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SCPGA Junior Tour

SCPGA To Host 2019 Girls Junior Americas Cup

Southern California PGA Junior Tour set to host the 2019 Girls Junior Americas Cup at the Jack Nicklaus Signature, Bear Creek Golf Club on July 28 – August 1.

 

MAY 28, 2019, Ontario, California – The Southern California PGA Junior Tour is two months away from hosting the Girls Junior Americas Cup (GJAC) for the first time since 2001. Eighteen Associations from the United States, Canada and Mexico will compete in the 2019 GJAC Championship, a 54-hole stroke play team event to be hosted on the Jack Nicklaus Signature, Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, CA, at the end of July!
 
“We are excited to host the 2019 Girls Junior Americas Cup at Bear Creek Golf Club. Not only is it a real honor to host this Championship once every 18 years, but to do so on a challenging Jack Nicklaus designed golf course is going to make for a terrific golf tournament,” said Kevin Smith, Southern California PGA Junior Tour Director.
 
The Girls Junior Americas Cup brings girls together from various states and countries to form new friendships and cultivate mutual respect for one another and the game of golf.
 
“This event serves as a wonderful opportunity for these young girls to not only showcase their talents on the golf course, but also to create long-lasting friendship with their team members and other participants as well,” said Smith.
 
Founded in 1978, this annual Championship provides team members the opportunity to develop pride in self, team, state and country while competing alongside some of the best junior girls from each Association. Below you will find access to the schedule of events along with more information about the Girls Junior Americas Cup Championship.

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Ben Hogan Award

Oklahoma State’s Hovland Named 2019 Ben Hogan Award Winner

Junior chosen as the college and amateur golfer of the year

 

FORT WORTH, Texas (May 20, 2019)Oklahoma State junior Viktor Hovland was named the winner of the 2019 Ben Hogan Award presented by Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) Monday night at a black-tie dinner at Colonial Country Club. The Hogan Trophy Award Foundation, Friends of Golf (FOG) and Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) made the joint presentation.

 

Hovland is the fourth winner from Oklahoma State since the award moved to Colonial, joining Hunter Mahan (2003), Rickie Fowler (2008) and Peter Uihlein (2011). In addition, Hovland is the second European recipient ever, joining Spaniard Jon Rahm (2015, 2016).

 

Hovland is currently ranked first in three major ranking systems–World Amateur Golf Ranking, Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking and Golfweek/Sagarin Ranking. In addition, he is listed second in the Golfstat College Ranking. Last month, he claimed the Silver Cup as the low amateur at the 2019 Masters Tournament after tying for 32nd place. 

 

The native of Oslo, Norway, won the 2018 U.S. Amateur Championship title, tying the record for the fewest holes played in a U.S. Amateur since 1979 in the process. He was the runner up at last year’s European Amateur, reached the round of 16 at the Amateur Championship and tied for eighth at the World Amateur Team Championship. He also represented Europe at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup.

 

Including the Masters, Hovland gained entrance into four PGA TOUR events in 2018-19. Hovland tied for 40th at the PGA TOUR’s 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational, and also earned starts at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and Farmers Insurance Open.

 

During college play, the junior recorded three victories, collecting titles at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, East Lake Cup and The Prestige. In addition, he has placed among the top 12 in all eight tournaments, including runner-up showings at the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Louisville Regional. For the season, Hovland boasted a stroke average of 68.59 with 15 of his 22 rounds in the 60s. He shared 11th place at the 2018 NCAA Championship.

 

The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to the top men’s college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the past 12 months. The selection committee is made up of 30 leaders and experts in amateur, college and professional golf. In addition, all past Hogan Award winners are eligible to vote in the final round. In order to determine the winner, each ballot cast ranked the group of three finalists, which included Hovland, California senior Collin Morikawa and Oklahoma State sophomore Matthew Wolff.

 

The Ben Hogan Trophy was first issued by FOG in 1990 at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles and also included academic achievement in its original list of standards. In 2002, the Ben Hogan Award moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Hogan’s hometown and the site of five of his PGA TOUR victories. At that time, it revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur and collegiate golfer. In 2005, the tradition of inviting the three finalists began.

 

In addition to Mahan, Fowler and Uihlein, the Cowboys also had a pair of winners at Bel-Air in Kevin Wentworth (1990) and Trip Kuehne (1995). Both the four winners at Colonial and six overall winners are the most by any school in the country. Hovland is the second straight Big 12 Conference recipient, following Texas’ Doug Ghim. 

 

Ghim presented Hovland with the bronze Hogan trophy, while Eddie Merrins of FOG awarded the Hogan crystal. In addition, Hovland also received the first invitation into the PGA TOUR’s 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge  from tournament chairman Rob Hood.

 

Since 2002, the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships to over two dozen schools. This year, nearly $70,000 in grants will be distributed, with $30,000 going to the winner’s university, $15,000 to the two finalists’ schools. Contributions also will be made to the GCAA and the charity of choice of Jon Rahm, this year’s featured guest.

