outside the top 10 in his past three starts before winning last week, but that’s nothing compared to the improvement made by Parker Clowers, who won the FCWT Sea Island Open with a 3-over 147 total, 22 shots lower than last year. He shot 83-86 in 2007 to finish T-55.
• Back to international players. New Zealand’s Danny Lee has risen to No. 5 in the Golfweek/Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings after a 10-shot victory at the Lake Macquarie Amateur in Australia. Lee is the highest-ranked junior in the SPWAR (Peter Uihlein is the highest-ranked American junior at No. 15).
Lee, 17, shot 20 under par at Lake Macquarie to tie the tournament record and beat a field that included Australia’s top amateurs and England's Gary Wolstenholme.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 28
A couple random observations:
– PGA Tour rookie Brad Adamonis is in second place at the Buick Invitational after shooting 66 Thursday at Torrey Pines’ North Course. The Rhode Island native may have fond memories of the San Diego area. He won the 11-12 age division at the 1985 Junior Worlds. Adamonis is a stroke ahead of the guy who won the 9-10 age division in ‘85, Tiger Woods.
– Michael Jae Woo Im, No. 24 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, won a mini-tour event Jan. 20 at Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda, Calif. What’s better than the $150 pro shop voucher he earned for his even-par 72? Beating his older brother and former Pac-10 champ Daniel, who shot 73.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 24
It was a good week for the children of Czech tennis players. First, Isabelle Lendl became the second consecutive offspring of former World No. 1 Ivan Lendl to win the Ione D. Jones/Doherty Tournament. It was a good start to the year for Isabelle, who struggled in 2007 and fell to No. 39 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Three Lendls – Marika, Isabelle and Daniela – made match play at the Doherty. Isabelle beat Marika, the Doherty’s defending champion, in the semifinals and Daniela in the second round.
Cyril Suk, the son of the former Grand Slam doubles champion of the same name, scored his first FCWT victory in six starts this season at the Innisbrook Open, going wire-to-wire to win by three shots (69-71-73). Suk is No. 150 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and No. 4 in the Class of 2011.
Jessica Korda, No. 41 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and No. 2 in the Class of 2011, is the daughter of Petr Korda. In 1985, Petr Korda and the elder Suk formed the world’s top-ranked junior doubles team.
Like the Lendls, Suk and Korda attend the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 21
Congrats to Kimberly Kim and Mina Harigae for being named to the U.S. Curtis Cup team.
Kim will be just 16 when the match tees off at the Old Course at St. Andrews May30-June 1. She might not be the youngest player at the match, though.
That honor could go to Scotland’s Carly Booth, who has a strong chance of being named to Great Britain & Ireland’s team. Booth, 15, won Scotland’s U-18 and U-21 championships and the European Young Masters in 2007. Booth would be the youngest participant in GB&I history.
In 2005, then-Ladies Golf Union secretary Andy Salmon called Booth the U.K.’s version of Michelle Wie (that was a compliment back then).
Sally Watson, 16, also has a good shot at making the team. Watson, who attends the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, was medalist in stroke-play qualifying for the British Girls’ Amateur and made the cut at the Ricoh Women’s British Open. She is No. 20 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Both Watson and Booth are on the 16-player training squad, from which most of the eight-player team will be selected. Watson and Booth’s chances were helped recently when fellow squad member Jenna Wilson turned pro.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 17
I just got off the phone with Jane Rah. She hasn't committed to a college yet, but has narrowed her choices down to UCLA and USC. Because she knows the area so well and likes both coaches, the deciding factor for her will be who is on both teams. She plans on making a decision later this summer.
Rah is No. 6 in the latest Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, and No. 3 in the Class of 2009.
Tiffany Lua, No. 5 in the rankings, called Carrie Forsyth Dec. 26 to tell her she was coming to UCLA. She visited Duke, USC, UCLA, Cal and Stanford.
Twelth-ranked Courtney Ellenbogen told Dan Brooks the news in mid-December. She had it
narrowed down to Duke, Stanford and Virginia before joining the dynasty.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Jan. 7
Alexis Thompson win at the Dixie Amateur was another impressive feat for the 12-year-old, but the runner-up – Shelby Coyle – should be given a lot of credit.
The 15-year-old from Pembroke Pines, Fla., appears to have made a large leap in her game in the past month. Two weeks before the Dixie, she finished T-12 at the Doral-Publix Junior Classic. Coyle shot 15-over 299 (74-74-76-75) at the Dixie and was tied with Thompson for the lead halfway through the tournament.
That’s pretty impressive considering Coyle had a 79.3 scoring average this season while competing on the Florida Junior Tour’s 13-15 age division.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 7
Lindy Duncan is good friends with Vicky Hurst. Now she’ll be following Hurst’s footsteps to the LPGA’s Ginn Open.
Hurst played in the event in 2007 on a sponsor exemption. Duncan, No. 20 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, won the “Ginn Open Got Game Challenge” Sunday to earn her spot. Duncan may be best known for making the semifinals of the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur as a 15-year-old.
Duncan, who'll turn 17 later this month, shot 74-69 at Ginn Reunion Resort, then won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with pro Sookhee Baek, who shot a final-round 74. The Ginn Open will be held April 17-20.
Golfweek Junior Invitational champion Stephanie Kim and Rachel Rohanna, Golfweek’s 81st-ranked junior, earned spots in the tournament’s qualifier April 15 by being the next two highest amateurs.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 6
It’s been discussed for months, but now it seems one of the Class of 2009’s best players has chosen a college. Courtney Ellenbogen, No. 12 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, has made a verbal commitment to Duke, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Ellenbogen, from Blacksburg, Va., is a first-team AJGA All-American. She won three AJGA events this year – including the Rolex Tournament of Champions – and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, missing the cut by a shot.
– Sean Martin
Posted Jan. 2
Blog Jr. wants to take a second to pat itself on the back. Victoria Tanco is in second place after shooting 70 in the opening round of the Junior Orange Bowl. If you’re not familiar with the 13-year-old Argentinean, scroll down two posts.
Tanco – one shot off the lead of Korea’s Jung-Eun Han – beat the likes of Courtney Ellenbogen, Alexis Thompson, Michelle Shin and the Lendl sisters Friday.
In the boys’ division, Oklahoma State-bound Sean Einhaus leads by two after a first-round 65. He’s two shots ahead of Mathieu Rivard, who finished second last week at Doral. Morgan Hoffmann, another future Cowboy, is another shot back.
Last year’s Orange Bowl featured one of the best leaderboards of the year. Sihwan Kim finished a shot ahead of Peter Uihlein. Western Amateur champ Jhared Hack, Hoffmann and David Chung rounded out the top 5.
That got me thinking. Sihwan Kim quietly put together one of the best junior careers in history (even though he never won an AJGA player of the year award). His eight AJGA victories tied him for second all-time. He won the U.S. Junior, Rolex Tournament of Champions, Orange Bowl and three consecutive times at the AJGA event at Mission Hills (one of the circuit’s original stops).
Kim, now a freshman at Stanford, is No. 21 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
– Sean Martin
Posted Dec. 27
Alexis Thompson is only 12 years old but has already successfully defended a prestigious junior title.
Thompson, No. 20 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, shot 69 Sunday to win her second consecutive Doral-Publix Junior Classic. She finished at 3-under 213, three shots ahead of Kristina Wong, medalist at this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur and No. 25 in Golfweek’s junior rankings.
Thompson’s winning total this year is a six-shot improvement from last year, when she won by a shot over Mitsuki Katahira.
Thompson was probably helped by a growth spurt that now has her standing at 5-foot-8, more than three inches taller than last year. The increased height has given Thompson more length off the tee.
Norway’s Are Friestad shot 8-under 208 to win the boys’ title by six shots over Canada’s Mathieu Rivard and Mexico’s Mauricio Azcue, No. 21 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. Friestad, a high school sophomore, was a member of last year’s European Junior Ryder Cup team.
Azcue, who shot a final-round 67, has signed a letter of intent to play for UCLA next fall. Rivard, who graduated high school in 2007, had signed a letter of intent to play for SMU starting this fall.
– Sean Martin
Posted Dec. 23
Here’s a name to remember – Victoria Tanco. The 13-year-old from Buenos Aires posted an 11-shot victory Friday in the girls’ 12-13 division at the Doral-Publix Junior Classic.
Tanco shot 69-67 to finish at 8-under 136. Tanco also won the girls’ 13-14 division at this year’s Junior Worlds and the 12-13 flight at last year’s Optimist International Junior Championship.
The Optimist victory was another 11-shot romp after she posted a 202 total (64-71-67).
– Sean Martin
Posted Dec. 21
Michelle Wie, Tadd Fujikawa and Alex Ching. Not familiar with the third name? Well, Ching, a former classmate of Wie’s at Punahou High School, is about to join the first two as Hawaiian teens to tee it up in the Sony Open.
Ching, 17, got in by being the low amateur at local qualifying. Fujikawa, who finished T-20 in 2006, will play on a sponsor exemption.
Ching, winner of this year's Optimist International Junior Championship and Junior America’s Cup, will play for Tim Mickelson at the University of San Diego next fall.
Ching also plays tennis for Punahou, the defending state champions.
– Sean Martin
Posted Dec. 20
Alexis Thompson’s victory as an 11-year-old at last year’s Doral-Publix Junior Golf Classic was one of the first times she made major headlines.
