Around the Green

Lanny Wadkins JC Returns to Gentle Creek CC

DALLAS – For the fifth straight year, the Lanny Wadkins Junior Championship will be held at Gentle Creek Country Club in Prosper, Texas. The field of more than 100 players will take on the par-72 layout on August 7-8.  
 
Lanny Wadkins won the 1970 U.S. Amateur Championship and turned professional the following year. He went on to win the 1977 PGA Championship at Pebble Beach in a three-hole sudden-death playoff against Gene Littler. It was the first ever sudden-death playoff for the event. Wadkins also won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in 1979. He was a perennial member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, playing on eight teams, and winning 20 matches and 21.5 points. Lanny Wadkins was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.
 
This year’s field is split into three divisions: Boys 15-18, Girls 12-18 and Boys 14 & Under. The championship is one of three remaining open events on the Legends Junior Tour schedule. Past champions include Sam Rosenberg, Blaine Hale Jr., Matthew Zampello, Travis McInroe, Ryan Grider, Pierceson Coody, Grace Do, Amber Wang and Callie Scheffler.
 
Last year’s event saw San Angelo’s Jeffrey Maciejewski fire back-to-back rounds of 2-under 70 to win by two strokes over Richardson’s Tommy Boone and McKinney’s Jake Kuwitzky in the Boys 15-18 Division. Temple’s Dallas Hankamer won the Boys 14 & Under Division, while Austin’s Kaylee Vesely won the Girls 12-18 Division.
 
With the summer nearing its end, the race for the LJT Player of the Year Awards are starting to heat up. Jansen Smith leads the Boys 15-18 Division, Shaheen Momin leads the Boys 14 & Under and Hailey Jones leads the Girls 12-18 Division. The Lanny Wadkins Junior Championship will offer player of the year points to the top half of each division. One thousand points will be up for grabs in the Boys 15-18 and Girls 12-18 Divisions, while the Boys 14 & Under compete for 500 points. For full standings in the Player of the Year Awards, click here.
 
LJT tournament exemptions will be given out to the top performers as well as AJGA Performance Stars.The Boys 15-18 winner will receive exemptions into the LJT’s most prestigious events, including the Texas Cup Invitational, the Byron Nelson Junior Championship, and the George Hannon Junior Invitational. The winner will also receive 12 AJGA performance Stars, the top 5 will receive 8 Performance Stars and the top 10 will receive 4 performance stars. The Girls 12-18 division winner will receive 12 performance stars and the top 3 will receive 8 performance stars as well as an exemption into the Texas Girls’ Invitational. 
 
Gentle Creek Country Club is carved into the gently rolling terrain and meanders through manicured fairways and wooded countryside. The parkland style course was designed by PGA Tour professional D.A. Weibring and features picturesque water hazards and large TifEagle Bermuda grass greens.
 
For more information about the Lanny Wadkins Junior Championship, click here.