BRASELTON, Ga. — Seventy-eight premier junior golfers from around the globe will descend upon TPC Sawgrass – THE PLAYERS Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., when the American Junior Golf Association stages the inaugural Junior PLAYERS Championship Aug. 30 – Sept. 2, 2007.
Highlighting the field is the No. 1 ranked player in the Polo Golf Rankings. Peter Uihlein of Bradenton, Fla., hopes to earn his second AJGA Invitational victory after his win at the FootJoy Boys Invitational in June. Uihlein, the 2005 Rolex Junior Player of the Year, finished fourth at the two other Invitational tournaments he participated in this year – the Thunderbird International Junior and the Rolex Tournament of Champions. The three-time Rolex Junior All-American will have to hold off the competition before claiming top honors.
Six additional players ranked in the top 10 of the Polo Golf Rankings hope to challenge Uihlein for the trophy. Wesley Graham (3) of Port Orange, Fla., Cory Whitsett (4) of Houston, Morgan Hoffmann (6) of Saddlebrook, N.J., Andrew Yun (7) of Tacoma, Wash., Bud Cauley (8) of Jacksonville, Fla., and Luke Guthrie (10) of Quincey, Ill., are only a few of the top golfers playing this top PGA TOUR venue.
Graham finished second twice in 2007 including the HP Boys Junior Championship in July. He is looking to take home his first victory of the 2007 season. Whitsett was recently victorious at the U.S. Junior Amateur, where he became only the fifth 15-year-old to earn this title in 59 years. Hoffmann earned top honors at the prestigious Polo Golf Junior Classic over Thanksgiving last year. Yun is looking to take home his third Invitational victory after claiming top honors in 2006 at the FootJoy Boys Invitational and The PING Invitational. Cauley finished second at the Thunderbird International Junior earlier this year and is looking to take home his fourth AJGA victory. Guthrie soared to the top of the Polo Golf Rankings in 2007, his first year playing with the AJGA. Guthrie has one victory this season as well as a third-place finish at the Rolex Tournament of Champions.
In addition to the top junior golfers from the United States, fifteen foreign countries will compete in The Junior PLAYERS Championship. Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan will all have at least on junior golfer participating.
The Junior PLAYERS Championship is one of 81 events the AJGA will conduct in 2007. This year, AJGA tournaments will take place in more than 25 states and Mexico.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf.
The largest Association of its kind, the AJGA has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and more than 25 foreign countries.
Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
For more information, please contact Drea Braxmeier (dbraxmeier@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1789 or visit the AJGA Web site at ajga.org.
Contact: Drea Braxmeier, AJGA
(678) 425-1789