Thompson, now 12, will look a lot different when she defends her Doral title later this week. She’s grown more than 3 inches since last year and is now 5-foot-8, according to an article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
“My dad likes that,” Thompson said. “He wants me taller, taller, taller.”
The added height could lead to even bigger things for Thompson, No. 20 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
“She’s gotten stronger, and she’s longer off the tee,” Thompson’s father, Scott, said. “She’s growing like a weed.”
– Sean Martin
Posted Dec. 19
Tadd Fujikawa finally has a sponsor. He’s going to play Pebble, too.
According to the the Honolulu Advertiser, Fujikawa, the
16-year-old who stole the show at last year’s Sony Open and then turned
pro in July, announced Monday that he has accepted an invitation to
play in next season’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He has
also signed a one-year deal with his first corporate sponsor, Aloha
Petroleum Ltd.
The deal “gives me a little breathing room,” Fujikawa told the Advertiser.
“It’s going to help with a lot of my travel expenses and things like
that,” said Fujikawa. “It’s definitely going to help my game get
better.”
Since giving up his amateur status, Fujikawa has yet to make the cut in a professional event.
– Eric Soderstrom
Posted Dec. 18
A few things you know, a few things you may not about Dustin Johnson,
the former U.S. Walker Cup star who just earned his PGA Tour card on
his first try this week at Q-School:
• Johnson played only six American Junior Golf Association events as a
junior. (His best finish was a tie for 10th at the 2001 Greater
Greensboro Chrysler Junior.) He spent most of his time on the men’s
amateur circuit around South Carolina.
• Johnson went to Coastal Carolina to play for coach Alan Terrell, who
never tried to change Johnson’s un-textbook swing, which leaves his
club face pretty closed at impact.
• Says Terrell, who Johnson still counts as his swing coach (He isn’t
quick to trust anyone else with his unorthodox swing): “He knows he’s
beating most everyone else on the planet with it, so there’s no reason
to change it.”
How good is Bjorn Akesson? Well, the recent Polo champ has moved up to No. 30 in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings and No. 19 in the R&A’s rankings.
Those are rankings for all amateurs worldwide, not just juniors.
– Sean Martin Posted Nov. 24
It’s a question that’s been raised time and time again as youth sports (including golf) become more competitive: Should players specialize in one sport?
Jack Nicklaus contributed his $.02 recently when he said, “You see kids specialize in golf. I think that is idiotic.”
Russell Henley, who plays now at Georgia, and Allie White, an AJGA first-team All-American, are notable players who competed in other sports in high school. But they’re the exception, not the rule.
Playing other sports can pay off, helping kids avoid burnout and develop different motor skills. But every day a player isn’t on the course, one of their competitors is.
In what happens to be the most improbable outcome in Junior Extra Fantasy Golf history, Eric Soderstrom and Dan Mirocha ended the season in a tie.
Each finished with 510 points. Sean Martin finished with 455 points.
At last word, Soderstrom and Mirocha were still locked in a dance-off to decide the winner.
– Junior Exta Staff Posted Nov. 25, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. – The match that wouldn’t end just ended: AJGA Player of the Year Vicky Hurst escapes again, and is headed to the finals of the Polo Golf Junior Classic.
How?
Stephanie Kono missed a 4-footer for par on the 28th hole. It lipped out on the left side, only leaving Kono to wonder if someone is playing a trick on her.
Last year, Kono lost her semifinal match to last year’s Player of the Year, Esther Choe, on the 21st hole.
– Eric Soderstrom Posted Nov. 23
Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update (Finale edition):
This just in: The semifinals at the Polo Golf Junior Classic are currently being played, but if Kimberly Kim and Vicky Hurst make it to the girls’ final, we have an improbable set of circumstances on hand for the 2007 conclusion of Junior Extra Fantasy Golf.
Thanks to picking both medalists correctly this week, Eric Soderstrom has put himself into prime position for the comeback of the year. However, Dan Mirocha still has a great chance to hold on for the title. Here is the breakdown:
• If Hurst makes it to the finals and Kim loses in the semis: Mirocha wins. • If Kim makes it to the finals and Hurst loses: Soderstrom wins. • If both Hurst and Kim make it to the finals and Kim wins: Soderstrom wins. • If both Hurst and Kim make it to the finals and Hurst wins: Tie game. • Note: Sean Martin can not win.
Can you dig it?
Happy Turkey Day, everyone.
– Junior Extra staff Posted Nov. 22
ORLANDO, Fla. – Here’s a list of coaches hanging out at this week’s Polo Golf Junior Classic, most of whom signed in with the AJGA upon arrival this week. I’ve seen a few coaches from top schools who didn’t sign in, which means this list probably isn’t even complete. I’ve been to a lot of these invitationals, but I don’t ever remember seeing this many coaches.
I guess they either really like Disney World, or heard about the hype surrounding the churros here at Ginn Reunion Resort.
Mens’ coaches: Brandon Goethals, Pacific; Bill Montigel, TCU; Sam Puryear, Michigan State; Scott Schroeder, North Florida; Jordan Byrd, Clemson (assistant); Jay Hardwick, Virginia Tech; Mike McGraw, Oklahoma State; Chris Gougenheim, Texas A&M (assistant); Bowen Sargent, Virginia; Derek Freeman, UCLA; O.D. Vincent, Duke; Don Hill, North Carolina (assistant); Conrad Ray, Stanford; Ernest Ross, Ole Miss; David Shuster, Houston Baptist; Michael Burcin, South Carolina; Andrew Crabtree, Tulsa (assistant); Randy Lein, Arizona State; Jay Seawell, Alabama; Chris Zambri, USC; Jamie Green, Charlotte; John Fields, Texas; Chris Malloy, Florida State (assistant); Buddy Alexander, Florida; Bruce Heppler, Georgia Tech; Zach Guthrie, Illinois (assistant); Jeff Thomas, Liberty; Steve Bailey, Northwestern; Drew Scott, Rice; Ryan Cabbage, Auburn (assistant); Mike Phillips, Emory; Brad Sparling, Ohio State (assistant); Chris Haack, Georgia; Dwaine Knight, UNLV.
Women’s coaches: Mic Potter, Alabama; Andrea Gaston, USC; Marci Kornegay, South Florida; Katie Quinney, Florida State (assistant); Paul Gooden, James Madison; Pina Gentile, Iowa State (assistant); Renee Slone, Illinois; Kathy Teichert, Michigan; Carrie Forsyth, UCLA; Sally Austin, North Carolina; Ria Quiazon, San Francisco; Laura Matthews, Oklahoma State; Kelly Hester, Georgia; Sara Doell, Penn State (assistant); Katie Brophy, Indiana (assistant); Emily Milberger, Oklahoma (assistant); Kyle Veltri, Notre Dame (assistant); Michele Drinkard, Ole Miss; Kristi Coggins, South Carolina; Courtney Trimble, Auburn (assistant); Golda Johansson, LSU (assistant); Shelly Haywood, Arizona; Trelle McCombs, Texas A&M; Todd Oehrlein, Wisconsin; Emilee Klein, UCF; Amy Langhals, Ohio State (assistant coach); Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, Michigan State; Martha Richards, Texas; Jill Briles-Hinton, Florida; Mike Akers, Texas State; Lori Tate, TCU (assistant); J.T. Horton, Tulane; Dianne Dailey, Wake Forest.
– Eric Soderstrom Posted Nov. 21
ORLANDO, Fla. – Highlights from my interview with U.S. Junior champ Cory Whitsett, following his second round of stroke-play qualifying from the Polo Golf Junior classic:
• “Just coughed up a bunch of green crap this morning.” (He woke up this morning feeling sick and didn’t feel much better after the round.)
• “No, because people don’t remember my seed at the U.S. Junior, they just remember who won.” (After being asked if he cared about being medalist.) • “12, I think.” (After being asked what seed he was at the U.S. Junior.)
• “No. It’s a totally different golf course. There aren’t as many risk/reward holes where the match can swing as much. It’s a lot harder to frustrate people out here, because that golf course (Boone Valley Golf Club) was much more demanding off the tee. I don’t think there will be many blowouts.” (After being asked if his U.S. Junior experience gives him an advantage.)
• “I don’t know about me right now, but I’d say for Gregor (Main) definitely.” (After being asked if he is the favorite.)
– Eric Soderstrom Posted Nov. 20 ORLANDO, Fla. – A day after missing the cut at the phenom-filled ADT Championship,
Annika Sorenstam drove home to Orlando, Fla., to hang out with
teenagers. She was the special guest Sunday night at the American
Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet,
which was held in the Grande Ballroom at Ginn Reunion Resort, home to
the Annika Academy, the LPGA’s Ginn Open and this week’s AJGA Polo Golf
Junior Classic.
“Without (the AJGA) we wouldn’t have all these great juniors,”
Sorenstam said during a brief speech. “I can tell you that because they
beat me every week on tour. I used to be the young one, and now I’m
called the crusty old veteran...”
Her appearance at what is often billed as “the greatest night in junior
golf” only makes one wonder if the new, diversified Annika is looking
to someday play a bigger role than just featured speaker.
– Eric Soderstrom Posted Nov. 19
Somebody get Micah Jacobsen a sponsor exemption for the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic. The high school senior from Fernandina Beach, Fla., owns the Champion course at PGA National, having won two events there in two weeks.
