AJGA Blog

News and Notes: AJGA Junior at River Ridge

By Caitlin Davis and Allison Cottrell, AJGA Communications

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the AJGA Junior at River Ridge is a 36-hole stroke play competition played on the Victoria Lakes Course at River Ridge Golf Club. The event features 72 boys and 24 girls, ages 12-18, from 10 states, Canada and Ecuador. The Boys Division is playing the course at 6,881 yards while the Girls Division is playing the course at 6,082 yards.

0 – 3,500 miles

This weekend’s field features 77 golfers who hail from California, including three players – Kristin Diep, Patrick Holden and Kyle McLay – who live right here in Oxnard. The furthest distance will be traveled by Andrés Arango of Guayaquil, Ecuador, which is more than 3,500 miles from Oxnard.

Return of the champions

The Girls Division will feature two players who were victorious already this season. Elizabeth Wang of San Marino, Calif., captured her first AJGA title at the AJGA Junior at Diablo Grande on April 21. Muni He of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., picked up her second career AJGA win and first of this year at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Cypress Ridge last week.

Are you ready for some footgolf?

Footgolf is a new and upcoming sport that originated from the Netherlands and is a mix of soccer and golf. Instead of using golf balls or golf clubs, players use a soccer ball and kick the ball to a 21-inch hole. The player with the fewest kicks in 9 or 18 holes wins. River Ridge is the only golf course in California that has a course for the sport and will host their first footgolf tournament May 18-19. Junior golfers at this weekend’s event will get to play footgolf for their social activity after the first round.

Double trouble

River Ridge Golf Course has two taxing courses, the Vineyard Course and the Victoria Lakes Course. The Vineyard Course boasts panoramic ocean views and has the signature “Island hole” on No. 18. The Victoria Lakes Course will host the AJGA this weekend, and it’s notorious for its “Amen Corner”, which starts on the par-five, No. 12 and ends on the par-five No. 14. Hole No. 13 is the most challenging on the course. It is a 425-yard, double dogleg with lakes on both sides and the wind in your in face all the way to the green.

No. 13 is one of the most difficult holes on River Ridge's Victoria Lakes Course.

California dreamin’

In addition to hosting the AJGA Junior at River Ridge, Oxnard, Calif., is home to many exciting places and faces. In the summer, the Dallas Cowboys regularly travel to the city for training camp. In fact, the field they use to train is just next to No. 13 on River Ridge Golf Club’s Vineyard Course. Oxnard is also home to many beaches, with more than 20 miles of land on the coast. Actor Charlie Chaplin, Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak and singers Cher and Sonny Bono all have made the 60-mile journey north from Los Angeles to escape to beach homes in Oxnard. In addition, professional golfer Corey Pavin and AJGA alumnus Paul Stankowski are both from the city.

#AJGAJr

Join in on the AJGA Junior at River Ridge conversation on Twitter by following @AJGAGolf and using #AJGAJr. In addition, be sure to “like” the AJGA on Instagram and Facebook to check out photos from the event!

News and Notes: Preseason Junior at Fieldstone

Back at Fieldstone:

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Preseason Junior at Fieldstone is a 36-hole stroke play competition played on the par-72 course at the Fieldstone Golf Club of Auburn Hills. The event features 63 boys and 21 girls, ages 12-18, from 11 states and Canada. The Boys Division is playing the course at 6639 yards while the Girls Division is playing the course at 5768 yards.

The course record is a 9-under-par 63, shot at the Buick Open Qualifier in 2009, an event held regularly at Fieldstone Golf Club of Auburn Hills.

The Background:

Fieldstone Golf Club of Auburn Hills was designed by University of Michigan alum and golf course designer Arthur Hills. The course, which opened in 1998, is routinely ranked in the top 10 of nearly 200 courses in the Detroit area.

There are no signature holes, they’re all challenging, says Fieldstone’s Golf Professional Gordon Marmion. The bent-grass course has fairways lined with native bent-grass, over 11 hazards, small greens and plenty of difficult approach shots.

