Connor Bringhurst Triumphant in Boy’s Championship Division; Asia Young Claims First Place at New Year’s Classic

The 2025 New Year Classic kicked off January 11-12 with junior golfers ages 8-18 from across the Valley competing in five age groups at Raven Golf Club, Arizona Biltmore Golf Club and Tres Rios. With over 70 junior golfers competing in the Boys Championship division at Raven Golf Club, it was one of the biggest turnouts in tournament history. Due to the cold temperatures, and frost delays each day, the event was reduced to 27 holes at Raven. Eventual winner Connor Bringhurst of Scottsdale trailed the first-round leader by three strokes. Bringhurst turned it up a notch on day two, concluding the round in red figures to take over the top spot on the leaderboard. Finn Meister and two other players were breathing down his neck down the stretch, behind Bringhurst by a stroke. The standings continued to fluctuate, but Bringhurst prevailed after kicking off the final round birdie-birdie. After a frost delay in the final round, The Scottsdale kid managed to win by a stroke. Bringhurst carded a 9-hole score of 35 to finish 3-under par for the event (70-35). Finn Meister of Tucson, Jackson Pieratt of Phoenix and Liam Allan of Scottsdale each tied for second place at 2-under par.

Held at Arizona Biltmore’s revamped Estates Course, Asia Young of Oregon wins the Girls Championship division after defeating Ashley Shaw of Litchfield Park in a playoff. Also only playing nine holes in the final round due to a frost delay, Young wins on the first playoff hole to clinch No. 1 on the standings. She began the tournament setting the tone for the rest of the field after firing off an impressive 2-under 69 with four birdies. She was the only player to shoot in the 60s. Young carried her momentum into the final day of play, but so did Ashley Shaw who fired on all cylinders to force a playoff. Young achieved her second JGAA win in a span of a month. Kaitlyn Moreland secured solo-third at even par for the event.

In the Boys 15-18 division competition held at Raven, Tanner McCarthy of Phoenix shot 4-over par, with rounds of 76-36 (9 holes) to win. At Tres Rios Golf Course, Hagan Lancaster of Anthem finished at 1-over-par 143 (71-72) to win the Boys 13-14 division by a slim margin. Maddux Zlotoff of Scottsdale (38-39) took first place at seven-over par in the Boys 11-12 division to win by three strokes. Joey Morin of Gilbert (36-36) won the Boys 10 and Under division by a resounding 20 shots at even par.

On Arizona Biltmore’s Estates Course, Karina Hayashi of British Columbia won in the Girls 15-18 division at 4-over par (36 (9 holes) -74). At Tres Rios, Anne Yu of California wins the New Year’s Classic, claiming the Girls 13-14 Division at 5-over par (76-71). Amelie Khosla of Scottsdale won the Girls 11-12 division at 10-over par (38-42). Ava Sullivan of Oro Valley earned first place honors in the Girls 10 and Under division at 16-over par (42-44).

View complete final tournament standings.