First came the FCWT PGA National Open Nov. 3-4, where he shot 1-under 143 (72-71) to beat China’s Zhong Yang Fu by a shot. Then Jacobsen won the Optimist International Tournament of Champions this weekend. He shot 2-under 142 (69-73) for a four-shot victory over Cyril Suk.
Jacobsen, No. 105 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, shot par or better three times in those four rounds and has a 71.25 scoring average.
Posted at 8:29 p.m. Nov. 19 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update (Finale edition):
Picks for this week's season-ending Polo Golf Junior Classic (half points for stroke-play qualifying):
Dan Mirocha (445 points): Pontus Widegren (medalist) – He got funky in the first round at the Junior Players and will get equally as funky early at the Polo. Luke Guthrie (winner) – Still salty from his second-round loss at the U.S. Junior to Wesley Graham, Guthrie steamrolls to victory never seeing the 18th hole.
Stephanie Kono (medalist) – Girls’ Junior semifinalist goes low and makes an ace on Tuesday. Vicky Hurst (winner) – Wins the Ping Invitational, then wins the AJGA player of the year, then wins the Futures Tour Q-School, then wins the Golfweek Rock, Paper Scissors Championship (coming soon on GolfweekTV). She’s the like the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics rolled into a Kangol hat.
Eric Soderstrom (420): Gregor Main (medalist), Cory Whitsett (winner). Vicky Hurst (medalist), Kim Kim (winner). Sean Martin (410): Cory Whitsett (medalist), Bud Cauley (winner). Vicky Hurst (medalist), Mina Hariage (winner). • • • Point system: For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points).
For stroke play, win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 10:25 p.m. Nov. 18 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com.
Christmas comes early for college coaches with the opening of the early signing period today. Several new commitments have been announced, highlighted by a couple of Californians.
Derek Ernst, who’s headed to UNLV, may be ranked 60th in the senior class, but that doesn’t factor in his play at the U.S. Amateur, where he beat Florida’s Billy Horschel en route to the Round of 16.
Kylie Fuller, No. 26 in the class, is going to Northwestern.
Posted at 10:29 p.m. Nov. 14 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Vicky Hurst is undecided about whether to turn pro or go to college. She may have made up her mind after earning medalist honors this week at Duramed Futures Tour Q-School. At least that’s the way it sounds from her post-round quotes.
“It’s like starting my career,” she said. “Playing this qualifier and winning it kind of starts everything with a bang. Now I also know where I stand.
“I’m probably leaning toward turning pro, but anything can change."
Said runner-up Sara Brown, “I’d be surprised if she goes to college and if she doesn’t, I can’t say that I blame her. She’s ready (for the pros) now.”
Posted at 9:18 p.m. Nov. 9 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Mu Hu, No. 14 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, made his annual appearance in the HSBC Champions, a European Tour and Asian Tour co-sanctioned event in his native China. Hu was in last place by two shots after a first-round 83, but the HP Boys Junior winner rebounded with a second-round 71.
Hu was hurt by a front-nine 45 the first day. He had five birdies and an eagle 2 on the par-4 13th in the second round.
Posted at 12:18 p.m. Nov. 9 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Vicky Hurst may be the AJGA player of the year, but last week she came up short in her defense of her Florida 1-A high school title. She finished two shots behind freshman Kyle Roig, who is No. 91 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Hurst has also set a deadline to decide whether she will turn pro or go to college. She will not sign during the early signing period that begins this month, according to an article in Florida Today, but will make a decision by the end of December.
Hurst has narrowed her list of potential colleges to Duke, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Florida and Georgia. Hurst’s older sister, Kelly, plays for Florida.
Vicky Hurst, No. 4 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, is scheduled to play this week in Duramed Futures Tour Qualifying School.
Golfweek Junior Invitational winner Julian Suri won a Florida state title of his own last week.
Posted at 12:18 p.m. Nov. 5 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com How’s this for a golf name? Karsten Majors.
The high school junior from Bixby, Okla., shares the same first name as the founder of Ping (Karsten Solheim) and Oklahoma State’s home course (Karsten Creek). And who wouldn’t like to win a few majors?
Well, this weekend he walked away with one of the biggest tournaments in the Midwest - the Red River Rivalry, which features the best juniors from Texas and Oklahoma. He shot 4-under 136 at Dornick Hills Country Club in Ardmore, Okla., to finish ahead of some big names like Jordan Spieth (No. 50 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings), Josh Jones (No. 18) and Sang Yi (No. 14).
Posted at 8:31 p.m. Oct. 29 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Oscar Sharpe is living up to the hype. Sharpe is something of a wunderkind in his native England, but recently started attending the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Sharpe won his first start since moving to the U.S. with a victory Sept. 23 at the Tampa Bay Open. He made it 2-for-2 this weekend at the Westchase Classic. The 15-year-old shot 71-70 to win by two shots. He made only one bogey in 36 holes.
He’s received high praise in his home country.
“Becoming the best in the world has been mentioned and there’s no reason for Oscar not to set his sights on that,” said Peter McEvoy, a former British Amateur champion and Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cupper. “I don’t think any player of his age has ever been better than Oscar is now and I would include Nick Faldo in that.”
Speaking of young phenoms, 11-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn shot 9-over 297 at the Honda LPGA Thailand to finish T-51. She finished ahead of names like Lorie Kane and Ai Miyazato. Posted at 4:48 p.m. Oct. 29 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com
Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update:
Results after the Golfweek Junior Invitational:
Dan Mirocha (Matt Carroll, Marta Silva) finally scores after going three events in a row without any points. Gracias, Marta Silva. ¡Viva España! 445 points.
Eric Soderstrom (Jacob Burger, Stephanie Meadow) gets 10 points with Burger’s T-8. 420 points.
Sean Martin (Patrick Winther, Marta Silva) picks up 25 points, but stays in third place with 410 points. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Picks for the Golfweek Junior:
Dan Mirocha(425 points): Matt Carroll, Marta Silva Eric Soderstrom (410): Jacob Burger, Stephanie Meadow Sean Martin (385): Patrick Winther, Marta Silva • • •
Remaining fantasy point events: Polo Golf Junior Championship • • • Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 6:13 p.m. Oct. 26 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com.
Ariya Jutanukarn, 11, qualified for this week's Honda LPGA Thailand to become the youngest player ever to play in a major international tour event. She shot 75 in the first round, and is tied with or ahead of 19 players.
Posted at 7:58 p.m. Oct. 26 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com The St. Augustine Amateur is one of about 50 events included in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings, but its leaderboard looks more like it's from an AJGA invitational.
Wesley Graham, Mu Hu, Bud Cauley, Julian Suri and Tommy Chung Hao Mou are all in the top 50 in Golfweek’s junior rankings and in the top 10 after the first round of the St. Augustine, which was played today at St. Johns Golf Club.
Graham and Hu are two of three co-leaders after shooting 3-under 67. Graham had five birdies and no bogeys in his first 13 holes, but made a double bogey on the 16th. Hu, who outdueled Graham at the HP in Orlando, had a more up-and-down day. He made seven birdies and four bogeys.
Cauley also got bit by No. 16. He made double there on the way to a 1-under 69. Suri was steady, making one birdie and one bogey in his 70, while Mou is another shot off the lead.
Defending champ Peter Uihlein actually won this event before claiming his first invitational. He’s not in the field because he’s representing his country next week at The Spirit International Amateur (see previous blog entry).
Posted at 7:58 p.m. Oct. 19 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Kimberly Kim, Golfweek’s top-ranked junior girl, has said she’ll always consider herself Hawaiian, partly because it sounds cooler to say you’re from the Aloha State instead of Arizona.
She’ll return to Hawaii next month for the inaugural Hawaii-Japan Junior Cup, after being awarded one of the special exemptions for the Ryder Cup-style team competition. Kim moved to the mainland before her freshman year of high school. Elyse Okada, No. 53 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, will be one of Kim's teammates.
“It will be nice to have Kimberly Kim back home in Hawaii playing with her peers,” Mary Bea Porter-King, president of the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, told the HonoluluAdvertiser. Posted at 5:22 p.m. Oct. 18 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Peter Uihlein, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, and U.S. Junior champ Cory Whitsett will represent the U.S. at the The Spirit International Amateur, Oct. 24-27 at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas. The Spirit is a 72-hole four-ball competition featuring 24 countries.
Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst and UCLA’s Tiffany Joh will also represent the U.S.
Several other juniors will represent their countries:
• Sean Einhaus, who’ll join Uihlein at Oklahoma State in fall 2008, will play for Germany alongside fellow 17-year-old Maximillian Kieffer. Kieffer was the runner-up at this year’s German Amateur.
• Stanislav Matus, winner of the FCWT’s World Woods Rolling Oaks Classic last weekend, will represent the Czech Republic, as will Jessica Korda. She is No. 24 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and No. 2 in the Class of 2011.
• Kyle Roig, No. 91 in Golfweek’s rankings, will play for Puerto Rico. Roig is No. 4 in the Class of 2011.
Posted at 1:32 p.m. Oct. 16 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com James Leadbetter doesn’t have to go far for good instruction. He’s the son of famed swing instructor David Leadbetter. That kind of guidance led to victory in the boys 11-12 division Sunday at the FCWT World Woods Rolling Oaks Open. He shot 70-80 to win by seven. The 12-year-old had 10 birdies in the two rounds.
