To be eligible for the HP Scholastic Junior All-America Team, boys must have placed in the top 10 of an AJGA event, while girls needed a top-five finish. The selections were then based on grade-point average, class rank, SAT/ACT scores, leadership skills, community service and writing ability. Candidates were required to submit an essay or poem no longer than 400 words that creatively focused on the game of golf.

This year’s overall essay winner was Chad Day of Raleigh, N.C. Ravenscroft School, where Day is enrolled as a senior, will receive a computer compliments of HP.

Six individuals were named to the HP Scholastic Junior All-America Team for the second straight year, including Jeffrey Chen of Walnut, Calif., Josh Dupont of Poway, Calif., Katie Conway of Wading River, N.Y., Rebecca Durham of St. Simons Island, Ga., Kelsey Lindenschmidt of West Chester, Ohio, and Sarah Thead of Poway, Calif.

These outstanding individuals will be honored at the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet Nov. 19 at The Cloister in Sea Island, Ga. By being named to this team, each player is also eligible to participate in the Polo Golf Junior Classic, one of the most prestigious events in junior golf ­taking place Nov. 18-24 at Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.

“HP is delighted once again to recognize academic excellence with the naming of the 2006 HP Scholastic Junior All-America Team,” said John Dayan, vice president of marketing, Personal Systems Group Americas, Hewlett Packard. “The AJGA works hard to prepare young adults for life after high school by instilling honor, perseverance and good sportsmanship. HP is proud to be associated with the AJGA and this great group of young adults.”

To view the entire 2006 team, please click here. Following is the winning essay, written by Chad Day:

SUNDAY AT THE MASTERS
By Chad Day

As the bright orange ball dims and sinks lower in the sky, most people are preparing or eating their dinner. However, this is not true for a young boy wanting to play golf and just itching for the opportunity to get out on the course. As the sun casts shadows across the green grass, kids have their chance to get on the course undisturbed by the men packing the course throughout the day. It is in these waning hours of light that dreams are formed.

The course may be empty and this young boy, swallowed by the seemingly gargantuan size of his bag, may be alone, but there is certainly no lack of imagination and excitement within his body. Coming to the last tee, the thoughts of what he has seen on television come to the forefront of his mind. These thoughts are of Sunday at The Masters; thoughts of the last tee and sharing the lead with Tiger Woods. This is his chance to make history. Walking up the fairway, he imagines grandstands surrounding the green and the roar of the crowd as his approach shot lands on the green. He approaches the green and sees himself removing his hat, acknowledging the thunderous applause from the crowd that has risen to its feet. Reaching his ball, he reads it from all angles, lines it up, and steps up over top of it. He gently strokes the putt and watches as it rolls towards the hole, imagining the crowd rising to its feet with the one or two “Get in the hole!” thrown in. As it rolls in, he raises his hands in triumph as if to practice a celebration of the future.