Around the Green

Horseshoe Bay Resort Hosting Texas Junior Amateur

DALLAS – Horseshoe Bay Resort is hosting the Texas Junior Amateur on July 23-25 as the state’s largest championship is set for its 92^nd year.

Horseshoe Bay Resort has hosted the Texas Junior Amateur in seven of the last eight years. After spending 2016 at The Woodlands Country Club, the event returned to Horseshoe Bay on the Summit Rock and Slick Rock golf courses last year. This will be the second year that Summit Rock has hosted the Boys Division, while the other three divisions return to the renovated Slick Rock.

Summit Rock is a Jack Nicklaus signature course and opened in October 2012. The Hill Country style venue features a rocky terrain surrounded by native grass on each hole. The course has Bermuda fairways and bent grass greens, which will challenge all the golfers in the Boys Division.

“We’re happy to be coming back to Summit Rock for the Boys Division,” Kellen Kubasak, LJT Director of Operations, said. “The course offers a great test for our field along with Slick Rock for our Girls and younger Boys and Girls.”

Slick Rock was built in 1971 and designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. The course is known as a “hard par, easy bogey” course and features 71 bunkers throughout the 18-hole layout with a dozen water hazards.  The par-4 14^th at Slick Rock is a picturesque hole that has golfers tee off over a stunning waterfall and onto the fairway. The course was renovated in 2016 and updated with bent grass greens.

San Angelo’s Jansen Smith won the Boys Division last year after making an eagle on the final hole of the tournament. Smith holed out from 72 yards on the 54^th hole to win by one stroke over San Antonio’s John Keefer. The win was Smith’s second of the year and he would go on to win Player of the Year honors in the Boys 15-18 Division.

Austin’s Sadie Englemann won the Girls Division at Slick Rock by one stroke over Dallas’ Hailey Jones, who was looking for her third straight win in the tournament. Englemann, who has committed to play golf at Stanford, posted rounds of 66-64-71 to get to 15-under 201 overall after 54 holes.

Argyle’s Gaven Lane won the Boys 14 & Under Division at 3-under after posting rounds of 69-72 in the 36-hole tournament at Slick Rock. Katy’s Lauren Nguyen won the Girls 14 & Under Division at 1-under 143 overall.

Other past champions of this event include Ben Crenshaw, Bruce Lietzke, Jeff Maggert, Stratton Nolen, Will Griffin, Angela Stanford, Annika Clark, Courtney Dow, Kaitlyn Papp and Jordan Spieth.

The Boys Division and the Girls Division will each play 54 holes with a cut after 36 holes, while the Boys and Girls 14 & Under Divisions will play 36 holes. The first round for all four divisions will begin on Monday, July 23.

Players earned their way into the Boys Division by earning an exemption or competing in one of 12 qualifying events across the state. Players in the Girls Division and the Boys and Girls 14 & Under Division were added based on the LJT Priority Entry System. 

The Texas State Junior Championship is Golfweek and Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked, while the older Boys and Girls Divisions are recognized by the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Exemptions into future LJT Invitational Tournaments will be up for grabs along with AJGA Performance Stars.

For more information on the 92^nd Texas Junior Amateur, click here.