With school on hiatus for the summer months. Most junior golfers are beginning to think about qualifying for their high school golf teams or wanting to improve their skills in live competition. Millions of junior golfers, under the age of 20, compete in junior golf tournaments and leagues in every local community.
Although the junior amateur landscape is segmented, it appears to be working quite well as every year a new crop of young golfers make impressions on the PGA Tour, LPGA, Web.com, European, as well as, other professional golf tours around the world
USGA Junior Amateur
The U.S. Junior Amateur is open to any male amateur golfer, who has not yet reached his 19th birthday by July 20, with a handicap Index that does not exceed 4.4.
These are the best junior golfers from around the world and this year qualifiers will compete for the national title at the Inverness Club in Toledo, July 15-20.
The first two days will consist of 36 holes of medal play to determine the top 16 golfers that will compete in match play to fight for the honor of winning a USGA national championship.
USGA Girl’s Junior Amateur
The U.S. Girl’s Junior Championship will be held July 22-27 at Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It is open to any female amateur players who have not reached the age of 19 by July 21 and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 9.4.
Ohio Junior Amateur Championship
In the Ohio Junior Amateur held at Xenia Country Club, Andrew Wyss from Canton fired two rounds of 71-70 to finish at one-under par to beat Aditya Achar, from Concord and Ethan Snyder, from Dublin, by a single shot.
Mason Witt from Xenia and Zach Brinks from Loveland rounded out the top five.
Ohio Junior Girls Amateur
The Ohio Junior Girl’s Amateur is held at the Marion Country Club, July 15-16. It is divided into three divisions, ages 13 and younger, 14-15 and 16-19. The player with the lowest 36-hole score will be declared the champion regardless of age.
It is open to any female golfer, 19 years of age or younger, who is a member of a club in Ohio, has paid WOSGA dues or is a legal resident of the state.
Visit: https://www.wosga.org/ohio-junior-girls for more information or to register.
American Junior Golf Association
The AGJA conducts a series of tournaments across the country for the more serious junior golfers. New members must go through a qualifying process to earn Performance Stars to enter more advanced events.
The AJGA hosts tournaments all year long and members can enter as many as their schedule and qualification status allow.
If a junior golfer is struggling to compete in AJGA events due to their family’s financial constraints, the AJGA can help that player with an ACE Grant, based on individual need.
For junior golfers wishing to continue their golfing careers in college, the AJGA encourages college coaches to attend the tournaments to meet, evaluate and recruit potential collegiate golfers. In fact, most college golfers of Division I NCAA programs competed in AJGA tournaments.
Visit: https://www.ajga.org/ for tournament schedules and membership information.
Drive, Chip & Putt
Drive, Chip & Putt was founded in 2013 as a joint venture of the USGA, PGA of America and The Masters.
It is a free nationwide junior golf development competition open to boys and girls aged,
boys ages 7-15. Participants advance via local, sub-regional and regional qualiers in four age and gender categories to earn a place in the National Finals, held at Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday preceding The Masters and is broadcast live by the Golf Channel.
Registration for 2020 is currently underway and local qualifiers are available in all 50 states. For more information, please visit: https://www.drivechipandputt.com/
Local and Regional Junior Golf
Nearly every local golf course, private club or community has a junior golf league, which conducts clinics and tournaments.
These normally begin for players above the age of 10 and continue through the teenage years.
Contact a PGA professional or high school golf coach in your area to learn the best junior tournaments in your area.
USGA Districts around the state, Miami Valley, Greater Cincinnati, Toledo, Northern Ohio and Columbus, also conduct their own junior tournament schedules.
The proof that these junior programs are working can be seen recently as 15 amateurs qualified for the U.S. Open held at Pebble Beach. Four of those made the cut and Victor Hovland finished tied for 12th position at four-under par.