Walker & Higgins Claim Victory at the Mizuno Colorado PGA Junior Invitational
Colorado PGA Junior Golf (COPGAJR) held its final Major Championship of the season Saturday and Sunday, October 7-8, at Denver Country Club in Denver, Colorado. 39 of the Colorado Section's top boys and 20 of its top girls arrived this weekend in hopes to be crowned the Mizuno Colorado Junior Invitational Champion. While players were entering the beautiful grounds of Denver Country Club they were also greeted with tee gifts from Josh Knipp of Mizuno including a sweatshirt, umbrella, and a sleeve of golf balls.
Noah Richmond putting on 18 of the final round
Saturday started out as a pretty chilly morning. As the players were arriving you could feel the nerves and the excitement in the air. Tee times began at 9:00 AM, most players were seeing the course for the first time and truly did not know what to expect. The course was in amazing condition for the players which made play a little difficult for everyone in the field. But there was no funny business happening on the golf course. At the end of the day Saturday Clint Summers III was currently in the lead shooting a 71. Sam Walker and Billy Ver Straate tied with both of them shooting 72. For the girls our leaders were Madeline Bante and Ashleigh Wilson tied after both of them shooting a 75. Sophia Lee leading behind them shooting a 78. Going into Sunday for their final round the trophy was still up for grabs from anyone.
Madeline Bante holding her finish, waiting for the putt to drop
Sunday morning came quick and in no time Denver Country Club was filled with players coming in full blast ready to complete their final day of the tournament. The facility slowly became filled with supportive spectators and DCC Members coming out and cheering on the players final day. Sunday was a warmer day for our players quickly drying up the course from the morning dew that came making greens faster and faster as the day went on. The leaderboard for both our boys and girls was hot, as it was filled with plenty of movement, leaving anyone in the running. After battling it out on 18, Brenna Higgins was crowned as our girls Jr. Invitational champion shooting a 78-76 totaling 154 for both days. As play wrapped up for the boys, it looked like a playoff hole would come into play. Sure enough, Sam Walker and Tyler Long found themselves in a tie for 1st place once all participants had turned in their scores. Walker and Long found themselves back on number 18, heading into an official playoff. All eyes were on these players, patiently waiting to see which boy would be crowned. Tyler Long walked away with a bogey while Sam Walker walked away with a par after shooting 72-71 totaling 143 for both days making him the boys Jr. Invitational Champion.
Sam Walker making the turn on his final round
Brenna Higgins putting on 18 waiting to see if her lead is going to hold.
For both Higgins and Walker, our champions, this was their first Colorado PGA Jr. Major victory. "I was in the second group of leaders and since my first round wasn't great I thought I was so out of it." Higgins stated. Brenna had said the hardest part of the course was "placing yourself on the right spot of the greens. They were super big and had a lot of slope which made the past two days very tricky." Sam had said, "I typically go into my rounds thinking they made birdie on this hole so I need to birdie the next hole. So I went into today focusing on my own game and not worrying about my competitors." Very similar to Brenna, Sam had said, "the hardest part about this course were the greens. The greens were super fast and firm all weekend."
Our top 10 boys and top 5 girls finishers
None of this would've been possible without our amazing partners, and host Steve David, PGA and Denver Country Club. Josh Knipp our Mizuno rep had said, "This partnership has been great and it is fun to see the growth of junior golf. Mizuno golf is all about the youth alliance strategy and finding ways to help the growth of junior golf." Steve David, PGA, Head Professional of Denver Country Club said, "We are extremely proud of junior golf inside and outside of the club. Our mission is to embrace the game both young and old and its a pleasure of ours to host the premier juniors here in Colorado."
After their rounds were complete, Walker and Higgins were presented with a 2023 Major Champion headcover, courtesy of Scott Walter, PGA of Winston Collection, and their name on the COPGA Jr. Invitational trophy. The duo are also surely excited about the prospect of their victory attracting attention from college coaches, thanks to the COPGA Junior Golf Partnership with Junior Golf Hub.
The Colorado PGA Junior Golf Tour would like to take another opportunity to thank our partners; Mizuno, BioSteel, Junior Golf Hub, and UCCS for their continued support of our 2023 Major Championships. We would also like to thank Denver Country Club, PGA Head Professional Steve David, his staff, and the Denver Country Club Membership for hosting our event this week.
With this tournament closing out our season we want to thank all families and players, none of this would be possible without you guys. We hope you guys have an amazing off season and we cannot wait to see you soon!