Long, native grass line the No.10 hole at Fieldstone Golf Club of Auburn Hills. Click here for more photos.

It’s All About the Kids:

The first multi-day event held at Fieldstone was an AJGA event, the Junior All-Star at Fieldstone held in April of 2012. Karen Arimoto of Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., won the Girls Division with a tournament total of 1-over-par 145 in the 36-hole tournament. Daniel Martinez of Austin, Texas, shot a final round 3-under-par 69 to win the Boys Division with a 4-under-par 140 two-day total.

Fieldstone plans to host seven junior events this year, including the Optimist Junior World Championship, Golf Association of Michigan Amateur Championship Qualifier and the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Regional Tournament.

“I think it’s important to support juniors,” Marmion said. “We want to keep promoting the game, and it’s the best opportunity to do so.”

News and Notes: Preseason Junior at Ravisloe

by Samantha Glover, AJGA Communications

LOOKING AHEAD: Preseason Junior at Ravisloe Country Club

Before the Preseason Junior at Ravisloe Country Club begins, let’s take a closer look at our host facility and its rich history.

A PRESTIGIOUS PAST: The course, established in 1901, has seen several renovations and reconstructions throughout its 112-year history. Most noteworthy, is the work done by renowned course designer, Donald Ross.

Although the course was already well received and praised for its championship character, the club sought out Donald Ross in 1916, and he carried out a nearly eight-year long renovation.

Initial changes to the course took place from 1917-1918, and left the course much more challenging. During that time, the original clubhouse was replaced with a Spanish Mission-style one that is still in place today.

Following the Ross renovations, the club was inducted into the Donald Ross Society, and much effort has gone into preserving the features installed by Ross himself. In 2001, David Esler was charged with restoring the club in adherence with the Ross principles.

FACING A DIFFICULT REALITY:

Golf itself is an industry dependent on discretionary income. When the economy began to struggle in the late 2000s, the fate of many golf courses, Ravisloe Country Club included, came into question.

In 2008, as membership dwindled and imminent doom loomed, the club closed its doors. Just a few months later, Claude Gendreau, a veterinary surgeon from the north Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove, purchased the club and opened it to the public for the first time in its history.

A BRIGHT FUTURE:

Ravisloe Country Club, now a thriving public course, is the only Donald Ross course open to the public in the Chicago area. Since going public, Ravisloe Country Club has received many accolades and was named one of the top-15 public courses in the state of Illinois last year.

As the club continues to grow and form its new identity, it will host the first ever Preseason Junior at Ravisloe Country Club.

This weekend, 96 juniors from 13 states, Canada and Mexico, will travel to Homewood, Ill., to compete. For many of them, this will be their first AJGA competition.

What is "paperless" all about?

If you follow the AJGA on Twitter or Facebook, or have been to one or more of our events already in 2013, you might have heard the word "paperless" getting thrown around. You might have also wondered, "What exactly does this change about my AJGA event experience?" 

Well... Let me explain. 

In an effort to curb our use of paper products for the 2013 season, the AJGA has decided to begin the move away from printed materials on tournament sites and move toward offering all of our tournament materials digitally. Printed information that participants have commonly received in the past; pairings, general information sheets, sponsorship documents, and much more will be readily available on our tournament mobile websites.

We know that many of our members, their families, and their guests like to utilize the latest technology while at a tournament, including using some of the latest smart phone and tablets available. In conjunction with that, at AJGA tournaments in 2013, you’ll see signage out on the course advertising a QR code that will take you to the tournament website following a quick scan by your smart phone or tablet.

 

Some Frequently Asked Questions...

 What is a “QR code?”

“QR” stands for “Quick Response Code.”  QR codes are a type of barcode that can be used to direct a user to a web page through the scanning of the code with a mobile device application.

How do I scan a QR code?

If you have a smart phone (iPhone, Blackberry, Android) there are countless QR scanner apps that you can download, and many of them are free. Once installed, all you need to do is open the app and use your phone’s camera to scan the code. The app will automatically read the code and open the site. 