Posted at 4:28 p.m. Oct. 15 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com A couple post-Ping observations:
• Round of the week goes to David Zickler. He didn’t pack it in after opening with scores of 89-84. Instead, he birdied two of his final three holes to shoot 72. The Alabaman was the only player to match par in the final round.
• I bet players are happy the next AJGA invitational – the Polo Golf Junior Classic – is match play. Plenty of high scores have been posted at the invitationals, and The Ping was no different. The boys’ field averaged 78.1 strokes per round at Karsten Creek, while the girls averaged 77.9.
• There were a couple of firsts at the AJGA’s Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic, also held earlier this week. It was the AJGA’s first open event in Mexico, and 12-year-old Pearl Jin won in her AJGA debut.
Jin first made news at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, when she became the youngest player in tournament history to make match play. She lost to fellow 12-year-old Alexis Thompson in the second round.
Jin is the sixth girl from the Class of 2013 to win an AJGA event this year: – Karen Chung, Livingston, N.J. (Junior All-Star at Jacksonville) – Simin Feng, Orlando, Fla. (Junior All-Star at Toftrees) – Alison Lee, Valencia, Calif. (Junior All-Star at Marshallia Ranch) – Alexis Thompson, Coral Springs, Fla. (Aldila Junior Classic) – Julie Yang, Phoenix, Ariz. (Randy Smith Classic) – Pearl Jin, San Gabriel, Calif. (Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic)
Vicki Goetze’s record for youngest winner of an AJGA event (11 years, 11 months and 29 days) will never be broken because players must be 12 to enter AJGA events. But the next five on the youngest-to-win list all are from this year (Yang, Chung, Thompson, Feng and Jin). Chung and Feng got their wins at Junior All-Star events.
• Stephanie Kim, No. 76 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, posted a 15-shot victory this past weekend at the IJGT stop at Mystic Dunes. It was the third victory in a Golfweek ranked event in the past four weekends for Kim, who is from Bayside, N.Y., but resides in Orlando. Her average winning margin in those three events is eight shots.
She won the Florida Junior Tour’s event at Ocean Hammock one week earlier and its stop at Summerfield Crossings Sept. 15-16. Kim shot a final-round 64 in the latter – despite a two-shot penalty for hitting the wrong ball – to set the tour’s 18- and 36-hole scoring records. Posted at 11:33 a.m. Oct. 10 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Results after The Ping Invitational:
Dan Mirocha (Morgan Hoffmann, Alexis Thompson) went scoreless for the third consecutive tournament, but still holds the lead with 425 points.
Eric Soderstrom (William Kropp, Tiffany Lua) had his sights set on the top early Monday, but late mistakes from Kropp and Lua kept him 15 points behind with 410 points.
Sean Martin (Sang Yi, Mina Harigae) is in third with 385 points. Yee-haw.
• • •
Remaining fantasy point events: Golfweek Junior Polo Golf Junior Championship • • • Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 5:41 p.m. Oct. 8 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. Talk about a star-studded threesome. Peter Uihlein, Morgan Hoffmann and Cory Whitsett will tee off at 8:54 a.m. in the first round of the Ping Invitational Saturday at Karsten Creek Golf Club.
Why do I have a feeling Peter and Morgan will spend a lot of that time trying to sell Cory on the merits of Oklahoma State? That’s of course when the two future Cowboys aren’t talking smack to each other.
Posted at 8:42 a.m. Oct. 6 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Picks for The Ping Invitational:
Dan Mirocha(425 points): Morgan Hoffmann, Alexis Thompson Eric Soderstrom (385): William Kropp, Tiffany Lua Sean Martin (380): Sang Yi, Mina Harigae
• • •
Remaining fantasy point events: Golfweek Junior Polo Golf Junior Championship • • • Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 9:19 p.m. Oct. 5 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. Jennifer Johnson, the No. 6 player in the Class of 2009, has made a verbal commitment to Arizona State.
Johnson may be one of the most underrated players in the country. The quiet Californian has won three of her past four AJGA starts – at the Mission Hills Desert Junior, Fidelity Investments Stars of Texas Junior and Ping Phoenix Junior.
Johnson is No. 14 overall in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
More and more juniors are making early commitments, and it’s not just the boys. Johnson’s commitment comes just a couple weeks after Rachel Morris – a high school sophomore – made a commitment to Southern California. Posted at 3:22 p.m. Oct. 3 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Cheyenne Woods, Tiger’s niece, has made her verbal commitment. She’s going to Wake Forest.
Woods’ last name draws the most attention, but she’s an accomplished player in her own right. She's No. 49 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and finished third against a strong field at last month’s AJGA Ping Phoenix Junior. She won last year’s Arizona state high school title while helping Xavier Prep to its 25th state championship.
Posted at 3:42 p.m. Sept. 26 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Maybe there’s some light at the end of the tunnel for Andrew Yun.
Yun shot a final-round 69 Sunday at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course to win the Arizona Stroke Play Championship by seven shots over Bryan Hoops and Pacific Coast Amateur champion Michael Knight.
Yun finished at even-par 288, rebounding from an opening 76 with three consecutive rounds of par or better.
Yun won two AJGA invitationals last year, but has just one top-10 in an AJGA event this year and has finished outside the top 25 in four of his past five starts. He’s fallen to No. 30 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Yun told me at the Rolex Tournament of Champions that he’d been struggling with swing changes.
“I was trying to be more clean, take out the extra movement, but the extra movement is what made my swing,” he said. “I was timing it perfectly. As long as you know where the ball is going at impact, you’re fine.
“Now that I’ve noticed what I’ve done wrong, I’ve tried to fix it. I’ve gone through a valley, I’ve hit rock bottom. I’m coming back up that mountain.”
Posted at 10:16 p.m. Sept. 23 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Give Patrick Winther an ‘A’ for effort this weekend at the IJGT tournament at ChampionsGate (Fla.) Resort.
Winther has moved up to No. 13 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings thanks to his domination of the IJGT. Last season, he won five of 14 starts, was runner-up another six times, and finished outside the top 3 just once.
He was on pace for his worst finish after a first-round 78 at ChampionsGate’s International course, his first IJGT tournament of the season. Winther was 1 over after a bogey on No. 6 in the second round, then made birdie on eight of his final 12 holes for a 68. He finished third at 2-over 146, one shot out of a playoff.
Winther only had one par over that stretch, mixing in three bogeys with those eight birdies.
Posted at 6:32 p.m. Sept. 23 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com This puts the ‘early’ into early commitment. Rachel Morris, No. 2 in the Class of 2010, has already committed to Southern California, according to the North County Times. She’s the first high school sophomore (boy or girl) that I know of to already make a commitment. And we thought Cody Gribble was on the ball.
Posted at 6:11 p.m. Sept. 19 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Another reminder why we love Tadd Fujikawa. The kid can bottle lightning.
Playing in the Nationwide’s Boise Open, Fujikawa, who started his day on the 10th hole, came to the 133-yard, par-3 17th even-par on the day. His tee shot landed behind the hole, spun back and fell directly into the hole for an ace.
That infectious smile spread across his face, and he tossed his club in the air.
The spirited teen – who recorded a double eagle from 285 yards in the European Masters two weeks ago – finished the day at 1-under 70.
No word yet on if he won a car or has his license for that matter. Posted at 7:25 p.m. Sept. 19 by assistant editor Ray McCarthy. To reach him e-mail mailto:rmccarthy@golfweek.com HALMSTED, Sweden – Thank goodness for the Junior Solheim Cup teams. Without them, the atmosphere would have been dead on the first tee for the start of the Solheim Cup.
The two teams gathered behind the first tee at around 7:30 a.m. and whooped it up big time from then until the last foursomes match went off at 8:50. They sang songs, cheered individual players and even hailed the caddies.
The European team may have won the Junior Solheim Cup, but they lost the singing battle.
The Europeans turned up with song sheets and looked like they’d spent all their time working on their games rather than the songs. The U.S. kids had no such problem. They could have passed for a cheerleading team.
Their song choices were a little strange for a golf tournament. They sang “She’ll be Coming ’Round the Mountain,” “Yellow Submarine” and a version of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back,” with “putts” replacing “butts” in the line “We like big putts and we cannot lie...” – Go figure!
Still, it made for the sort of brilliant, convivial atmosphere you don’t get at the Ryder Cup. Well done kids.
Posted at 12:11 p.m. Sept. 14 by senior writer Alistair Tait. To reach him e-mail mailto:atait@golfweek.com U.S. Girls' Junior runner-up Ayaka Kaneko has made a verbal commitment to Pepperdine. Kaneko, of Honolulu, is No. 4 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. Click here to see the rest of the Class of 2008's commitments.
Posted at 12:38 p.m. Sept. 8 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com More from Tadd. He shot 77-75 at the European Masters to miss the cut by eight shots, but he closed the tournament in style. The Taddster holed a 3-wood shot from 285 yards to make double eagle on the 632-yard, par-5 9th, his final hole of the event.
“A happy memory, for sure,” he said. “I was pretty sure it would be on the green at least. But I didn't know it would go in the hole. I couldn't see it, but I heard it from the crowd. I could definitely tell it went in. It was pretty nice to finish like that.”
