Field Set for Prestigious FootJoy Invitational at Sedgefield Country Club

Ninety-nine of junior golf’s best males to compete for entry into the Wyndham Championship

BRASELTON, GA – For the second year in a row, historic Sedgefield Country Club is welcoming back the top junior boys in the world to compete in the 8th-annual FootJoy Invitational. Hosted by the American Junior Golf Association, this 72-hole stroke play tournament will be held in conjunction with the Wyndham Championship, with the champion earning a spot in the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship in August.

 

This year’s field will feature 99 players from 25 states, Mexico, Hong Kong, Peru, Denmark, Canada and the United Kingdom. Twenty-five players in the field were named to the 2008 Rolex Junior All American Team and 11 players in this year’s field are ranked in the top 20 of the Polo Golf Rankings. 

Jordan Spieth of Dallas, is currently ranked No. 3 in the Polo Golf Rankings. Spieth tied for sixth in last year’s FootJoy Invitational, eight strokes off of 2008 champion and Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Cameron Peck. A first-team Rolex Junior All-American, Spieth won the 2008 PING Invitational and the 2008 AJGA Championship at Traditions. Just recently, he finished second at the 2009 HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods.

Ranked No. 4 in the Polo Golf Rankings, Patrick Winther of Howie-in-the-Hills, Fla., will compete in the FootJoy Invitational for the first time in his career. In 2008, he won the Polo Golf Junior Classic and the AJGA Cliffs Championship. He is this year’s winner of the 2009 HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods.

Other notable players in the field include Rak Cho of Brea, Calif., who tied for second in last year’s FootJoy Invitational, Andrew Yun of Chandler, Ariz., a 2008 first-team Rolex Junior All-American, and No. 5 in the Polo Golf Rankings.

The tournament practice round will be a 8:00 a.m. shotgun start, Monday, June 8. First, second and third round tee times will run off of No. 1 tee from 7 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, June 9-Thursday June 11. Final-round play will be begin at 7 a.m. Friday, June 12 off the No. 1 tee, after the field is cut to top-60 and ties. An awards ceremony will immediately follow Friday’s final round. Spectators are welcome to attend and admission is free.

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and over 30 foreign countries.

Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 200 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 350 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.

For more information, please contact Sara Wagoner (swagoner@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at (678) 425-1786 or visit the AJGA Web site at ajga.org.