What are some free QR code scanners that I can use? 

KAYWA

Red Laser

Barcode Scanner

QR Scanner

Quick Scan

Qrafter

 

Do you have some additional questions about QR codes or how to use them? Give me a shout on Twitter (@AJGAWitman) and I'm happy to help! 

 

News & Notes: TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior All-Star at Chateau Elan

By Chris Richards (@AJGARichards), AJGA Communications

The TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior All-Star at Château Élan was a 54-hole stroke play competition played on the par-71 Château Course at Château Élan. The event featured 102 boys and 36 girls, ages 12-15, from 28 states and six countries. The Boys Division played the course at 6,601 yards and the Girls Division played the course at 5,604 yards.

The junior Junior All-Stars…
Both the youngest boy and youngest girl in the 138-player field made the cut in their AJGA debuts. Tyler Lipscomb of Carrolton, Ga., (12 years, 23 days) and Isabella Fierro of Mexico (12 years, 3 months, 5 days) were among the 56 boys and 19 girls to qualify for Sunday’s final round.

…the senior Junior All-Star…
By contrast, 15-year-old Lauren Stephenson of Lexington, S.C., competed in her fourth AJGA tournament at Château Élan. Her track record at the Château Course remains stellar, as she added a win to a resume that includes co-medalist honors at the 2011 Preseason Junior at Château Élan and a third-place finish at this event in 2012.

…and the AJGA All-Stars.
The extended AJGA family came together at Château Élan this weekend, as the volunteers were largely made up of former staff, future staff, current players and staff families.

Among the guest rules officials were recently departed tournament directors, including Annie Giangrosso (@Annie_jo_g), who is a rules official on the Symetra Tour. Two members of the AJGA Intern Class of 2013 got their first taste of AJGA competition by serving as timing station volunteers alongside 2011 Rolex Junior All-American Rinko Mitsunaga (@RinkoMitsunaga), who traveled 38 miles from her home in Roswell, Ga., to volunteer Easter Sunday.

Spouses of current employees drove shuttles, while the parents of Tournament Director Katie Tahara (@KatieJoTahara) managed FJ Live Scoring and monitored their daughter at work.

The roots of the AJGA Family Tree are deep, and they were on full display during one of the AJGA’s busiest weekends.

News & Notes: Goodman Networks Junior at Traditions

Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association, the Goodman Networks Junior at Traditions is a 54-hole stroke play competition, with a 36-hole cut, played on the par-72 course at Traditions Club at Texas A&M. The event features 90 boys and 42 girls, ages 12-18, from 23 states, and six countries. The Boys Division is playing the course at 6,978 yards while the Girls Division is playing the course at 6,096 yards.

STRONG START: Jordan Lippetz, who co-lead after the first round and held the lead individually after the second, fired ten birdies to post a combined score of 4-under-par 140.

HOME GROWN: 59 of the 90 player Boys Division hail from Texas, including two from the surrounding areas. Max Miller, competing in the event for fourth consecutive year, is from College Station, Texas. Jonathan Vasquez, whose T4 finish at the Valero Texas Open highlighted his 2012 season, is from Bryan, Texas.

LOOKING AHEAD: Two future Aggies competed on what is soon to be their home course, as Jake Goodman of San Antonio, Texas and Michael Werenski of South Hadley, Mass have signed National Letters of Intent to play golf at Texas A&M.

PATH TO GREATNESS: Several past champions of the event have gone on to play professionally, including Lucas Glover, Bob May, Alexis Thompson, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lang, Grace Park, and Cristie Kerr.

Heather Farr's legacy

By Amanda Herrington (@AJGAHerrington),
AJGA Communications

The Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club boasts many milestones in 2013. The Arizona tournament celebrates 15 years on the AJGA schedule, while Longbow enjoys 10 years as tournament host.

