Press Release

Wow, what an event…the Southwest Junior Open was as outstanding event from start to finish. The sponsors/partners really helped make this event one for our players to remember. We would like to thank all our partners for their support (PGA Tour Superstore, Dr Pepper/Snapple, Chick-Fil-A, Amino Vital, Southwest Greens, Texas Road House, Chipolte, TaylorMade/Adidas, Bull Frog, Carlisle’s Engraving, New York Life, DFW Links, Huffines Auto Group, Englander, Infra Golf, Hogue Products, The Tribute Golf Club and The Golf Club at Castle Hills).

Castle Hills was the first to kickoff the weekend with their first groups going off 30min before the Tribute groups. The weather on Friday was warm and humid, what am I saying it was Hot! We had a great turnout for this Junior Golf Scoreboard Ranked event. The weather was great for all but one hour of the entire event. With the heat index hovering around 100 degrees on Friday it kept our beverage workers on their toes. I have never seen that much ice and water consumption. When the Tribute groups started to go off the SJO was in full swing. With our course selections we hit their peak time for conditions and played two pristine courses for this event.

After day one we had low rounds and some eventual champions cementing their leads heading into day two. It didn’t take long for us to crest above the forecasted 92 degrees on day two when the clock hit 11am. With our two courses operating at full speed it made the time fly trying to keep everyone hydrated and stocked with drinks. We maintained a solid cooler station every three holes and maintained that format heading into our final round. The weather on day two was great with temps and wind staying within favorable conditions. The scores on round two replicated day one with the leaders grinding it out and the chasers making a charge heading into the final round.

Dinner at the PGA Tour Superstore was great. We had two putting contests and both the boys and girls champions received a Callaway Golf Bag. We would like to thank the PGA Tour Superstore for hosting this dinner and donating the prizes. We showed scoring on our projection screen while everyone was eating. We also had our drawing for the entry incentive items and those winners are listed below along with the putting contest winners. The night was capped off when we announced the Hole in One by Hunter Faulkner and the PGA Tour Superstore awarding him with a $1,000.00 gift card to their store. He quickly became friends with everyone after that announcement. We would like to congratulate all our winners during our dinner.

Final round Sunday started early at 7am with the 8-9 Girls and Boys going off the front and back at the Tribute. It was no surprise to see our pace of play maintained as it did all weekend when the 8-9 Girls made their first four hole check point in 45min. They continued that pace until their 9 holes were completed and the 8-9 Boys finished with a smooth 4hour 21min round average. That pace set the tone for the final round and we maintained that pace until 2pm on Sunday. Weather started to creep into the picture towards the middle of the final round and caused us to pull everyone off the course for safety from lightening. We had Doppler pulled up on our large projection screen that showed everyone what we had to work with on the storm approaching. Much to the delight of our players, we were back on the course in just over an hour.

Many of our divisions were decided in the last nine holes and both Championship divisions were decided in a playoff.  A playoff really gets your juices flowing. We like to create a Major Championship event with Major Champion implications and that is what we accomplished. We have received many responses since our Final round concluded.

Girls Championship Division – Comment…(Parent)

“This event was the most organized, well ran, and professional event we have ever attended”

 Boys Championship Division – Comment…(Parent)

“The best event we have ever played”

 Girls 14-15 Division – Comment…(Parent)

“The pace of play was outstanding and we never play these types of courses anywhere else”

 Boys 12-13 Division – Comment…(Parent)

“The way you set this event up was fantastic and the prizes were great”

 Boys 10-11 Division – Comment…(Parent and Player)

“I cannot believe it, thank you so much for the $1,000.00 Gift card for our Hole in One”

 Girls 12-13 Division – Comment...(Parent)

“This is what our kids need and they need to experience this type of event”

 Girls 10-11 Division – Comment…(Parent and Player)

“We are signing up for Tulsa immediately because this was fantastic”

 Boys 8-9 Division – Comment…(Parent)

“We never get to play first and this was great, and the way it was managed was awesome and having water on ever three holes was unbelievable.”

 Girls 8-9 Division – Comment…(Parent and Player)

“WOW, we get to play first and the pace was great, when is your next event?”

We really appreciate your feedback positive or negative. We are here to produce the best junior events in the country and we will continue to listen and strive to get better at what we do at each event.

Drawing Winners –

Southwest Putting Green (150sqft) – Sydney Youngblood

TaylorMade 3Wood – Kyle Doughty

TaylorMade R9 – Thomas Etherington

TaylorMade R9 – Kennedy Richardson

TaylorMade R9 – Tyler Wright

TaylorMade R9 – Sean Stubbs

Tidewater Beach Resort Package – Tim Koster

Tidewater Beach Resort Package – Justin Hauth

Putting Contest Champions –

Boys – Sam Ramey (Callaway Bag)

Girls – Courtney Dow (Callaway Bag)

Southwest Junior Open Champions

Boys Championship –

Champion – Nick Holditch (Won Playoff)  76-70-75-221

Runner up – Drue Thompson  76-71-74-221

Girls Championship –

Champion – Katelin Walker (Won Playoff)  79-74-79-232

Runner up – Carly Ragains  81-75-76-232

Boys 14-15 Division –

Champion – Colin Frizzell  74-69-73-216

Runner up – Justin Newby   73-73-72-218

Girls 14-15 Division –

Champion – Megan Blonien  72-74-73-219

Runner up – Macie Seeker  85-79-71-235

Boys 12-13 Division –

Champion – Samuel Rosenberg   70-73-68-211

Runner up – Sam Burns   74-69-75-218

Girls 12-13 Division –

Champion – Megan Thothong   74-78-73-225

Runner up – Libby Thomas   82-77-72-231

Boys 10-11 Division –

Champion – Bard Dalke  73-74-70-217

Runner up – Sean Wilcox   78-78-73-229

Girls 10-11 Division –

Champion – Courtney Dow   72-77-73-222

Runner up – Kenzie Wright    77-78-80-235

Boys 8-9 Division –

Champion – Kyle Cox   69-73-71-213

Runner up – Mathew Barrows   80-85-79-244

Girls 8-9 Division – (9 Holes)

Champion – Angelique Francis   38-39-36-113   

Runner up – Hailey Jones    41-44-42-127

Fun Facts…

Water Consumed – 5000 Bottles…

Ice Used – No CommentJ

275 – Burritos

65 Cases of Sodas 

390 pictures (170 with the lens cap onJ) Pictures can be found on our Photos tab at SJO website…

We would also like to thank our UGS crew for this event as it wouldn’t be possible without them (Chad Morrison, Eddie Blankenship, Jennifer Hogue, Johnny Gray, Clyde Henderson, Ron Hardy, Kay Dalke, Frank Wallace, Larry Merrick, and Jamie).

Have a great week and look for more updates about our upcoming events.

Regards,

Justin Hogue

UGS President

Kevin Johnson

UGS Vice President – Junior Events