The National Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior presented by Encova Insurance is being held this week at Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland, Kentucky. This will be the 39th year of the tournament, and the 37th year at Bellefonte's par-70 course.
History at Bluegrass
The National Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior presented by Encova Insurance, first hosted in 1981, is one of the AJGA's longest-running Open Tournaments. Bellefonte Country Club is celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2021. The tournament was previously run by AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin when he first became ED in 1984.
Notable past champions include 14-time PGA TOUR winner Justin Thomas and LPGA alum Vicki Goetze.
Thomas, who won at Bellefonte in 2008 and 2009, still holds the Low 54-Hole record for the tournament with a 12-under-par 198, which he set at fifteen-years-old in 2009. Since his time playing in AJGA tournaments, Thomas has had a very successful collegiate and professional golf career. Thomas played golf at the University of Alabama where he won the Haskins Award as the most outstanding collegiate golfer in 2012 as well as a team national championship in 2013. On the PGA TOUR, Thomas has 14 victories, including a major championship at the PGA Championship in 2017. He also won the season-ending FedEx Cup in 2017.
Goetze had a very successful junior golf career before playing college golf at the University of Georgia. Goetze holds many AJGA records that stand the test of time. She was also named Rolex Junior Player of the Year three times from 1988 to 1990, joining Phil Mickelson as the only two golfers to win the award three times in the AJGA’s 39-year history. The 15-time AJGA champion won the Polo Golf Junior Classic twice and was named a Rolex Junior All-American eight times, two more than any other golfer in history. Goetze is currently a member of the AJGA's Board of Directors.
A complete list of past champions can be found here .
2019 & 2020 Champions
2019 Boys Division champion Yuze Zhang of (China) Windermere, Florida, is in the field this week at the AJGA's Wyndham Invitational presented by Truist
in Greensboro, N.C. Since his victory at Bellefonte, Zhang has also won the 2020 evian® International & Senior Showcase.
2019 Girls Division champion Emily Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ontario, was a 2019 Rolex Junior All-American. She currently sits at No. 58 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and is verbally committed to play college golf at the University of Miami.
2020 Boys Division champion Max Lyons is currently No. 65 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and will play college golf at Marquette University in the fall.
2020 Girls Division champion Alexia Siehl is currently No. 56 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. She has four top-five finishes at AJGA tournaments since her win at Bellefonte in 2020.
About the field
In the field at the 2021 National Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior presented by Encova Insurance, players represent 18 states and two international countries (China, Hong Kong) and include:
- 16 former AJGA champions
- Eight players committed to play college golf
- Three players who participate in Leadership Links including Ryan Banas of Winnetka, Illinois (Chicago Cup ), Savannah Howell of Calvert City, Kentucky (Mason Cup ), and Mia Nixon of Martins Mill, Texas (Texas Cup ).
- Four ACE Grant recipients
- 22 juniors from Kentucky
National Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior presented by Encova Insurance Tournament Schedule – June 15-18 at Bellefonte County Club:
- Tuesday: Practice Round Tee Times off No. 1 tee 7 – 9 a.m.; Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament off No. 1 tee 10 a.m. – 2:10 p.m.
- Wednesday: First Round Tee Times off No. 1 tee 7 – 11:10 a.m.
- Thursday: Second Round Tee Times off No. 1 tee 7 – 11:10 a.m.
- Friday: Final Round Tee Times off No. 1 tee 7 – 11:10 a.m.; Awards Ceremony immediately following play in each division
Tournament attendance is limited to competitors, immediate family, college golf coaches and limited pre-approved media and guests.
Special Tournament Awards have included:
- The Robert Yancey Scholarship fund was established to memorialize the longtime Bellefonte member and supporter. Donations help offset tournament expenses and provide financial support for juniors within 100 miles of the course who play in the event.
- The Tom and Pat Cooksey award is given to the low male and female qualifiers who stay to play in the event.
- In 2015, the Tom and Jerri Rupert Award recognizes the low male and female local junior. Cooksey and Rupert were the tournament’s first organizers. Rupert’s son Tommy, a past champion at the NRP Bluegrass Junior in 1985, was on hand to present the first trophy.
Bluegrass since 2008:
- More than 1,400 total juniors from 43 states and 23 countries played in Ashland, including 300+ Kentucky natives and 269 from bordering Ohio and West Virginia
- 640 college golf commitments
- 44 Rolex Junior All-Americans
Seven in-state champions during those years included:
- Four-time University of Alabama All-American and NCAA individual champion Emma Talley of Princeton (2010 & 2011)
- Mississippi State verbal commit Jay Nimmo of Benton (2018)
- Tennessee’s Cade Russell of Knoxville (2017)
- Eastern Kentucky’s Billy Basham of Louisville (2016),
- All Conference USA player at Western Kentucky’s Billy Tom Sargent of Georgetown (2014)
- Transylvania University grad Jeffrey Meade of Ashland (2012)
The committee has worked alongside successful AJGA Tournament Directors:
- 2008 – Preston Etheridge – now Market President, Truist Bank
- 2009 & 10 – Ryan Tahara – now Tournament Director, Lagardere Sports
- 2010 & 11 – Greg Sanfilippo – now USGA Tournament Director, U.S. Junior and Senior Amateurs
- 2012 – Rachel Graves Sadowski – now USGA US. Women’s Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Four-Ball Tournament Director
- 2013, 14 & 15– Jordan Schneider – now Executive Director, Palm Beach County Golf Association
- 2016 – AJGA Midwest Regional Director Ryan Flanagan (also an ACE Grant recipient himself) from Somerset, Kentucky, who played in the 2008 Qualifier at Bellefonte
Charitable Giving
The National Resource Partners Bluegrass Junior presented by Encova Insurance Junior-Ams have proven to be a successful way to raise funding for AJGA events and give back to charity. Over the years, the event expanded to host two Junior-Ams to accommodate all NRP employees, volunteers, and club members who were interested.
Since 2008, the tournament has raised nearly $1.2 million in revenue and returned almost $500,000 to local charities including local high school golf programs, the Yancey Scholarship Fund and the AJGA’s ACE Grant.
Tournament Awards
The committee has received five AJGA tournament awards in the past 13 years:
- 2008 Junior-Am Fundraising (most overall money raised)
- 2011 and 2012 charitable giving (the most dollars donated back to charity)
- 2009 AJGA Open Tournament of the Year (best in that category)
- 2013 Hospitality Award
- 2016 Superintendent (Andy Short)
- Also received 2001 Volunteer Award
On Tuesday, June 15, the AJGA will name Jeff and Barbara Conley the third NRP chairs to receive the tournament's third Digger Smith Award since 1991 joining the original chairmen Tom Rupert in 1991 and Tom Cooksey in 1997.
The Digger Smith Award
Presented annually since 1991, the J.R. “Digger” Smith Award is given to supporters devoted to the AJGA mission and purpose of developing young men and women through competitive junior golf. The award is named for Chairman of the Board J.R. “Digger” Smith, who has dedicated himself to the AJGA and to junior golf for more than three decades.