However, it’s another anniversary that is most present as 144 junior golfers tee off over Easter weekend. This year is the 20^th anniversary of Heather Farr’s passing, who was taken too young at the age of 28 on November 20, 1993.

It is hard to believe Heather has been gone for 20 years. While no current tournament participant was alive during Heather’s reign, her legacy lives on and resonates with AJGA juniors. From the strong swing displayed on the entrance banner at Longbow, to the compelling testimonials from Heather’s friends like Nancy Lopez and Dottie Pepper shared during an introduction video, golf’s next generation connects quickly to who Heather Farr was, and to her passion for the game they share.

“Her love of the game motivates a lot of us because of the way she played golf until the end,” Esther Lee said. “I think a lot of us take it for granted. There are so many juniors who don’t have the opportunity to play. It’s so inspiring to see how golf affected her life and how it kept her motivated. I would like golf to be like that for me.”

While the AJGA’s memorial tournament only lasts a week, her memory is preserved year-round in the Arizona community. Two statues of Heather stand; one at Arizona State, and the other at Grayhawk Golf Club. And in just a few months, Heather will be inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame,

“I think it’s important to honor junior golfers and that’s what she was,” said Chad Hardy a Mesa, Ariz., native. “That’s why this tournament is different, it’s not only in memory of this great college and professional player, it’s in honor of a former junior golfer.”

Like many of the players in the field, Heather was a two-time AJGA champion, winning the organization’s most high-profile events, and a Rolex Junior All-American (in addition to her Player of the Year status in 1980 and 1982).

Every day, I walk by a picture of Heather that hangs on the wall in the Communications Department at AJGA Headquarters. It reminds me of her courageous story and determination, as well as the memories I have made at this tournament.

My newest memory is meeting Heather’s parents, who made a brief appearance at the tournament to watch the world’s greatest junior golf, a world their daughter continues to influence every day.

Read more:

Heather Farr's legacy lives on at Longbow by Bill Huffman

 

 

 

 

Volunteers Assemble!

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out this month’s issue of The Insider. Our Editor-in-Chief Abby Liebenthal (@AJGALiebs) did an awesome job this month to put together an issue that really tells the story of AJGA volunteers. We really couldn’t do what we do without them and in this issue you learn more about some of the incredible people that do so many volunteer jobs at our events.

With so many great stories that deserve to be shared, Abby didn’t have enough space to include them all within the pages of The Insider. That said, I’ve got three additional stories to share with you here, so take a look, and learn a little bit more about some of these awesome people.

Ben Barkey – Tournament Chairman, AJGA Stonehenge Junior Open

Ben is the men's golf coach at Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, Indiana and has been the Tournament Chairmen for the AJGA Stonehenge Junior Open since it was created in 2011.

On how he got started with the AJGA:

I called the AJGA on a whim, which was one of the first steps in giving my players another opportunity to get better. I knew about the AJGA's quality of competition and tournaments, but had no idea about the ins and outs of being a tournament chairman, having tournament exemptions, etc. At the time the AJGA committed to hosting an event at Stonehenge, the head professional was a good friend of mine and came to me and said 'You need to do this.' It was a great feeling knowing that I could really help out and be a part of the AJGA team for this.

In the beginning, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but after seeing the results it makes it so worth it. And, the AJGA is so thankful for everyone's help from our committee and community, it makes it so great to be a part of the team.

What is your favorite aspect of being involved as a Tournament Chairman?

Getting to know all the kids from all over the area is definitely my favorite aspect of being involved. If I was just the golf coach out there watching my kids, no one would really know who I was. But as the TC, I get a lot of kids coming up and saying thank you for helping. Seeing the same kids, same parents and creating relationships, after only a week at the course, that last over the years makes it really worth. That's the really neat thing about the whole event.

Jack Heda – Tournament Chairman, Under Armour® / Steve Marino Championship

What do you find important about supporting junior golf?

I firmly believe that golf is the ultimate junior sport to teach life lessons.  It’s the perfect complement to an academic education.  I enjoy making the sport more accessible to juniors who otherwise might not have the opportunity.

