THE WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION 2016 JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

DSC06588 The knollwood clubhouse DSDSC05331 Jason Day trophy 2 DS  THE KNOLLWOOD CLUB in Lake Forest will be home to this years Western Amateur Championship from August 1-6, admission and parking are FREE. Defending Champion Dawson Armstrong who was victorious at Rich Harvest Farms in 2015, is back to defend his title. World #1 Jason Day is the defending champion at the BMW Championship, that will be held at the Crooked Stick Golf Club coming in September.      _____________________________________________________________________

DSC01590 Rory at OLCC 18 Pic 2 DS

The Gog Blog at Orchard Lake Country Club in Michigan, by Rory Spears, Editor and Director of Content. Follow Rory on facebook, Linkedin and Twitter @GogBlogGuy.

WGAlogoColorBESTjpgRGBDSDS3

Wgaesf.org

The Red Run Golf Club in Royal Oak, Michigan will host the 99th playing of the Western Junior Championship from June 20-23.

The championship which was first held in 1914 will have a full field of 156 players for this years championship. The championship was not contested in the years of WW I and WW II.

Over the years, the championship has seen several golfers that participated in the tournament, go on to successful professional careers.

Past champions include Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and 2015 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Award winner Daniel Berger have played in the championship.

The Western Junior is the oldest national junior championship in the country, it was last held in Michigan in 2005 at the Blythefield Country Club, and was won by Fowler.

“As Chairman of the Western Golf Association, it is an unique opportunity and quite an honor to hostone of our three golf championships at my home club,” said WGA Chairman David Robinson of Troy Michigan. “Red Run is known for having some of the best greens in the state of Michigan, and presents and outstanding test to these talented players.”

This years championship field includes several top high school players, including Kaito Onishi of Japan, and has made an oral committment to play at USC. Andrew Kozan from Florida (Auburn recruit), future North Carolina Tar Heel Ryan Gerard, and Harrison Ott of Wisconsin, who will play college golf at Vanderbilt.

“The blend of promising local, national and international talent is what sets the Western Junior apart from so many other junior championships,” said Vince Pellegrino, the WGA’s Senior VP of Tournaments. “this years field is exceptionaly deep, and we look forward to seeing how they fare on Red Run’s historic course.”

Red Run was designed in 1914 by Tom Bendelow and redesigned by Willie Park Jr. in 1916. Many of the games greats have played there over the years, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. The club hosted the 1958 Western Open and the Motor City Open in 1951-52.

For more information on the championship, please see Wgaesf.org.

This entry was posted in News by Rory Spears. Bookmark the permalink.

About Rory Spears

Rory spent over 8 years growing up working at Rob Roy Golf Club in Prospect Hts.IL, then two years at Chevy Chase in Wheeling. He has covered golf in Chicago since 1986. Rory was one of the initial members of WSCR all-sports radio Chicago and covered golf there for 5 seasons, before moving on to work for ESPN/Sportsticker and ESPN Radio. In addition to hosting Golfers on Golf Radio on WCPT AM820 Chicago, he writes for both the Chicago District (CDGA) Magazine, and formerly Chicagoland Golf. Rory has played over 525 courses in 39 states, and rates golf courses. He does golf course management and communications consulting, within the golf industry.