Posted at 8:24 a.m. Sept. 8 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com We have a Tadd Fujikawa sighting. He turned up in Switzerland at the European Masters. Fujikawa shot 77-75 to finish at 10-over 152 and miss the cut by eight shots. Fujikawa, who made a splash by qualifying for last year's U.S. Open and finishing T-20 in this year's Sony Open, missed the cut in his first PGA Tour event as a pro at the Reno-Tahoe Open earlier this year.
Among other youngsters turned pros, brothers Tony and Gipper Finau both missed the cut at the Nationwide Tour's Utah EnergySolutions Championship. Tony shot consecutive 74s, while Gipper shot 74-80; the cut came at 4-under 138. Gipper made the cut in this tournament last year to become the youngest player to make a Nationwide Tour cut. Tony Monday qualified for the Greater Milwaukee Open earlier this year and made the cut after a second-round 65.
Posted at 8:35 p.m. Sept. 7 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com A few items of note as perhaps the greatest junior of all time Phil Mickelson deletes my e-mail explaining to him the coincidence of him winning The Players Championship and then the Deustche Bank Championship, played the same week of the Junior Players Championship:
• The Class of 2007 will be deleted from the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings this week, so expect a lot of movement. If you think you’re better than your current ranking, just wait a few days.
• The last two times my colleague Dan Mirocha and I have done a video at an AJGA invitational, it has included the eventual champion. First, it was Mu Hu. This week, it was Morgan Hoffmann, who tried some trick shots with a few friends at TPC Sawgrass’ famous 17th hole.
Who wants to be in the next one? E-mail me. • In what year will Augusta National host its first AJGA event? Posted at 8:25 p.m. Sept. 3 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Results after the Junior Players Championship:
For the second week in a row, Mirocha gets blanked. But he still holds a sizable lead with two events to go. Martin, who scored 20 points with Bud Cauley’s third-pace finish, is just five points out of second place. Soderstrom’s Peter Uihlein pick bumped him up 10 points.
Dan Mirocha: 425 points Eric Soderstrom: 385 Sean Martin: 380 Remaining fantasy point events: Golfweek Junior (new addition) Ping Invitational Polo Golf Junior Championship
Posted at 6:47 p.m. Sept. 2 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail dmirocha@golfweek.com. U.S. Junior champ Cory Whitsett has some pretty good accomodations while he tries to tackle TPC Sawgrass at the Junior Players Championship – the home of a former NFL offensive tackle.
Whitsett is staying at the home of Tony Boselli, the first player ever selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Boselli, the No. 1 pick in the 1995 NFL draft, played seven seasons for the Jags and was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.
Posted at 1:39 p.m. Sept. 2 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Two big commitments to announce: Luke Guthrie, No. 6 in the Class of 2008, is going to stay in state and go to Illinois. No. 11 Gregor Main will join fellow Californians Taylor Travis and Alex Shi Yup Kim at UCLA. Good grabs for new coach Derek Freeman.
The only top-20 player yet to commit is No. 19 Hyun Seok Lim.
Posted at 6:45 p.m. Sept. 1 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update:
Picks for Junior Players Championship:
Dan Mirocha (425 points): Cory Whitsett. Can’t go wrong with the U.S. Junior champ. Eric Soderstrom (375): Peter Uihlein. Because he beat me by 45 shots in the junior-am, and made birdie on the final hole after I said “Make birdie here and Ill pick you.” Sean Martin (360): Bud Cauley. Here’s hoping a little local knowledge helps him deal with the pressure of TPC Sawgrass’ closing holes. Plus he’s had a heck a summer playing in amateur competitions.
Remaining fantasy point events: Ping Invitational Polo Golf Junior Championship
Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20.
Posted at 11:28 p.m. Aug. 30 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com.
It doesn’t get much better than the Junior Players Championship – one of the strongest fields of the year playing famed TPC Sawgrass.
Here’s another nice touch – the PGA Tour is providing the players with caddies from the course.
I wonder what advice they'll give to players stepping to the 17th tee for the first time.
Posted at 7:51 p.m. Aug. 30 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com
Mina Harigae is going to play against the pros. Dan Brooks, don’t worry. It’s just for a week.
Harigae, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion, will join 77 other juniors that will play alongside Champions Tour professionals at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, which starts Friday.
Harigae, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, lives in nearby Monterey. She was given one of eight exemptions by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.
The other exemptions went to Sydney Burlison, Salinas, Calif.; T.J. Kua, Honolulu, Hawaii; Tucker Harper, Pebble Beach, Calif.; David Pastore, New York; Nicko Dodd, Sugar Land, Texas; Arianna Patterson, Carmel, Calif.; Roberto Rosas, San Diego.
They will join 60 First Tee participants who qualified at the Participant Selection Process at Kansas State University and ten juniors who qualified through a regional qualifier that took place in June.
Posted at 3:39 p.m. Aug. 28 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com
Fall is in the air, which in the world of junior golf means the AJGA is winding down, while the FCWT and IJGT are preparing to start their seasons.
The International Junior Golf Tour’s 2007-08 schedule’s opens in two weeks with events in Hershey, Pa., and Hilton Head Island, S.C. The IJGT will conduct more than 60 events throughout the country at some of the nation’s top venues – including PGA West, TPC Sawgrass, Kiawah Island, La Costa and Harbour Town.
Contact the IJGT at (843) 785-2444 or visit online at www.ijgt.com.
The FCWT gets underway Sept. 22-23 with the TPC Tampa Bay Open in Florida. The FCWT also plays a nationwide schedule, and visits venues like ChampionsGate, TPC Sawgrass, Grayhawk Golf Club, site of the PGA Tour’s Fry’s Electronics Open, and Purdue’s Kampen Course, site of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Championship.
The FCWT can be reached at (727) 540-0473 or www.fcwtgolf.com.
Posted at 8:01 p.m. Aug. 27 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Results after the U.S. Amateur:
Sihwan Kim, who advanced to the third round, helped inch Martin closer to contention. Bud Cauley’s first-round defeat was a tough break for Soderstrom. And despite being shut out this week, Dan Mirocha still holds a comfortable lead with just three events to go.
Dan Mirocha: 425 points Eric Soderstrom: 375 Sean Martin: 360 Remaining fantasy point events: Junior Players Championship Ping Invitational Polo Golf Junior Championship
Posted at 11:46 p.m. Aug. 27 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail dmirocha@golfweek.com. Cheng Tsung Pan, 15, of Chinese Taipei beat fellow junior Derek Ernst, 5 and 4, in the Round of 16 of the U.S. Amateur. Pan, who lives in Upland, Calif., is the only junior to make it to the quarterfinals.
At 15 years old, Pan is the youngest U.S. Am quarterfinalist since 14-year-old Bobby Jones reached the Elite 8 in 1916.
A little background on Pan:
• He was a silver medalist at the 2006 Asia Games
• This is his first USGA championship
• His older brother, Fu Chiang Pan, also played in this year's Amateur
• He played his only AJGA tournament, the TomatoBank Southern California Classic, three weeks ago, finishing fourth after rounds of 72-71-69.
• Pan was medalist at the U.S. Amateur sectional qualifier at Warner Springs (Calif.) Ranch, where all three spots were won by juniors. Pan finised at 133, one shot ahead of Josh Dupont and two ahead of New Zealand's Danny Lee.
Dupont, who is about to start his freshman year at Northwestern, finished fifth in stroke play and made it to the second round of match play, where he lost to NCAA champion Jamie Lovemark in 21 holes.
Lee also finished fifth in stroke play, then lost to Lamar’s Casey Clendenon in the first round. Clendenon just beat Eddie Olson to advance to the semifinals.
Posted at 4:22 p.m. Aug. 24 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Derek Ernst, a high school senior from Clovis, Calif., just beat Walker Cupper Billy Horschel, 4 and 3, in the first round of the U.S. Amateur. Ernst, No. 118 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, closed out the match with a birdie on the par-3 15th.
Ernst was an FCWT first-team All-American last season after winning two of five starts on the FCWT last season. He's finished sixth in two AJGA starts this summer (with a 70.2 scoring average).
Posted at 6:58 p.m. Aug. 22 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Tough day for U.S. Junior champ Cory Whitsett at the U.S. Amateur. After an opening 70 on the more-difficult Lakeside course at Olympic Club, he looked like a lock to be the youngest player to make match play. Whitsett shot a second-round 79 – including a triple bogey on No. 18 – to miss the playoff for match play by two shots. Whitsett was only 1 over par after 27 holes, but shot a back-nine 43.
Posted at 12:35 p.m. Aug. 22 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf:
Picks for U.S. Amateur:
Dan Mirocha (425 points): Cody Paladino Eric Soderstrom (355): Bud Cauley Sean Martin (335): Sihwan Kim Remaining fantasy point events: Junior Players Championship Ping Invitational Polo Golf Junior Championship (Points: 50 for medalist; 20 for advancing to match play. Additional points: win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points). )
Posted at 9:56 p.m. Aug. 19 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:esoderstrom@golfweek.com. While many were surprised to see Maria Jose Uribe take down college golf queen Amanda Blumenherst at the Women’s Am, I was not. Maria is a kid mature beyond her years.
Last fall I wrote a Junior Extra feature on Maria (which I would link to, but the story was lost in the Web redesign shuffle) and came away impressed with her mature, candid attitude. She was just 16 at the time.
