AJGA Stan Utley and Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation Junior Championship
Tournament Qualifier Schedule of Events Field Tee Times Leaderboard
AJGA Stan Utley and Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation Junior Championship

American Junior Golf Association bringing event to Columbia, Missouri

<i>AJGA Stan Utley and Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation Junior Championship to be held July 27-29</i><br/>
The Club at Old Hawthorne Course Photo.JPG

The American Junior Golf Association heads to The Club at Old Hawthorne for the first time in 2020 for the AJGA Stan Utley and Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation Junior Championship.

The three-day AJGA Open 36-hole stroke play event will feature a 78-player male and female field coming to Columbia from all over the country. The junior golfers will range in age from 12 to 19 years old.

“Junior golf was a big part of my early exposure to golf. Competing in junior golf played a big part in developing my game and my desire to play college golf and eventually professionally,” says tournament host Stan Utley. “I am honored to represent mid Missouri and particularly Columbia as the Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation hosts its first AJGA event this summer at The Club at Old Hawthorne.”

The Club at Old Hawthorne, established in 2007, is a first-time host of the AJGA. The course located minutes east of downtown Columbia is home the University of Missouri’s men’s and women’s golf team. The Walsworth Family Golf Center, the training facilities for both teams, is located on property. The University of Missouri golf program has boasted many AJGA alumni including recent 2020 signee Emily Staples, Korn Ferry Tour professional Hayden Buckley, and PGA TOUR professional Peter Malnati.

"The Columbia CVB and Sports Commission is excited to welcome the 2020 AJGA Stan Utley and Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation Junior Championship to our community in July. We feel honored to have Stan Utley as a part of this event and look forward to the athletes having access to a world-class instructor during their week in Columbia. We believe this will be the premier youth golf championship in the Midwest and provide the athletes with an unforgettable experience. This event would not have been possible without the support of our community, The Club at Old Hawthorne, and our local stakeholder group."

The three-day event will also include a 78-player qualifier on Sunday, July 26th. The AJGA Qualifier Series, like Monday Qualifying on the PGA TOUR, is one of the main ways’ players get their start with the AJGA. Typically held the day prior to AJGA Open and AJGA Junior All-Star Series tournaments, 18-hole AJGA Qualifiers give players an opportunity to "play their way in" to each coinciding tournament and earn PBE status for a future event.

"Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation is pleased to partner with AJGA, Edward Jones and our other partners to bring Mid-Missouri, a world class junior open championship and junior All-Star events in late July 26th-31st, 2020 to The Club at Old Hawthorne and Country Club of Missouri.”, said MAYGF and Tournament Committee Chairman Dr. Raman Puri. “MAYGF stands for furthering the sport of Golf in our youth, and to contribute positively into our local communities by nurturing the young generation to believe in the beauty of their dreams".

Additionally, the Columbia community is invited to participate in the FOX Sports Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament being held on July 27th at The Club at Old Hawthorne. The Junior-Am, similar in format to a Pro-Am, is a fundraising opportunity designed to help the local community and the AJGA Foundation. All net proceeds will benefit local Boys and Girls Club of Columbia and Achieving Competitive Excellence Grant program. If interested in participating, please contact Southeast Regional Director, Patrick Cansfield at pcansfield@ajga.org.

For more information about the AJGA visit us online through Facebook , Twitter , Instagram or at www.ajga.org .

About Stan Utley

Stan Utley is one of the most well-known and sought-after short game instructors in golf. He is a PGA TOUR winner and currently ranks 20th according to Golf Digest’s “America’s 50 Greatest Teachers” – a poll of more than 1,500 teaching professionals from around the country. Utley focuses most of his time on teaching. His list of current and former students reads like a who’s who of golfers on the PGA, Web.com, Champions and LPGA Tours including: Jay Haas, Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Neiman Scott Langley Bill Haas. In the past Utley's students included Scott Piercy, Paige Mackenzie, Amanda Blumenherst, Kevin Streelman, Darren Clarke, Brandt Jobe, Rocco Mediate, Alex Noran, Inbee Park, Paul McGinley, and many more. To learn more about Stan Utley please click on the following link, https://stanutley.com/ .

About the Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation

Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation (MAYGF) is a non-profit organization based in Columbia, Missouri, founded by Dr. Raman Puri and Mr. Billy Sapp with mission to further the sport of golf in the upcoming generation, and to make difference in the local communities for youths from all walks of life . The organization works tirelessly to benefit youth-oriented charities, gives opportunity to juniors to explore the game of golf and creates opportunities for youth to contribute to local events by participation or volunteering. We want the youth of tomorrow to emerge as respectful, responsible, unrelenting, and dedicated citizens. Golf as sport personifies all these qualities that are required to be a student of the sport and is the base foundation for MAYGF. The organization has also partnered with the AJGA and Mr. Stan Utley, who is PGA player in his own right and rated in the top 15 golf coaches in golf digest, to host Open and Junior All-Star tournaments along with coaching clinics, to show the youth that no dream is out of reach. For more information on the Mid-America Youth Golf Foundation please click on the following link, www.MAYGF.com .

About Visit Columbia

The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and Sports Commission is a department of the City of Columbia, serves as Boone County's designated marketing organization and is accredited by Destinations International. Funded by a 5% lodging tax on all Columbia hotel and motel properties, the CVB's mission is to generate economic growth & promote Columbia as a tourism destination that creates memorable experiences. The CVB can be found online at VisitColumbiaMO.com .

About the AJGA

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 7,000 members from 50 states and 60 foreign countries. Through initiatives like the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, a financial assistance program, and Leadership Links, a service-oriented platform that teaches juniors charitable-giving skills, the AJGA fosters the growth of golf’s next generation.

TaylorMade and adidas are the AJGA’s National Sponsors, supporting the AJGA for more than 25 years. TaylorMade has served as the Official Ball of the AJGA since 2016. adidas has been the Official Apparel and Footwear of the AJGA since 2017. Rolex, in its fourth decade of AJGA sponsorship, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 900 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Ariya Jutanugarn, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Anna Nordqvist, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson.