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Polo Golf Junior Classic
Set for Nov. 18-24 |
Sea Island Golf Club set to host for third straight year |
By John
Egnot
Manager of Media Relations
Rarely will you find such a talented
group of golfers gathered in one place as you will see
Nov. 18-24 at the 29th installment of the AJGA’s Thanksgiving
tradition, the Polo Golf Junior Classic.
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Seventy-nine of the 96 recently named Rolex Junior All-Americans
will take to the Seaside and Plantation Courses at Sea Island
Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga., looking to survive and advance
in one of the most grueling weeks in junior golf.
In a five-day span, four of the 160 competitors, those who
advance to the finals of match play, will have completed seven
rounds of golf on two of the most challenging, yet beautiful
courses on the AJGA schedule.
Only two, one boy and one girl, will join the impressive list of past champions,
one that includes the likes of Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink, Paula Creamer and Morgan
Pressel.
On the boys’ side, Rolex Junior Player of the Year Philip Francis of Scottsdale,
Ariz., seeks his third AJGA Invitational title of the year, and his fifth AJGA
win overall.
The 2006 season has seen Francis win the Thunderbird International Junior, Rolex
Tournament of Champions and U.S. Junior Amateur. After losing to 2005 champion
Jamie Lovemark in the semifinals, Francis will look to finish the job in 2006
to put an exclamation point on one of the most impressive junior-golf seasons
in recent memory.
Francis will have plenty of challengers though, including HP Boys Junior Championship
winner Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Calif., 2005 Rolex Junior Player of the Year
Peter Uihlein of Bradenton, Fla., and Andrew Yun of Chandler, Ariz., who was
victorious at the FootJoy Boys Invitational and the inaugural PING Invitational
last month.
Overall, three of the four semifinalists from the 2005 Polo Golf Junior Classic
return in the Boys Division, including the aforementioned Francis, Uihlein and
Tadd Fujikawa of Honolulu. Fujikawa burst onto the national scene at Sea Island
in 2005, making a run to the championship match before being defeated by Lovemark.
In 2006, Fujikawa was named a Rolex Junior All-American for the first time and
became the youngest player in history to qualify for and compete in the U.S.
Open.
The Girls Division promises to be just as exciting, with Rolex Junior Player
of the Year Esther Choe, also of Scottsdale, looking to claim her third AJGA
Invitational title of the year.
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| 2005 runner-up
Mina Harigae, a first-team Rolex Junior All-American,
returns to Sea Island for another shot at the title. |
Choe went on a tear during the 2006 season,
winning the Rolex Girls Junior Championship and The PING Invitational.
A win at Sea Island would be Choe’s fourth overall
Invitational victory.
Challenging Choe will be a host of players, including three who advanced to the
2005 Polo Golf Junior Classic semifinals.
Isabelle Lendl of Bradenton won the Thunderbird International Junior in May en
route to being named a first-team Rolex Junior All-American for the first time.
Mina Harigae of Monterey, Calif., who defeated Lendl in the 2005 semifinals,
looks to add to her impressive record at Sea Island Golf Club. In 2004, Harigae
set the competitive course record (62) at the Seaside Course during stroke play
qualifying and advanced to the finals in 2005.
Taylore Karle of Scottsdale, a six-time AJGA champion, will be seeking her first
AJGA Invitational title after losing to champion Angela Park in the 2005 semifinals.
Survive and advance. That’s the key for the week. But in the end, only
two players will have advanced to earn one of the most prestigous titles in junior
golf.
In addition to the tournament, the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet will
be held Sunday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. at The Cloister in Sea Island. This annual
gala of junior golf's brightest will honor the Rolex Junior Players of the Year,
Rolex Junior All-America Teams, HP Scholastic Junior All-America Teams, and the
Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award winner.
Be sure to check out the December edition of the AJGA Link for a complete recap
of the week at Sea Island. You can also check out the tournament Web site for
continuous updates, along with FootJoy Live Scoring by clicking here. |
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