“People have complimented me,” she told me.
She also told me that if professional golf doesn’t work, she’d like to be a sports psychologist. That mental edge may also be attributed to her international upbringing – growing up in Colombia and also spending part of her high school career in South Carolina at the IJGA. She also traveled to South Africa last year for the World Amateur Team Championship.
For someone who hasn’t started college yet, Maria is a worldly teenager with a ton of life experience. I think that helps immensely in keeping a steady mind in stressful situations.
So it’s no wonder that her 5-footer on the 36th hole found the bottom of the jar.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I cheered when it dropped. Partly because I was happy to see her win, and partly because she was my Fantasy pick to win the whole thing.
Posted at 3:03 p.m. Aug. 13 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Results after the U.S. Women’s Amateur:
Dan Mirocha: 425 points. (Picked winner Maria Jose Uribe.) Eric Soderstrom: 355. Sean Martin: 335. Remaining fantasy point events: U.S. Amateur Junior Players Championship Ping Invitational Polo Golf Junior Championship • • •
Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points). Posted at 2:25 p.m. Aug 13 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com.
Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Results after the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior:
Dan Mirocha: 355 points. (Picked Kristen Park as medalist. Oops.) Eric Soderstrom: 325. (Won U.S. Junior week by five points.) Sean Martin: 295.(Went scoreless, again.)
Picks for U.S. Women’s Amateur:
Mirocha: Maria Jose Uribe Soderstrom: Mina Harigae Martin: Kim Kim
(Points: 50 for medalist; 20 for advancing to match play. Additional points: win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points). )
Remaining fantasy point events: U.S. Women’s Amateur U.S. Amateur Junior Players Championship Ping Invitational Polo Golf Junior Championship • • •
Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points). Posted at 3:26 p.m. Aug 5 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com.
Texas head coach John Fields was the final coach left standing after a long, humid week at the Junior. It makes sense that he stayed until the very end to watch Cory Whitsett and Anthony Paolucci, two Texas natives who haven’t yet comitted to a college.
So logically I asked Whitsett what it meant to him that Coach Fields was there to shake his hand on the green right after he had won.
“No comment,” Cory said trying to hold his best Texas Hold ‘Em face.
Hook ‘em baby!
Posted at 11:23 p.m. July 28 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com.
LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The morning round is in the books and that was a big waste of time. All square!
Do we really need a 36-hole final? Last year was the first year the U.S. Girls’ Junior went to a two-round championship match. Why? I just don’t get it. Eighteen holes – and in this case it would be a sudden-death playoff – is plenty to decide our national champion.
At 37 years old, I still play a lot of pickup basketball. Games at my club generally end when the first team gets to 9 points, but on the weekend they like to play to 15. I never understood that. It prompted me to do a study: the team that usually gets to 9 is more than likely the team that gets to 15 and wins.
Here we are, all square after 18. My prediction now is whoever gets to 1 up first will win. It sure would be nice to be in a playoff right now. Instead we get 18 more holes and maybe more.
Posted at 12:25 p.m. July 28 by assistant editor Lance Ringler. To reach him e-mail mailto:lringler@golfweek.com
LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Talk about multi-tasking. Andrea Watts has been a player, caddie and now a pianist at the U.S. Girls' Junior.
Watts – winner of this year's FCWT National Championship – got into the field at as an alternate, and shot 76-78 to miss match play by three shots. She caddied for Kimberly Kim in match play, and now she's playing "Fuhr Elise" for everyone eating lunch during the mid-day break.
Posted at 12:20 p.m. July 28 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. AUGUSTA, Mo. – Inspired by Anthony Paolucci’s lucky steak and salmon with vegetables dinner at LongHorn Steakhouse – the same meal he’s eaten since Tuesday night – I decided to make it three nights in a row at J. Buck’s, a sports bar that shares a parking lot with my hotel.
On Tuesday night I had a salad with chicken and roasted vegetables. Last night I had some pasta tossed with shrimp. And tonight, I figured I might as well go Paolucci-style and try the salmon. It came with mashed potatoes and green beans...and let me tell you, it’s a damn fine meal.
As I ate my dinner, I started thinking that if the steak and salmon with vegetables bring Anthony luck the next day on the course, I’m counting on this salmon at J. Buck’s to help me write the best gamer possible tomorrow.
Oh, and as long as we’re here...
Dan’s Fun Fact of the Day:
The official title of Anthony’s lucky meal is... Flo’s Filet & LongHorn Salmon – Our tender filet with our flown in fresh, bourbon-marinated grilled salmon. Served with rice, your choice of side dish and a crisp salad.$21.49.
Posted at 10:29 p.m. July 27 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. AUGUSTA, Mo. – Boone Valley Golf Club sits on 440 acres of rolling farmland. And I’m pretty sure I’ve inspected more than a good chunk of that.
Which leads me to America’s fasted growing Blog Jr. creation...
Dan’s Fun Fact of the Day:
I have walked 29.3 miles, sweated off 2.1 lbs, and consumed 62 combined bottles of water and Gatorade through three days at the steamy U.S. Junior.
OK, so maybe these aren’t exact numbers, but I’m officially spent. I fell asleep last night at 10 p.m., the earliest I think I’ve gone to bed in about two years.
And to think, I’m only carrying a notebook, pen, and recorder. Mad props to the caddies this week, and even bigger props to the kids lugging their owns bags up and down the hills here. If you need an extra bottle of water, I’d be happy to swipe a few from the media room.
(Note: That was the first and last time I will ever write the word ‘props.’)
Posted at 9:03 p.m. July 26 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Eight players remain at the U.S. Girls' Junior. Prior to match play, I thought someone unfamiliar might be crowned champion.
We have a candidate: Haley Sanders of Rogers, Ark., checks in at No. 110 this week in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings. Sanders is from Arkansas and a member of the 2009 graduating class. She will face Kristen Park, the top-ranked player in the 2011 class, in one of this afternoon’s quarterfinal matches.
Another candidate could be Canada’s Sue Kim. People may not be that familiar with Kim, who is not ranked and is from north of the border. She is not ranked due to the fact she has not played enough ranked events, but would probably fall somewhere in the neighborhood of 75.
The Final Eight 3. Kimberly Kim 5. Stephanie Kono 6. Ayaka Kaneko 24. Kristen Park 31. Michelle Shin 46. Sarah Brown 110. Haley Sanders N/R Sue Kim (would be in the 75 range)
Posted at 12:25 p.m. July 26 by assistant editor Lance Ringler. To reach him e-mail mailto:lringler@golfweek.com LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Tessa The birdied four of the last six holes in her second-round match to come from 5 down with 5 to play and win on the 19th hole. So, what were the first words I heard come out of her mouth?
"Can I go jet skiing now?" she said.
The dining room at Tacoma Country & Golf Club overlooks a giant lake. I'm sure everyone in the field has wanted to take a dip at some point this week.
"My parents think I'll mess myself up," The said. "I'm not a guy. I'm not going to do anything stupid, like flips or something."
Posted at 10:54 p.m. July 25 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com AUGUSTA, Mo. – Sean Brannan is my kind of guy.
First of all, he’s among the only kids here this week carrying his own bag.
“All of junior golf is no caddie except for this tournament, so I just wanted to keep things the same here,” he said.
Second, after Brannan rolled in a clutch 15-footer for par to dispatch Danny Lee in 19 holes in the final match of the afternoon, he let out a loud, “YES!” then slammed his hat to the ground.
“I’m pretty boisterous when it comes to golf,” he said. “I’m pretty competitive.”
And finally, after shaking Lee’s and Lee’s caddie’s hand, Brannan skipped over to his dad, Mickey, for the biggest hug seen this week. After all, Mickey, drove 12 1/2 hours yesterday from the family’s Hollidaysburg, Penn., home to arrive just in time to see Brannan make the cut on the number.
So when a USGA official offered Sean and his dad a ride into the clubhouse, they both declined and decided to hoof it back.
“I wanted to be with my dad,” Brannan said.
Posted at 6:54 p.m. July 25 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com.
AUGUSTA, Mo. – Back by popular demand, it’s...
Dan’s Fun Fact of the Day:
The 18th green at Boone Valley Golf Club measures a whopping 26,000 square feet and is shaped like a boomerang. My two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in Orlando, Fla., clocks in at 1,151 square feet. The one-level house I grew up in in suburban Minneapolis is 3,200 square feet, including the basement.
Think about the house party that I could throw on that bad boy!
Posted at 2:30 p.m. July 25 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The scorecard reads 6,391 yards. That’s not short for these youngsters, but scores here at the U.S. Girls’ Junior suggest scoring at Tacoma Country & Golf Club is not too difficult. Kimberly Kim shot 62 in the opening round to go along with 42 other players that managed par or better. Round 2 did bring the scoring average up a bit, but not much – the cut was a record low 7-over 151.
Missing from the match play bracket is last year’s champ Jenny Shin and the biggest surprise of all – Vicky Hurst, a finalist in last year’s tournament. Hurst, ranked No. 2 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, came to the Northwest fresh off a 5-shot win at the McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Championship and you could sense she may not have been pleased with the course playing not very long.
“These kids just pop it out there and don’t miss a fairway,” the long-hitting Hurst said.
Narrower fairways and faster, firmer greens will be needed at future U.S. Girls’ Juniors or we might continue to see red on the scoreboard.
