BRASELTON, Ga. -- Cameron Peck, 17, of Olympia, Wash., and Victoria Tanco, 14, of Bradenton, Fla., were named the Rolex Junior Players of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association, the AJGA will announce Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award recognizes one boy and one girl who had the most outstanding year in junior golf events at the national level. Past recipients have gone on to become some of the most esteemed players on the PGA and LPGA Tours, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Grace Park, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
Both ended the season ranked No. 1 in the Polo Golf Rankings, helping them earn this distinction and secure spots on their respective Rolex Junior All-America First Teams.
Peck's year was highlighted by four victories, including two wins at AJGA Invitationals and the U.S. Junior Amateur. Peck is the first player from the Pacific Northwest, boy or girl, to win this award, which is being bestowed in 2008 for the 31st time. The Timberline High School senior has verbally committed to Texas A&M University.
Tanco ascended to the top of the junior golf ranks in her first year of playing junior golf in the United States. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tanco had three national victories, two of which came at AJGA Invitationals. Tanco now becomes the second-youngest girl to win Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors. LPGA Tour standout In-Bee Park was five months younger than Tanco when she was presented the award at 14 years old in 2002.
Their accomplishments during the past season will be heralded Nov. 23 during the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet held at Ginn Reunion Resort. The awards ceremony, dubbed "The Greatest Night in Junior Golf," will also trumpet the achievements of the rest of golf's next generation by means of the Rolex Junior All-America Teams, HP Scholastic Junior All-America Teams and Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award.
About Cameron Peck's 2008 Season:
Peck notched the first win of his AJGA career at the Wellstone Communities Junior at Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, in April. His 72-70-72-214 tournament total gave him a two-stroke victory over the 45-player field.
In June, he made a strong statement by winning the AJGA's FootJoy Invitational in Greensboro, N.C., in dominant fashion, posting a 66-71-68-66-271 tournament total. This win came at Sedgefield Country Club, home of the PGA TOUR's Wyndham Championship, against 99 of the best boys in the world. This six-stroke win earned him a sponsor's exemption into the Wyndham Championship in August, where he shot 71-71 and missed the cut by seven strokes.
Win No. 3 came at the HP Boys Junior Championship staged at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge in July. At another boys-only AJGA Invitational, Peck came out on top by improving his score during each round and finishing with a 73-72-70-69-284 tournament total, good enough to win by one.
He would solidify his place as junior golf's top player at the U.S. Junior Amateur one week later. After advancing from the stroke play qualifying portion of the event as the No. 3 seed at Shoal Creek Golf Course in Birmingham, Ala., Peck marched through match play and defeated fellow first-team Rolex Junior All-American Evan Beck of Virginia Beach, Va., 10 & 8 in the 36-hole final.
At season's end, Peck's four victories and four additional top-11 finishes separated him as junior golf's top boy in 2008.
About Victoria Tanco's 2008 Season:
After a tie for third at the Orange Bowl International Golf Championship this past December and a win at the Scott Robertson Memorial in May, Tanco qualified for the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, her first-ever AJGA event, and prevailed over the top 98 other junior girls in the world. Tanco posted a 68-70-72-210 tournament total at Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., and was vaulted toward the top of the Polo Golf Rankings.
She continued her strong play throughout the summer by tying for 17th at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, tying for 11th at the McDonald's Betsy Rawls Girls Championship, advancing to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open and competing on the Canon Cup East Team.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that Tanco claimed the No. 1 ranking. This came with a season-ending win at the AJGA's PING Invitational at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. Her 79-72-73-224 performance gave her three victories, including two AJGA Invitationals. She became the only player in the Girls Division to boast such an accomplishment in 2008.
Since moving to the United States, she has yet to finish outside the top 20 in seven starts.
About Rolex and the AJGA:
This Rolex Junior Player of the Year Award would not be possible without the support of Rolex, the AJGA's Premier Partner and supporter of the Association since 1983.
Along with the sponsorship of the Rolex Junior Players of the Year, Rolex Junior All-America Teams and Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet, the distinguished timepiece maker also continues to support two of the AJGA's most competitive major championships: the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the Rolex Girls Junior Championship.
Rolex is also the Founding Corporate Partner of the Achieving Competitive Excellence Grant. The ACE Grant is designed to give top-flight junior golfers the ability to play a national junior golf schedule regardless of their financial resources. In 2007, with the help of Rolex and various individual donors, nearly 80 junior golfers were able to compete in events they otherwise could not afford.
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. 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, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
For more information, please contact Steve Ethun in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1786, sethun@ajga.org or visit the AJGA's Web site at ajga.org.
2008 AJGA Season Results - Cameron Peck (Olympia, Wash.)
T-11, The Verizon Junior Heritage (72-74-146) *
T-35, Houston Boys Invitational at Redstone presented by HP and Administaff (74-79-79-232)
4th, AJGA Championship at Traditions (76-75-74-225)
1st, Wellstone Communities Junior at Craig Ranch (72-70-72-214)
T-31, Thunderbird International Junior (72-78-71-221)
1st, FootJoy Invitational (66-71-68-66-271)
T-11, Rolex Tournament of Champions (70-78-73-78-299)
1st, HP Boys Junior Championship (73-72-70-69-284)
1st, U.S. Junior Amateur (69-73-142) *^
5th, The Junior PLAYERS Championship (70-77-69-216)
NOTES:
* - Non-AJGA Event
^ - Defeated Evan Beck of Virginia Beach, Va., in the finals of the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur, 10 & 8
CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Three career AJGA victories
- Eleven career AJGA top-10s
- Member of the 2008 Canon Cup West Team
2008 AJGA Results - Victoria Tanco (Bradenton, Fla.)
T-3, Orange Bowl International Golf Championship (70-72-71-72-285) *
1st, Scott Robertson Memorial (68-74-69-211) *
1st, Rolex Girls Junior Championship (68-70-72-210)
T-17, Rolex Tournament of Champions (77-79-75-76-307)
T-11, McDonald's Betsy Rawls Girls Championship (73-74-75-222)
T-9, U.S. Girls' Junior (73-73-146) *^
1st, The PING Invitational (79-72-73-224)
NOTES:
* - Non-AJGA Event
^ - Lost to Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs, Fla., in the quarterfinals of the 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior, 3 & 2
CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Two career AJGA titles
- Member of the 2008 Canon Cup East Team
Contact: Steve Ethun,
AJGA Communications
(678) 425-1786