Why did you get involved with the AJGA?

I noted that South Florida did not have an AJGA tournament, despite being such a great golf community. I contacted the regional director and offered to be a liaison to facilitate my home course, Weston Hills Country Club as a host. Both the AJGA and Weston Hills were receptive for this perfect marriage.

Do you have any advice for people who want to help in their communities?

Just do it! Get out there are plenty of opportunities.  Nothing is greater than giving back.

Lastly, Morgan Seeley, who works closely with our Development Office and our Leadership Links campaign as a Partnership Coordinator, wrote a great article about one of our juniors, Jens Verhey, and his work with Leadership Links. After all, not only do we have great volunteers that help us at our events, our juniors are also great volunteers themselves.

Golfing and giving

For junior golfer Jens Verhey, being a member of the AJGA is benefiting both his golfing and giving skills. Working with the AJGA Leadership Links program, Verhey has raised more than $1,500 for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer in honor of his friend and golfing partner Anthony Decker.

Decker has been battling reoccurring retinoblastoma in his eye for the past couple of years and is just beginning to see improvement. Verhey knows that with his friend’s recent improvement there would be nothing better than a good round of golf to keep his spirits up.  

“I want to get him back on the golf course again,” Verhey said. “It is the least I could do because he is such a nice, good kid and stays so positive. I am going to keep going with it and raise as much money as possible."

Wanting to do more for his friend, Verhey looked into the Leadership Links program which is designed to encourage juniors to give back by giving them all the tools to donate their time, talent and resources to charitable giving.   

"I was on the AJGA Leadership Links website a lot and it looked like a good program to get involved in,” Verhey said. “I have always felt that community service was a great thing to be a part of."

Once he found out more information and decided to dedicate his work in honor of Decker, he jumped right into raising money.

"I started out talking to a lot of my dad’s coworkers,” Verhey said. “They were all really supportive and then I decided to put it on Facebook, the more people that I can reach in the future the better, so I am going to keep going."

As Verhey continues to work towards helping his friend, he hopes that juniors will take advantage of programs like AJGA’s Leadership Links.

"It is really good to build a good foundation as a kid and not get so hung up on yourself about everyday life,” Verhey said. “I think we should all broaden our horizons and think about other people, because if you are out on the golf course having a good time playing AJGA golf, you are part of a lucky group.  There are a lot of people that can use that help to raise money. I think it is a good thing to do to realize how lucky you are."

 

If you didn’t already realize it, I’m sure you can see now that the AJGA is full of great people that, in addition to their love of and dedication to the game of golf, have a heart for the people and communities around them.

Quick shout out to Stephanie (@AJGADittmer) and our awesome intern Courtney Keppen for their help with the first two interviews on today's post.

Do you have a great volunteer story from an AJGA event? Do you volunteer in your local community? I’d love to hear your stories, so make sure you connect with me in the comments section or on Twitter -- @AJGAWitman.

Until next time –

Alexis (@AJGAWitman)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seniors’ winning streak on the line

By Chris Richards, AJGA Communications

A high school senior has won the HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods each of the last three years, and 29 soon-to-be graduates are vying to keep the trend alive in The Woodlands.

After an opening-round 71, Rigel Fernandes is tied for third and is the leading 2013 graduate, just three shots behind junior Scott Scheffler. Though he’s making his first start at The Club at Carlton Woods, Fernandes said he’s drawing upon his experience as a whole.

“It’s a course where you have to be very precise. You can either be really close or really far just depending on one bounce,” said Fernandes, who has signed with South Florida. “I think the experience of playing a lot of junior golf tournaments helped a lot today.”

A quarterfinalist at the 2012 Polo Golf Junior Classic, Fernandes has played 16 AJGA events since 2010 and won the 2012 Under Armour® / Vicky Hurst Championship.

“The biggest difference between an Invitational and an Open is that anybody can win an Invitational,” he said. “The leaderboard is so packed with big names, so it can go to anybody. it’s about precision and playing well in the right moments.”