 

Winners of the Ben Hogan Award include three golfers currently ranked in the top 15 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR)—No. 10 Fowler (2008), No. 11 Rahm (2015, 2016) and No. 14 Patrick Cantlay (2012). Other recipients include: Ricky Barnes (2003), Matt Every (2006), Ghim (2018), Bill Haas (2004), Chris Kirk (2007), Mahan (2003), Maverick McNealy (2017), Ryan Moore (2005), Patrick Rodgers (2014), Kyle Stanley (2009), Nick Taylor (2010), D.J. Trahan (2002), Uihlein (2011) and Chris Williams (2013).

 

Ben Hogan Award winners have collected 37 PGA TOUR victories, have played on eight Ryder Cup teams and 10 Presidents Cup teams and have amassed more than $225 million in winnings. Past winners in attendance on Monday included Fowler, Ghim, Rahm and Chris Williams.

 

Watch the 2019 Ben Hogan Award Video

 

TheBenHoganAward.org

 

About Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future™ with its expansive smart office product portfolio from IT Services (All Covered), ECM, Managed Print Services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for 12 consecutive years, and is proud to be ranked on the Forbes 2017 America’s Best Employers list. The World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for six consecutive years. It partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and work to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit: www.CountOnKonicaMinolta.com and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.
 

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Pepperdine Men's Golf

Pepperdine Men’s Golf Qualifies For NCAA Championships

May 15, 2019, AUSTIN, Texas – The Pepperdine men’s golf team is headed to the NCAA Championships for the 10th time in program history as the Waves earned a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Austin Regional on Wednesday.
 
The Waves got off to a great start with Monday’s first round, and that largely turned out to be the difference in allowing the squad to be one of the five advancing teams. Pepperdine finished with a three-day total of a 6-over 858 (278-290-290) at the par-71 University of Texas Golf Club. The Waves were tied for first after the first round and still had a 10-shot margin over sixth place heading into Wednesday.
 
That advantage slowly dwindled over the course of the third round, and according to Golfstat, the Waves briefly slid into sixth place late in the day when they were overtaken by both USC and Arkansas. But the Waves had a solid finish, as on the final two holes, the four scoring players recorded seven pars and one bogey to put Pepperdine into the clubhouse at +6.
 
On the other side of the course, with Pepperdine already done, the final three holes saw Arkansas go 10-over and USC go 3-over, securing the Waves’ top-five finish. Pepperdine finished two shots better than the Trojans and seven better than the Razorbacks.
 
Joe Highsmith led the way for the Waves. His fourth-place finish became the best-ever by a Pepperdine freshman in regional play.
 
Pe pperdine, the 1997 NCAA champion, last played in the NCAA Championships in 2017, when they finished 13th. The Waves were the #3 seed among the 14 teams at the NCAA Austin Regional.
 
PLAYER SCORES

  • Freshman Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) came in fourth place with a 6-under 207 (68-70-69). He went below-par all three days. During today’s 2-under round, he recorded five birdies, including three in a four-hole stretch on the back nine. It was Highsmith’s fourth top-10 result of the season – tying the Pepperdine freshman single-season record – and his best finish of the year. With 16 below-par rounds this season, he’s at #2 on the freshman chart.
  • Junior Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) tied for 11th with a 1-under 212 (67-71-74). He had two birdies in his final round. It was his team-best eighth top-20 finish of the season. McCarthy qualified as an individual for last year’s NCAA Championships, so he will be playing at nationals for the third time in three years.
  • Sophomore RJ Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School) tied for 25th at 218 (71-75-72). He birdied his first two holes today and finished with a total of three birdies and an eagle on the par-4 seventh hole.
  • Junior Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) tied for 38th at 222 (73-74-75). He had two birdies on Wednesday.
  • Senior Roy Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) also tied for 38th at 222 (72-75-75). He had two birdies in the final round.

 
UP NEXT
The NCAA Championships are being held at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from May 24-29.
 
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Texas 278-274-275=827; 2. TCU 280-292-275=847; 3. Clemson 284-284-283=851; 4. Pepperdine 278-290-290=858; 5. USC 290-288-282=860; 6. Arkansas 282-291-292=865; 7. Iowa 295-285-290=870; 8. Marquette 290-297-293=880; 9. San Jose State 291-303-294=888; 10. UMKC 295-302-293=890; 11. Saint Mary’s 307-290-294=891; 12. Sam Houston State 303-302-291=896; 13. Army 309-305-296=910; 14. Prairie View A&M 309-305-310=924.
 
Top Individuals: T1. Stefano Mazzoli (TCU) 71-69-64=204; T1. Steven Chervony (Texas) 72-66-66=204; T1. Cole Hammer (Texas) 70-68-66=204; 4. Joe Highsmith (Pepperdine) 68-70-69=207; 5. Sam Kim (USC) 69-71-69=209.
 
 
FROM PEPPERDINE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS (copy by Roger Horne)

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