For now, it’s time to move on to match play and I am expecting to see some names advancing that may not look familiar. It’s quite possible this week a champion in the ilk of Ben Curtis or Rich Beem will be crowned.
Posted at 9:25 p.m. July 24 by assistant editor Lance Ringler. To reach him e-mail mailto:lringler@golfweek.com Wow. The U.S. Junior bracket strikes again. Wednesday spectators, you're welcome. Rest of the field, you're welcome.
Two guys I thought could make the final four will get knocked out tomorrow in consecutive groups.
Take your pick:
9:12 am: Mu Hu vs. Luke Guthrie 9:21 am: Wesley Graham vs. David Chung Posted at 10:25 p.m. July 24 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. AUGUSTA, Mo. – Sure it’s fun to talk to the Uihleins and the Cauleys and the Hus and the Gribbles (Wait, have I talked to Cody yet? I’ll have to introduce myself tomorrow...), but I had a conversation with an even cooler teenager today.
Meet 8th-grader-to-be Nate Rubbelke. He’s not playing golf this week, he’s writing about it.
Nate, who lives in nearby St. Louis, has his own Web site, which he started in March. So far, he’s covered a few minor league baseball games and the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships. When he heard the Junior was coming to town, he emailed USGA media officials and scored a press pass. This afternoon, he was walking the fairways with his notebook and recorder in hand. He interviewed a handful of players and even impressed Oklahoma State coach Mike McGraw with his golf knowledge.
“I just always wanted to be a sports writer,” he said with a big smile full of braces before we spoke to Mu Hu after his round.
However, next time I looked to see where Nate was, he was gone. His mom probably had to pick him up. It was about dinner time after all.
Posted at 7:18 p.m. July 24 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com.
LAKEWOOD, Wash. – How easy is Tacoma Country & Golf Club play? Well, the cut looks like it's going to fall at 4 over par, which would break by four shots the record set last year for lowest cut.
It also shows how far girls' golf has come. In 1985, the cut was 31 over par!
Posted at 1: 17 p.m. July 24 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. AUGUSTA, Mo. – Well, I’m here. Finally.
The site of the U.S. Junior, Boone Valley Golf Club, is not in the middle of nowhere. It’s in the suburbs of nowhere. Driving to the course this morning on the twisty-turvy one-lane highway, I couldn’t believe how far away the club is from everything. Cell phone service here is limited. Smoke signals would probably work better here.
Which brings me to Dan’s Fun Fact of the Day:
Boone Valley Golf Club is named after Daniel Boone, the American pioneer. (I had to Google this next part) Boone is known for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky. He spent the last 21 years of his life in Missouri until he died in 1820. In fact, I think I saw a sign for a “Daniel Boone Farmhouse” while driving to the course this morning.
So, I started thinking, does the term “boonies” come from Daniel Boone? As in, “Boone Valley Golf Club is way out in the ‘boonies.’ ”
Makes sense to me. Posted at 1:01 p.m. July 24 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. LAKEWOOD, Wash. – I arrived at Tacoma Country & Golf Club late Monday afternoon to find a lot of red on the board. When the day was over 42 players were at par or better.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is supposed to be a national championship, not a junior invitational.
Oh yea, and Kimberly Kim posted a smooth 10-under 62.
Posted at 9:13 p.m. July 23 by assistant editor Lance Ringler. To reach him e-mail lringler@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update (Special U.S. Junior edition): Dan Mirocharegained the lead last week, picking Betsy Rawls champion Vicky Hurst and Mark Johnson, who finished strong at the HP Boys Junior. He leads with 330 points. Eric Soderstrom and Sean Martin are tied with 295 points.
Picks for this week's U.S. Junior (half points for stroke-play qualifying):
Mirocha:Peter Uihlein. Enough said.
Medalist: Wesley Graham. He showed his ability to go low with back-to-back 67s at the HP Junior and has been hot this summer with top-10 finishes in three invitationals. Plus he was a quarterfinalist in ’06.
• • •
Martin:Danny Lee. The Kiwi made match play at the Publinks (finishing fifth in stroke play before losing to eventual champion Colt Knost in the first round) and finished second to Webb Simpson at this year’s Dogwood, and was a quarterfinalist at last year’s Junior.
Medalist: Luke Guthrie. He played in the qualifier closest to Boone Valley, and won that by 13 strokes. He owns the Midwest!
• • •
Soderstrom:Bud Cauley. A quarterfinalst in 2006, Cauley was the only player in both the Mountain Matches and Canon Cup to go undefeated. He was also one of only two players who played in all five of junior golf’s biggest match-play events last year (Canon Cup, Junior Ryder Cup, U.S. Junior, Polo Golf Junior Classic and Mountain Matches), which comes in very handy considering the lack of match-play events juniors get to play. I predict a Soderstrom (Cauley)-Mirocha (Uihlein) final.
Medalist: Mu Hu. He’s pumped coming off his HP Boys victory. (I really wouldn’t wish medalist on anyone at this tournament, though.) Picks for this week’s U.S. Girls’ Junior (half points for stroke-play qualifying): Mirocha: Kimberly Kim. She proved to be a match-play force at the Women’s Amateur last year and her easy-going attitude bodes well for pressure situations.
Medalist: Kristen Park. She had a first-round 68 at Rolex Tournament of Champions, the event’s lowest score, and a first-round 69 at the Heather Farr. Translation: Good early-round player. • • •
Martin: Jane Rah. She’s had past success in USGA events, and has been playing well this summer.
Medalist: Taylore Karle. She was impressive at the Women’s North & South, and holds the record for lowest stroke-play qualifying score.
• • •
Soderstrom:Stephanie Kono. Cool and calm, Kono avenges her 2006 quarterfinal loss by beating Mina Harigae in the finals, 1 up.
Medalist: Ayaka Kaneko. Like Ireland at the British Open, Honolulu claims two medals at the Girls’ Junior.
• • • Point system: For match play, win (50 points), finalist (30 points), semifinalist (20 points), quarterfinalist (10 points), third round (5 points).
For stroke play, win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 9:25 a.m. July 22 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com.
Mu Hu finally won his first AJGA invitational Friday, rolling to a four-shot victory at the HP Boys Junior Championship.
What was the secret?
I’m guessing it was his soon-to-be famous cameo in yesterday’s Junior Extra putting contest. Watch it now on GolfweekTV.
Posted at 3:41 p.m. July 20 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. Patrick Reed’s junior career has only 36 holes remaining. Reed, who has verbally committed to Georgia, said Wednesday at the HP Boys Junior Championship that he would be switching his focus strictly to amateur events.
Reed accelerated his studies in order to graduate from high school in 2008 rather than 2009.
Hey, at least he’s not going pro.
Posted at 4:26 p.m. July 18 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update:
Eric Soderstrom took his first lead of the season with good finishes from John Popeck and Kimberly Kim last week at the Westfield Junior PGA Championship.
But who will take the lead into the U.S. Juniors?
Picks for this week’s HP Boys Junior Championship and McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship:
Eric Soderstrom (295 points): Sihwan Kim, Marika Lendl. Sean Martin (275): Josh Jones, Ayaka Kaneko. Dan Mirocha (260 points): Mark Johnson, Vicky Hurst.
• • • Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 7:41 a.m. July 18 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. Bud Cauley is the new No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Titleist junior rankings. Peter Uihlein is second, followed by Sihwan Kim.
This is unfortunate, only because now you probably won’t believe that he was my pick to win the U.S. Junior weeks ago.
I still can’t remember the last time he lost a match.
More on that later.
Posted at 6:01 p.m. July 17 by managing editor/Golfweek.com Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com. WESTFIELD CENTER, Ohio – Lisa McCloskey is skipping the U.S. Girls’ Junior and the Betsy Rawls Girls Championship for a chance to play in Scotland.
McCloskey, No. 15 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior rankings, claimed medalist honors at the Dick Harmon Memorial Tournament at River Oaks Country Club in her home town of Houston to earn a spot in the Grampian Society Matches which will take place July 19-28 in Scotland.
Her 5-under 67 was the best score among girls and boys. Twelve players will represent the U.S. in the matches.
“The Junior is the tournament of the year, so it was a hard choice,” McCloskey said. “But to go to Scotland is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I still have two more years to play in the Junior.” Posted at 1:03 p.m. July 14 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com.
Tadd Fujikawa is turning pro. The numbers, at least, don’t suggest it’s the right move:
Against the top 50 players in junior golf, Tadd has a 70-70-5 head-to-head record. In his last five junior events, he failed to break 70 and had a scoring average of 73.3.
We could argue that Ty Tryon was in a better place with his game when he gave it go.
For Tadd’s sake, let’s hope there’s no correlation there.
Posted at 8:13 p.m. July 13 by assistant editor Lance Ringler. To reach him e-mail lringler@golfweek.com.
The same day Tadd Fujikawa announced he is turning pro, 2006 U.S. Junior runner-up Richard Lee made his PGA Tour debut as a professional.
Like Fujikawa, Lee played in the U.S. Open as a teenager. Lee withdrew because of wrist injury during the second round this year at Oakmont Country Club. Lee made his pro debut a week later in a Canadian Tour event.
This week, Lee shot 64 to tie for first in Monday qualifying for the John Deere Classic. Lee is near the bottom of the leaderboard after a first-round 76.
