Tournament Results

The annual Thunderbird High School Senior Classic, sponsored by The Thunderbirds-hosts of the WM Phoenix Open, teed off at Gainey Ranch Golf Club on May 19, 2024. Known as a classic golf event, it honors and shines a spotlight on the graduating seniors from high school golf teams across Arizona in 2024. Sixty seniors, comprising 45 boys and 15 girls, took part in the tournament.

The 9th annual U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship was underway at the prestigious Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas, May 11-15. JGAA’s very own Gracie McGovern put on an impressive showing at this year’s USGA amateur event with playing partner Brynn Kort of Henderson, Nevada. McGovern, future TCU Horned Frog and 2023 Heather Farr Classic champion, played stellar golf all week at a challenging Oak Hills, only to come up short in the title match on Wednesday and finish runner up.

JGAA junior golfer Ashley Shaw accomplishes quite the feat as she became the youngest player to win the John Shippen Cognizant Cup and youngest overall winner in tournament history. The 15-year-old out of Litchfield Park collected three birdies and minimized damaged throughout her round to put together a 1-over-par 73 to win by two strokes, despite being the only amateur in the field. Shaw will play in the LPGA Tour Cognizant Founders Cup this week at Upper Montclair in New Jersey on a sponsor’s exemptions.

On May 4 & 5, the 23rd annual Quintero Cactus Cup was held at Quintero Golf Club, one of the top-ranked public courses in Arizona. The Founder’s team won for the 4th consecutive year, beating the Charter team in an extra-hole playoff.

In the Boys Championship division, the first round belonged to Owen Greenough who put on a clinic and flirted with a 59. The Chandler resident rattled off six birdies and an eagle on the back nine to shoot 28 en route to a first-round 61, his lowest score ever recorded. The win marks his first of the season. Riding the hot hand after last week’s victory at the Betsy King IMG Junior World Qualifier, Charlene Lamb caught fire on the final day. She recorded five birdies in the final round to one-up her score from Saturday to conclude the tournament at 5-under par (69-68).

Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course hosted the Boys Championship division, with the first qualifier Landon Ashcraft of Scottsdale earning top medalist honors after two red-hot rounds of 67-66. The Girls Championship division squared off at Ahwatukee Country Club and Arizona Golf Resort with two qualifiers and two alternates heading to San Diego. Charlene Lamb of Scottsdale fired 72-74 to squeak past the rest of the leaderboard in first place at 2-over par.

Future Marquette golfer Vincent Cervantes put together two strong performances over the weekend as he wound up the only player in the Boys Championship division to finish in red figures. 2023 Player of the Year Vakasiuola won the Girls Championship division by three strokes at 2-over par (75-71-146). This season, she has notched three top-5s and five top-10s.

The 30th annual Tucson Conquistadores Spring Classic took full swing April 6-7 under beautiful sunshine at Silverbell and El Rio Golf Courses, where Gilbert resident Austin Bullard recorded a final round to remember to win the Boys Championship division. Angela Zhikun Chen earns first victory of season in Girls Championship division.

The 43rd annual Desert Mashie Spring Championship teed off March 23-24, with a field of 310 players at Encanto 18 and 9 hole Golf Courses, Sun City Country Club and Sun City South Golf Course. This event is a Local Qualifier for the Notah Begay Junior Championship. The juniors that advance from this Local Qualifier, will go the Regional AZ Qualifier at Whirlwind Golf Club in early September.

The Thunderbird Invitational came to a close yesterday, after two days of intense competition at Papago Golf Club. The future Texas A&M Aggie, Wheaton Ennis, is putting together a solid start to the 2024 season, with a runner up at the Warren Schutte Invitational and now his first title of the year. Lena Durette’s victory marks her first in the JGAA Girls Championship division and first overall win since 2019.