Nicolo Galletti is sixth after a first-round 72 and is the next leading senior, while four others are tied for seventh after shooting 73: Branson Davis, Thomas Lim, Peter Kim and Brandon Pierce.

#RulesSchool: School's out!

On Saturday, 22 full-time AJGA staff members took the PGA/USGA Rules of Golf exam. The exam was the culmination of hundreds of hours of studying and #RulesSchool over the last few months.

During the exam (which is graded by a scan-tron... similar to what you'd see taking the SAT or ACT), attendees fill out an extra answer sheet so that they can self-grade following the test. After everyone has completed the test, the instructors go over the test and participants self-grade with their extra answer sheets so that they can immediately know their score. In 2-4 weeks the official scores are graded and confirmed by the USGA and mailed back to the participants. 

All that said -- while we won't know "officially" how all the AJGA staff did for a few more weeks, unofficially the average score of the AJGA staff was a 92.4! (That's .4 above the 92 required for the highest level of PGA/USGA Rules certification!)

Over the last month, I've introduced you to several of my friends in the Operations Department that were working toward the exam, and this morning I asked them to sum up their experiences for you...

"I am very proud of how well the tournament directors represented the AJGA at this year’s PGA-USGA Rules of Golf Workshop. It was a very successful three and a half days culminating in the operations team doing very well on the exam. This is only the beginning of the staff’s rules education, but we are off to a great start. We look forward to seeing everyone on the course as well-prepared rules officials."

        -Andrew Greenfield, AJGA Director of Rules and Competition, who gave us a run down of a typical day in "in-house" #RulesSchool. 

"Rules school was a huge success. It is a great feeling to watch those who have worked so hard to achieve their goals cross the finish line. Now, the operations department can officially switch gears and get ready for tournament season."

        -Chris White, AJGA Senior Tournament Director, who blogged about in-house #RulesSchool preparation, advice on taking the PGA/USGA Rules of Golf exam, and his own goals in taking the test another time. 

“Whew. After a long 3 days of school and a full morning of testing, Rules School 2013 is over! I’m happy to say, with the intense preparation of the AJGA before last week, the help of co-workers studying at night, and the knowledge of our fantastic instructors, I reached my goal for my first year! I’m excited I can now relax for a while…but I’m ready to get back in it and obtain the coveted 92% in 2014!”

        -Blair Thompson, AJGA Tournament Coordinator, who blogged about her experience as a first-year participant at "in-house" Rules School.

The AJGA staff weren't the only ones that had "in-house" #RulesSchool to help them prepare for success at the PGA/USGA Rules of Golf Exam. Scott Hipp, Tournament Chairman at the AJGA Girls Championship, has worked with the AJGA for many years, and through conversations with AJGA staff learned about the AJGA's study program. Hipp was sent a few of Andrew Greenfield's practice exams and used them to help her study the rules and decisions over the last few months.

"This is the seventh time I've taken the test," Hipp said when I asked her about her experience using the "in-house" #RulesSchool practice tests on her own. "But this is the first time that I feel like I know everything." 

In talking with Hipp, she also made a statement that I've heard mentioned over and over from the AJGA staff I've talked to about #RulesSchool, and something that could possibly be the best thing to remember as we end this series... 

"The rules school is good, but now you need to go on and apply them."

While the AJGA has already run three tournaments this year, and are running two this weekend in Texas and Florida, the full spring and summer schedules of #AJGA2013 are just around the corner. With #RulesSchool in the past, everyone is getting prepared and excited for the start of the season, and we all can't wait to see you when we're out there on the road! 

What tournament are you most looking forward to this year? What are some of your favorite events you have participated in over the last few years? I'd love to hear your answers -- give @AJGAGolf a shout on Twitter and use the hashtag #AJGA2013, and maybe you'll be able to find out a few our staff favorites too. 

 

Until next time --

Alexis (@AJGAWitman)