The Girls and Boys USGA Junior Amateur Qualifiers teed off Monday, June 10 at Terravita Golf & Country Club and The Country Club at DC Ranch. On the boy’s side, Ajay Morris of Avondale qualified to play in the U.S. Junior Amateur with a first-place, 4-under-par 67, one stroke ahead Tanner Barra of Manhattan Beach and Henry Dall of Cave Creek, 4-under-par 67, at The Country Club at DC Ranch. Rounding out the final qualifying spot in the boy’s division was Adam Croix, making the cut at 2-under-par 69 to advance to Bloomfield Hills.
The JGAA cleans house at the American Junior Golf Association’s Jim Click Automotive/HSL Properties Championship, August 1-3 at the iconic Tucson Country Club. Both Finn Meister of Tucson and Julia Herzberg of Gilbert secured their first AJGA victory and joined the winner’s circle.
The final local qualifying tournament to enter the prestigious IMG Academy Junior World Championship was recently contested June 5-6 in the Antigua Milt Coggins IMG Qualifier #2, yielding 17 players that are heading to the championship. The Junior World Championships are held July 8-13 in San Diego.
Evan Tyree & Cynthia Lang Win the Tucson City Junior Championship Sponsored by Tucson Conquistadores
The annual Tucson City Junior Championship, sponsored by the Tucson Conquistadores, teed off May 28-29 at the Randolph Golf Complex. The field featured over 170 junior golfers from all across Arizona in one of the biggest junior golf tournaments in Tucson.
The Junior Golf Association of Arizona (JGAA), headed south for the Bruce Brown Yuma City Junior Championship at Desert Hills Golf Course, May 18-19. Nathan Ash of Tempe won the Boys Championship division by one stroke. Izzy Piazza won by a substantial margin in the Girls Championship division at even par for the event.
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).