The Justin Thomas Junior Championship, hosted in 2018 at Harmony Landing Country Club in Goshen, Kentucky, is recognized with the Media Award from the American Junior Golf Association.
Each year, the AJGA presents awards to the tournaments with the best individual hospitality, Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament, charitable giving and volunteer base. Honors are also given to the events with engaged media and social media participation. Finally, the AJGA recognizes the year’s most outstanding people (golf professional, superintendent and general manager), as well as the events (most improved, new, Junior Golf Hub Preview Series, AJGA Junior All-Star Series, Invitational and Open) of the year.
In its second year at Harmony Landing Country Club, the Justin Thomas Junior Championship has won two awards in two years. In 2017 the tournament was awarded the Most Improved Tournament Award for elevating the event to a new level. The 2018 event was no different with the addition of significant media coverage surrounding the event and Justin Thomas endowing an Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant.
“This award is all about the committee and membership at Harmony Landing,” said Emeritus Head Golf Professional and Committee Member Mike Thomas. “Without the committee’s tireless efforts, and the membership support, this event would not be possible. Also, as parents, we couldn’t be prouder that Justin has been vested in this event. His presence adds so much to the experience that both the players and sponsors have.”
Media of every level was present at the event, highlighted by national television crews from CBS Sports, the PGA TOUR and Golf Channel. Golf Channel also featured Justin live on Morning Drive and the Wall Street Journal brought a reporter to do a feature on his charitable efforts. These national media outlets highlighted Justin giving back to junior golf and his donations to charity, including his $100,001 endowment of an AJGA ACE Grant.
In addition to the national TV presence, there were crews from five local TV station covering the event as well as a reporter and photographer from Kentucky Living Magazine. The tournament committee put together a full-color tournament program, complete with a course map and information on the tournament field.
The 2018 tournament was the third in a row that Thomas has hosted an event with the AJGA. The event has been hosted at Harmony Landing Country Club, his home course, since 2017. When the tournament moved to Harmony Landing, Justin’s father Mike Thomas became involved in the event and built a tournament committee geared towards making the tournament experience the best it could be and raising money for junior golf charities.
“Our goal is simple, we want to be the best junior golf tournament in the country,” said Mike Thomas. “That includes the experience for both the player in the field and their family that comes with them. We also hope to raise a substantial amount of money that can be used to benefit junior golfer both in Kentucky and nationally through the AJGA’s ACE Grant.”
The Justin Thomas Junior Championship returns to the AJGA schedule April 18-21, 2019, at Harmony Landing Country Club. Admission is free, and the public is welcome. For more information please contact Tim Jackman at tjackman@ajga.org
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