Golf is back!
The summer of 2020 officially kicks off in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the top boys in national junior golf have competed since 2002.
History will be made at the AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield as 75 of the top junior boys officially tee off at the home of the Wyndham Championship two days before the PGA TOUR’s return to play in Fort Worth, Texas. At Sedgefield Country Club, the fairways will be walked by the next generation of leaders in and out of golf from 20 states and eight countries, 42 AJGA Champions, 15 Rolex Junior All-Americans, and 47 college commits (including 12 sets of future teammates).
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National Sponsor adidas Golf and President Jeff Lienhart share our excitement to see the next generation return to competition. Ambassadors Collin Morikawa and Sam Burns are among the more than 100 now-PGA TOUR alumni to first compete in Greensboro.
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Sedgefield Country Club has a storied professional history: hosting a PGA TOUR stop since 1938 in the Wyndham Championship – the sixth-oldest event, excluding Majors. Its champions include the famed names of men's golf: Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros.
The AJGA first hosted an event in Greensboro in 1988 for boys and girls, while the AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield was created as a boys-only Major event (in most years) opposite a girls counterpart in the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, created in 1992.
Other top AJGA alumni who first walked Greensboro’s grounds as junior golfers include:
- Four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka
- 2015 Masters, U.S. Open and FedExCup champion and 2017 The Open Championship winner Jordan Spieth
- 2011 Wyndham Championship, 2012 U.S. Open and 2018 THE PLAYERS Championship winner Webb Simpson
- 2013 Wyndham Championship and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed
- 2015 THE PLAYERS Championship winner Rickie Fowler
- Five-time PGA TOUR champion Billy Horschel
Rickie Fowler hosts top fundraisers in the AJGA’s philanthropy program Leadership Links at Medalist Golf Club each year and Simpson has helped fundraise for the AJGA’s ACE Grant financial assistance program. Spieth, Reed and Horschel all host 2020 AJGA championships in their name, as well as endowing ACE Grants to help juniors play national junior golf in perpetuity.
2009 AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield past champion Justin Thomas (also a current AJGA tournament host and ACE Grant endowment supporter) has fond history of his own in Greensboro.
Before the structure of the TOUR schedule changed to set the field for the FedExCup Playoffs, AJGA champions at Sedgefield from 2008-2012 earned a sponsor’s exemption into the Wyndham Championship .
Thomas was one of five players to use the opportunity to play at the next level at age 16 and a high school junior. He shot 3-under-par 137 in the opening rounds to become the third-youngest player to make a Tour cut at the time, behind 15-year-old Bob Panasik at the 1957 Canadian Open and Tadd Fujikawa (16 years, 4 days) at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii. Since then, Thomas has won the 2017 PGA Championship en route to his first FedExCup.
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Four individual NCAA Division I champions competed at the AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield as juniors:
- 2010 - Scott Langley (Illinois)
- 2011 - John Peterson (LSU)
- 2014 - Cameron Wilson (Stanford)
- 2019 - Matthew Wolff (Oklahoma State)
Past champions of the AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield also include these now-professionals:
- Matthew NeSmith was the 2012 champion and Rolex Junior Player of the Year
- Brian Harman won back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 Rolex Junior Player of the Year seasons
- Andrew Yun (2006)
- Cameron Peck (2008)
- Matt Gilchrest (2013)
- Austin Connelly (2014)
More than 40 current Korn Ferry Tour players also competed at Sedgefield, including Peter Uihlein who won the 2007 event in addition to being named Rolex Junior Player of the Year for a second time. 2011 champion Billy Kennerly won his first AJGA event in Greensboro in his third-to-last AJGA start.
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The 2020 AJGA Invitational at Sedgefield’s first-round tee times off No. 1 run 7 – 11:13 a.m. beginning June 9.