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Round One Starting Times & Pairings
Tournament Facts:
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 will be 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 offered at the highest level of junior and amateur events around the world.
Eligibility: The Northern Junior is open to amateur Boys and Girls who have not reached their 19th birthday before August 2nd, 2023.
Format: All players will play 18-holes of stroke play on Tuesday, August 1st and Wednesday, August 2nd at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut. Tee times will run from 7:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. both days, and the low 36-hole competitor in the Boys and Girls Championship will be declared the respective Champion. There will be an awards ceremony and trophy presentation following the conclusion of play on Wednesday at approximately 6:00 p.m.
Who’s Here: The field of 111 players consists of 69 Boys Competitors and 42 Girls Competitors. The average age of the field is 16.3 years of age.
States Represented: 29 states and countries are being represented. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong, Mexico and Thailand. Connecticut has the most players of any state, with a total of 22 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:
2022 – 1 Player
2023 – 24 Players
2024 – 42 Players
2025 – 29 Players
2026 – 12 Players
2027 – 2 Players
2028 – 1 Player
What’s at Stake: In addition to national exposure to college coaches across the country, both the Boys and Girls Champion will receive numerous tournament invitations and exemptions. The Boys Champion will receive invites to the International Junior Masters (Aurora, NY), Southern Junior (Charleston, SC), Northern Amateur (Chesterton, IN), Hudson Junior (Hudson, OH) and Hope Valley Junior Invitational (Durham, NC). The Girls Champion will receive invites to the Women’s Western Junior (Aurora, IL) and Hope Valley Junior Invitational (Durham, NC). Top finishers in the Boys and Girls Championship will also receive AJGA performance stars.
Player Storylines:
Katie Ha of Los Angeles, Calif. is the highest ranked competitor in the Girls Championship (#52). Ha picked up a pair of AJGA victories in 2022, winning both the AJGA Junior at Peach Tree and the AJGA Coca Cola Championship.
Eric Yun of Menlo Park, Calif. enters the championship as the highest ranked competitor in the Boys Championship (#121). Yun has been playing phenomenal golf as of late, having finished 2nd and 4th in his last two AJGA events.
Arabella Lopez of Ridgefield, Conn. enters the Northern Junior with plenty of momentum, having just captured the 58th Connecticut Women’s Amateur Championship at Tashua Knolls Golf Course. Lopez shot rounds of 72-71—143, which includes a pair of birdies on her final nine, to win by two strokes. At age 13, she became the youngest player to capture the championship since its inception in 1966.
In addition to those players who gained entry by virtue of previous accomplishments, a total of 17 boys and 6 girls gained entry into the championship through one of two qualifying sites:
At Wintonbury Hills Golf Course, Austin Perkins (West Hartford, Conn.) was the medalist for the Boys Championship with a round of 67, and Xinyu (Cindy) Cao (Hong Kong) was the medalist for the Girls Championship with a round of 73.
At Triggs Memorial GC, Alexander Smyth (North Palm Beach, Fla.) was the medalist for the Boys Championship with a round of 69 and Shuyi Wang (Beijing, China) and Menglu Zhu (Windermere, Fla.) were the co-medalists for the Girls Championship, both with rounds of 77.
There are one pair of siblings competing in the 2023 Northern Junior Championship – Angelina and Cameron Huang (Las Vegas, Nev.). Angelina has finished in the top 5 in three AJGA events thus far in 2023, while her younger sister Cameron has picked up a pair of top 10 finishes in her last two AJGA events.
Sarisa Pojanalai of Bangkok, Thailand has the longest commute of any player in the field – an estimated 8,606 miles to her hometown. Pojanalai won a pair of Thailand Junior Tour events already this season, and has two top 6 finishes in AJGA events.
Robby Rosati of Stratford, Conn. recently captured the U.S. Challenge Cup Boys Championship at Agawam Hunt in East Providence, Rhode Island with rounds of 68-66—134. His final round 66 included six birdies on his final seven holes, good enough for a two stroke victory.
Not to be outdone, Menglu Zhu of Windmere, Fla. shot a final round 66 to capture the U.S. Challenge Cup Girls Championship. Zhu recently finished runner-up in the International Junior Masters, and was the co-medalist at the Northern Junior qualifier.
Matthew Downes (Kensington, Conn.) will be playing in his second Northern Junior Championship. Downes earned his place in the field by capturing the Connecticut PGA Foundation Junior Open, shooting rounds of 69-71—140.
Aofie Devaney (Waterbury, Conn.) and Max Baldwin (Tolland, Conn.) earned their place in the field by winning the 2022 Ryan Lee Memorial Junior Open. The tournament, which is part of the Connecticut PGA Junior Tour, is held in memory of Ryan Lee, two-time Northern Junior Champion.
James Earle (Jupiter, Fla.) recently fired a course-record 63 en-route to qualifying for the 123rd U.S. Amateur Championship. Earle has been on a roll thus far in 2023, having recently captured medalist honors in the Florida Junior Tour Match Play, while also finishing 2nd in the Nicklaus Junior Championship and 4th in the Florida Boys Junior Amateur Championship.
Isaac Lee of Hong Kong is a four-time HKGA Order of Merit winner and captured the Hong Kong Junior Championship earlier this season.
Championship Schedule
Monday, July 31
9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Practice Round Starting Times
Beginning at 6:00 p.m. – Players Welcome Reception, Dinner, Long Drive Contest and Ryan Lee Scholarship Presentation
Tuesday, August 1
First Round of Stroke Play
7:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Starting Times (All play will be in threesomes)
5:30 p.m. – Mini-Golf Putting Contest
Wednesday, August 2
Second Round of Stroke Play
7:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Starting Times (Players will be paired by score, with leaders going off last. All play will be in threesomes.)
6:00 p.m. – Awards Ceremony and Trophy Presentation
Social Media: In addition to full championship coverage on our website at NorthernJunior.com, players and spectators can join the conversation using the hashtag #NorthernJunior.
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