Format: All players will play
18-holes of stroke play on Tuesday, August 5th and Wednesday, August 6th at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Conn.. Tee times will run from 7:00am – 12:40pm
both days. The low 36-hole competitor in the Boys and Girls Championship will
be declared the Champion. There will be an awards ceremony and trophy
presentation following the conclusion of play on Tuesday at approximately
5:30pm.
Eligibility: The Northern Junior
is open to amateur Boys and Girls who have not reached their 19th birthday
before August 6th, 2014, and who have not fully enrolled in their first year of
college.
What's at Stake: In addition to national
exposure to college coaches across the country, both the Boys and Girls
Champion will numerous tournament exemptions. The Boys Champion will receive
invites to the International Junior Masters (Aurora, NY), Bobby Chapman
Invitational (Spartenburg, SC), Joe Cheves Junior Invitational (Morganton, NC),
and North and South Junior (Pinehurst, NC). The Girls Champion will receive
invitations to the Joe Cheves Junior Invitational (Morganton, NC) and North and
South Junior (Pinehurst, NC). The Boys Champion will receive 8 AJGA Performance
Stars, and the Boys top 5 will receive 4 AJGA Performance Stars. The Girls
Champion will receive 4 AJGA Performance Stars, and the Girls top 3 will
receive 1 AJGA Performance Star.
Who’s Here –
The field of 114 players consists of 87 Boys Competitors and 27 Girls
Competitors.
States Represented – The field of 114 competitors is represented
by 15 states/provinces. They are: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts,
Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Quebec,
Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont. Connecticut
has the most players of any state, with a total of 48 players seeking to
capture the Northern Junior title in their home state.
Breakdown by Graduation Year – Of the 111 competitors, below is the breakdown by High
School Graduation Year:
2014 – 30 Players
2015 – 38 Players
2016 – 25 Players
2017 – 10 Players
2018 – 4 Player
2019 – 4 Player
2020 – 1 Player
Boys State Champions: 3 of the 6 Boys Junior Amateur Champions
from New England States will be represented at this year’s event. They are: Matthew Naumec (Massachusetts Junior
Champion), Evan Grenus (Connecticut
Junior Champion) and James McKee
(New Hampshire Junior Champion). Connor
O’Brien of Norwalk, Conn. and John
VanDerLaan of Southbury, Conn. have also previously won the Connecticut
Junior Amateur.
Girls State Champions: Both Catherine McEvoy, 16, of Riverside,
Conn. and Julia Kemmling, 17, of Berlin, Conn. have won the Connecticut Junior
Girls Championship. McEvoy won the title last year at the Country Club of
Waterbury, and Kemmling won in 2011 at New Haven Country Club, site of this
year’s championship.
Anne Walsh,
12, of Jamaica Plains, Mass. is the youngest player in the field. Walsh
recently finished Runner-Up in the 2014 Massachusetts Girls Junior Championship
and will graduate high school in 2020.
Denis Biglin, 18 of Glastonbury, Conn. and Kevin McInerney, 18,
of Natick, Mass. Both share
the honor of being the oldest players in this year’s field, and will celebrate
their nineteenth birthday just four weeks after the tournament. Players must be
18 or under at the start of
the Northern Junior to be eligible to play.
Defending Champion – Evan Grenus, 17, of Glastonbury, Conn. will look to
become just the second player in tournament history to win consecutive Northern
Junior titles (Ryan Lee, 2007 and 2008). Grenus recently won the 2014
Connecticut Junior Amateur at Watertown Golf Club and qualified for the 2014 US
Junior Amateur. Amy Ding of Lexington, Massachusetts will not be returning to
defend her title at this year’s event.
Family Ties – There are 3 pairs of brothers who will be competing in this
year’s field:
Charlie Dubiel, 17, and Henry
Dubiel,13 of North Palm Beach, Florida
Kevin McInerney, 18, and Andrew McInerney, 15, of Natick, Massachusetts
Charles Sun, 16, and Kelly Sun, 16, of Bradenton, Florida
Brian Carlson, 18, of Madison, Conn. lost in a playoff in
last year’s Boys Championship, and returns with hopes to etch his name on the
trophy in his final attempt. Carlson advanced to the Round of 16 in last year’s
U.S. Junior Amateur and has committed to play collegiate golf at Purdue
University this fall.
Will Bernstein, 18, of New York, N.Y. is the highest ranked male
competitor in this year’s field, and is currently ranked #79 in the Golfweek
Sagarin Rankings. Bernstein finished 5th in the AJGA Philadelphia
Junior last year, and was Runner-Up in the 2012 Metropolitan Junior. His
brother, Sam Bernstein, recently graduated from Yale University where he
competed on their Division I golf team.
John VanDerLaan, 18, of Southbury, Conn. is coming off the
biggest win of his young career. VanDerLaan recently won the 2014 New England Amateur
Championship at Winchester Country Club (Mass.) after shooting a total of 6
under-par 278 for four rounds.
Elizabeth Bose, 17, of Norfolk, Virginia is the highest
ranked female competitor in this year’s field, and is currently ranked #208 in
the Golfweek Sagarin Rankings. Bose finished Runner-Up in the 2013 Virginia
State Junior Girls Championship, and qualified for the 2014 U.S. Girls Junior
Amateur Championship.
Austin Forauer, 18 and Julia Kemmling, 17, both of Berlin,
Conn. earned their way into the field by virtue of winning the Ryan T. Lee
Memorial Junior Open at Timberlin Golf Club. Forauer, who will be attending
Central Connecticut State University this fall, fired rounds of 74-73—147 to
win for the second consecutive year, while Kemmling shot rounds of 80-81—161 to
win by four strokes.
Maisie Filler, 13, of Bloomfield,
Conn. will be playing in her first Northern Junior Championship, but has
familial ties to the event that date back to 2011. Her sister, Nathalie, won
the Girls Championship in 2011 with the lowest 36-hole total in Girls Championship
history (141).
Jason Liu, 15, of Windsor,
Conn. enters the Northern Junior hoping to add another trophy to his 2014
collection. Liu recently won the Connecticut Junior PGA Championship at The
Ranch Golf Club, which earned him a trip 39th Junior PGA Championship
in Bryan, Texas.
About the Tournament
The Northern Junior Championship is a
nationally ranked junior golf tournament that was created in order to provide
the highest level of competition for top junior players. The 36-hole stroke
play event is contested over two days at New Haven Country Club in Hamden,
Connecticut and is open to amateur boys and girls under the age of 19 who have
not entered their first year of college. Our goal is to provide the same first
class championship experience and red-carpet treatment that the best national
events around the country offer.