The IMG Junior Golf Tour was developed to fill a key niche in junior golf, the IMG Junior Golf Tour provides an elite setting for junior golfers to compete and gain exposure to college golf, professional golf, national junior rankings and athletic excellence.
Held in Florida every December, and open to boys and girls ages 11-18, the the IMG Academy Junior World Florida Challengeis a qualification and invitation only event featuring an international field of over 200 players.News
Zhang, Zheng take top honors at IMG Junior Golf Tour's Thanksgiving event of 2011
After a brief hiatus, the IMG Junior Golf Tour resumed its season with its first-ever 54-hole event over Thanksgiving weekend at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
After a brief hiatus, the IMG Junior Golf Tour resumed its season with its first-ever 54-hole event over Thanksgiving weekend at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. Thirteen-year-old Andy Zhang of Orlando played his way past forty junior golfers in the 15-18 division to capture the title with a 71-73-71=215 (-1) .
Having recently won a Florida Junior Tour event played in Palm City in October, this weekend’s event marked Zhang’s first on the IMG Junior Golf Tour. With two under-par rounds and 15 birdies over 54 holes, Zhang proved fierce competition for his elder competitors. Said the young player, “It was a challenge – a true links course. The greens were as firm as you will find in Orlando. I kept getting a lot of my approach shots within 15 feet, giving myself good birdie opportunities.”
The Jack Nicklaus-designed New Course at Grand Cypress Golf Club represents Nicklaus’ tribute and homage to the famed Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. The Scottish links masterpiece is complete with double greens, stone bridges and walls, gorse mounds, burns and pot bunkers as deep as 12 feet—all in the spirit of the true Scottish original.
Sixteen-year-old Yvonne Zheng originally of China, and now a student at the IMG Academy golf program in Bradenton, Fla., captured the Girls 15-18 title and her first IMG Junior Golf Tour victory. Said Zheng with regards to her incredible eagle shot on 17: “I holed out my 3rd shot from about 90 yards. That calmed me down and that’s when I knew I was going to lock it up.”
A look at the leaderboard of this weekend’s event opens eyes to how international the young tour has become in its second season. Eight states and 11 countries were represented in the 72-player field. For a sampling of results, see below. For complete results, visit: www.imgjuniorgolftour.com
Boys 15-18
Champion: Andy Zhang – Orlando, FL – 71-73-71 (-1 215 tournament total)
Runner-Up: Shun Miyagi – Naha City, Okinawa, Japan
Third – Josh Pisarri – Naples, FL
Girls 15-18
Champion: Yvonne Zheng – China – 82-77-75 (+18 234 tournament total)
Runner-Up: Jamie Oleksiew – Surrey, BC
Third – Ayaka Suzuki – Los Angeles, CA
Boys 11-14
Champion – Landon Weber – Bonita Springs, FL – 71-78-71
Girls 11-14
Symba Xu – Bradenton, FL – 78-81-75
Zheng and Zhang earned Performance Based Entry exemptions from the AJGA for their wins. The top five finishers in the Boys 15-18 division each also earned a Performance Based Entry star.
Each week, ArmourBite awards the two players (boy and girl) who improve the most between rounds one and two with an ArmourBite performance mouthpiece. This week’s winners are Piya Saengfah of Palm Harbor, Fla., and Alyx Carrasquel of Orlando, Fla.
The Tour will resume December 16-18 at the Southern Hills Plantation Club, a highly acclaimed course located in Brooksville, Fla., approximately 45 minutes northeast of Tampa.
Registration remains open for both Tour membership and individual events. Tournaments are open to boys and girls ages 11-18 (11-14 & 15-18 age divisions for both boys and girls). A new lower pricing option ($184, excluding meals, practice round) is now available for members.