Lee, 16, was No. 2 in the most recent Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
Posted at 5:45 a.m. July 12 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. WESFIELD CENTER, Ohio – I got an e-mail this morning about Tadd Fujikawa’s decision to turn pro, so I tracked down some of his friends who are playing here at the Westfield Junior PGA.
Kimberly Kim told me that Fujikawa told her a few months ago that he was thinking about turning pro. Last night, Kim got a phone call from Fujikawa, who she called her best friend, telling her he was going to make the big announcement today.
“I was like, ‘You should play college golf. These guys are stronger than you, they’re bigger than you, they hit it longer than you and it’s more competitve,’ ” Kim said. “I don’t think he realizes how good (pro golfers) are. And they’re doing it every week. It’s their job. We just do it for fun right now.
“I asked him how much they were paying him (to turn pro). He said, ‘A lot.,’ ” Kim said. “I think it’s too early and he’s making a mistake, but he’s making a lot of money.”
Andrew Yun, who was Fujikawa’s alternate shot partner at last summer’s Canon Cup, said Fujikawa is a good friend, but that they never discussed turning professional.
“He has the talent and he has the potential to do great things, so I wish him the best,” Yun said. “The odds are against him, but there’s a first time for everything. It’s always surprising just to hear it officially.”
Jenny Shin, last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, said she always knew Fujikawa had the talent to turn pro.
“It’s not that big of a surprise for me,” Shin said. “Nowadays, people don’t go to college and they turn pro.
“If you’re playing to be a pro, and want to make money, I think it’s a pretty good idea.”
Posted at 3:42 p.m. July 10 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. WESTFIELD CENTER, Ohio – I was surprised to see Westfield Junior PGA defending champ Joe Monte’s name on the field list in the days leading up to the event. I was even more surprised to see Monte early this morning – about 5 hours before his tee time – hamming it up with the rest of the kids here.
After all, when he won this tournament last year as a high school junior, he made it sound like a pro career was in the near future. Monte said at the time that he was going to eliminate many junior tournaments on his 2007 schedule and concentrate on qualifying for Nationwide Tour events.
“I thought I’d give (the Westfield Junior PGA) one last hurrah,” Monte said after his first-round even-par 71 left him in a tie for 10th. “I figured that I might as well.”
Monte Monday qualified for the Nationwide Tour's Henrico County Open in late April, missing the cut with rounds of 84-74. He lost in a playoff at Monday qualifying for the Knoxville Open at the end of last month, then placed 23rd in stroke-play qualifying a week later at the North & South Amateur, and was defeated by finalist Ray Sheedy in the second round of match play.
Monte, who will play for Georgia Southern in the fall and major in business, said he’s playing in the Southern Amateur and Western Amateur later this summer, and is putting the Nationwide Tour qualifying on the back burner.
“I need a lot more time,” Monte said. “It could be two or three years (before I turn pro), but I’m pretty confident about going a long time at Georgia Southern.”
Posted at 9:17 p.m. July 10 by assistant editor Dan Mirocha. To reach him e-mail mailto:smartin@golfweek.com. Blog Jr.’s been good to me the last two days.
First we dug up that YouTube clip. Now I’ve taken over first place in Junior Extra’s fantasy golf. Sihwan Kim’s Rolex victory was huge for me, but Jennifer Johnson’s T-15 proved to be the difference. I’m at 250 points, while Mirocha and Soderstrom are tied with 245 (Note: Mirocha was deducted 50 points because of a clerical error. He picked Stacey Kim to win the Aldila Junior Classic, but was given points for Alexis Thompson’s victory).
Picks for this week’s Westfield PGA Junior Championship:
Sean Martin (250 points): Luke Guthrie, Courtney Ellenbogen. I have to go with the hot hand. Guthrie shot three consecutive 71s at Rolex before his putter let him down in the final round. Ellenbogen is just steady. It was impressive watching her stick fairway wood shots to tucked pins. Eric Soderstrom (245): John Popeck, Kimberly Kim. Dan Mirocha (245): Jed Dirksen, Lisa McCloskey.
• • •
Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.)
Posted at 7:12 a.m. July 10 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Marika Lendl, No. 19 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, verbally committed Friday to Central Florida. Lendl originally committed to Vanderbilt, but that was before coach Martha Richards took the job at Texas.
Lendl is No. 7 in the Class of 2008.
Lendl said at the Rolex Tournament of Champions that she was leaning toward UCF, but made it official Friday.
Posted at 9:03 p.m. July 9 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Change of plans.
Peter Uihlein IS going to play the Canon Cup. He said earlier this week that he was going to play the Western Amateur, but has had a change of heart.
Posted at 10:45 p.m. July 8 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. There were always at least five coaches in tow as the final group at the Rolex Tournament of Champions navigated Ohio State’s Scarlet Course in the third round. That’s nothing new, except that Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State) and Wesley Graham (Florida State) have already made their college choices.
The battle is on for Luke Guthrie, ranked sixth in the Class of 2008. The rest of the top 10 high school seniors have already made their commitments.
“I guess the new trend is to commit real early. I’m not a big fan of that,” Guthrie said. “I'm not ready yet. I don’t really know where I want to go yet. I still have to visit a couple schools. I think I’m just going to wake up one day and know.”
Guthrie said he has his list of top schools narrowed down “a little bit, but not real good.” He named Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma State as his top choices.
Posted at 10:02 p.m. July 5 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. The third round of the Rolex Tournament of Champions is underway. Peter Uihlein is hitting the ball well on the opening nine holes of the Rolex Tournament of Champions, but can’t buy a putt. On the fifth hole – a 211-yard par-3 with the hole tucked behind a bunker – Uihlein hit an impressive shot to 10 feet, but missed the birdie attempt. A befuddled Uihlein took off his hat, rubbed his head and mouthed, “Are you serious?”
About 10 minutes later, Nick Delio hooked his drive into the trees on No. 7. Delio punched out, but his shot ran to the back of the green, about 40 feet from the hole. As his big-breaking putt was about 10 feet from the hole, Delio called it, saying, “Get in the hole.” Delio – who uses a putter similar to the one Tiger Woods wielded at the 1997 Masters – gave a Woods-esque fist pump when his ball went in the hole.
Delio, Uihlein and Luke Guthrie are tied for the lead as the players head to the turn. It’s not as tight in the girls’ race. Courtney Ellenbogen is 2 under par, three shots ahead of Kristen Park and Vicky Hurst.
Posted at 11:22 p.m. July 5 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. The West has won six of the past eight Canon Cups. That streak looks like it may continue now that the East’s top player, Peter Uihlein, said he’s skipping the event to play the Western Amateur. Several other top players are expected to pick the Western Am over the Canon Cup.
Posted at 2:09 p.m. July 4 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Marika Lendl is leaning toward committing to Central Florida, she said Wednesday. Lendl originally made a verbal commitment to Vanderbilt, but that was before Martha Richards left to coach Texas. Former Arizona head coach Greg Allen was hired Tuesday as the new Vanderbilt coach.
Lendl said she should make her final decision in about a week. Lendl is No. 14 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and No. 7 in the Class of 2008.
Posted at 1:29 p.m. July 4 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Andrew Yun surprised a lot of people last year by winning two AJGA invitationals. He’s been a surprise this year, but for the wrong reasons.
Yun started the year solidly, finishing 14th and fifth in his first two starts. He’s placed outside the top 30 in his last two tournaments.
Swing changes and a stomach virus are to blame.
Yun and Kimberly Kim won the I.R.I. Srixon Mixed Team Championship the first week of May, but that’s also where Yun started getting sick. He said he couldn’t hit more than five balls before each round because he’d start feeling short of breath.
Yun finished 37th out of 41 players at the Thunderbird International Junior in the last week of May, his worst finish in two years. He followed that with a T-31 at the Pacific Northwest International in his former home state of Washington.
“I played nine holes in Washington where I was like, ‘I don’t know where the ball is going,’” Yun said.” Yun made the changes at the beginning of the year, but has ditched those efforts and decided to return to the swing that made him so successful last year.
“I was trying to be more clean, take out the extra movement, but the extra movement is what made my swing,” Yun said. “I was timing it perfectly. As long as you know where the ball is going at impact, you’re fine.”
Yun first-round 73 Tuesday at the Rolex Tournament of Champions – which left him tied for 14th – is a sign that his game is turning around.
“Now that I’ve noticed what I’ve done wrong, I’ve tried to fix it. I’ve gone through a valley, I’ve hit rock bottom,” Yun said. “I’m coming back up that mountain.”
Posted at 12:02 p.m. July 4 by assistant editor Sean Martin. To reach him e-mail smartin@golfweek.com. Junior Extra Fantasy Golf Update: Picks for this week's Rolex Tournament of Champions:
Dan Mirocha (290 points): Mu Hu, Jenny Shin. Eric Soderstrom (235): Patrick Reed, Tiffany Lua. Sean Martin (195): Sihwan Kim, Jennifer Johnson. • • •
Point system: Win (50 points), runner-up (30 points), top-5 (20 points), top-10 (10 points), top-20 (5 points). Zero points for anything outside the top 20. Bonus points when specified. (Only rule: You can't pick the same player two consecutive weeks.) Posted at 8:56 p.m. July 2 by assistant editor Eric Soderstrom. To reach him e-mail esoderstrom@golfweek.com.
print
email
discuss
