Strength of Field
The 2017 CB&I / Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods will continue to boast an elite field of junior golfers when the tournament begins February 17. Players from 21 states and eight countries will be competing for the chance to be the 2017 Champion, including 17 of the top 25 players in the AJGA Rankings. Some of the players that we'll be following are:
. Noah Goodwin - 2016 Rolex Junior Player of the Year and Texas native
. Eugene Hong - #3 in the AJGA Rankings and finished runner-up in the 2016 tournament.
. Kaiwen Liu - #8 in the AJGA Rankings. Finished 3rd in last year's Championship.
. Cole Hammer - A Houstonian, #7 in the AJGA Rankings and committed to playing at the University of Texas in 2018
Overall, the field is elite for the 2017 CB&I / Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and will have 36 Rolex Junior All-Americans and 45 AJGA champions.
Charity
When the Club hosts the 9th annual CB&I & Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods, the weekend won't just be about golf. Taking place over President's Day weekend, the Championship has always been about giving back and honoring those who sacrifice their lives for our nation.
The tournament has partnered with Tee It Up for the Troops to provide patriotic golf bags for veterans of the military. Every year, 72 bags are donated to TIUPFTT (one for each player). Each bag comes with a hand-written note from one of our junior golfers, thanking them for their service and acknowledging their sacrifice. Many of the participants have also brought in extra letters from their family and friends. The Championship also donates funds to Operation Grateful Nation, Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund and the Wounded Warriors Family Support, a private non-profit that is unaffiliated with the Wounded Warriors Project. Wounded Warriors Family Support provides support to families of those who have been wounded, injured, or killed during combat operations, healing the wounds that medicine cannot. It is rated a perfect "4 out of 4 stars" by Charity Navigator.
In addition to giving back to our nation's service men and women, the Championship provides a chance for junior golfers to compete on a national and regional level in order to get them the experience needed for college scholarships. Many players lack the financial resources to travel around the country to play in events, and the Championship has donated funds to the AJGA's Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to give these golfers the opportunity to compete. It has also donated funds to The First Tee of Greater Houston, which provides affordable junior golf programs to underprivileged children. The barrier for entry into golf is high, with the cost of lessons and equipment. But this program gives potential junior golfers the ability to foster a life-long love of the game.
The tournament got its start in 1987 and is the longest-running boys-only Invitational on the AJGA schedule. The CB&I / Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods is widely considered one of the top junior golf tournaments in the world, featuring a limited (72 players) and nationally accomplished field for the last 30 years. The pedigree of past champions is impressive. Jim Furyk (1987), David Duval (1989), Tiger Woods (1992), Rickie Fowler (2006), and Jordan Spieth (2011) are all former Champions.
Carlton Woods began hosting this tournament in 2009, and the 2016 Championship was ranked the No. 4 overall strength-of-field event in the world (No. 2 in boys-only event) by Golfweek, even ahead of the U.S. Junior Championship and the PGA Junior Championship.