Around the Green

Lanny Wadkins Junior Championship Returns to Gentle Creek Country Club

DALLAS – For the sixth straight year, the Lanny Wadkins Junior Championship will be held at Gentle Creek Country Club in Prosper, Texas. The field of 120 players will take on the par-72 layout on August 6-7.  
 
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.
 
Austin’s Matthew Denton won last year’s championship in the Boys 15-18 Division. Denton posted consecutive rounds of 3-under 69 to get to 6-under for the championship and two strokes ahead of Frisco’s Jenson Rogenes. Houston’s Zoe Slaughter won the Girls 12-18 Division at 2-under 142 overall, while Carrollton’s Greg Seo won the Boys 14 & Under Division.
 
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.
 
Open events on the Legends Junior Tour are open to all players with an active membership with a Texas Junior Golf Alliance Member, which includes the North and South Texas PGA Sections along with the Houston Golf Association. Open tournaments are filled based on the LJT Priority Entry System first and then based on order of signup with any remaining open spots.
 
With the summer nearing its end, the race for the LJT Player of the Year Awards are starting to heat up. Thomas Bockholt III leads the Boys 15-18 Division, Keaton Vo leads the Boys 14 & Under and Elise Parel 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. For full standings in the Player of the Year Awards, click here.
 
Along with LJT Player of the Year Points, players are competing for exemptions into LJT Invitational events this fall. The winner of the Boys 15-18 Division will earn an exemption into the George Hannon Junior Invitational, the Texas Cup Invitational and the 2019 Byron Nelson Junior Championship. The top three finishers in the Girls 12-18 Division will earn an exemption into the Texas Girls’ Invitational, while the winner will earn a spot in the George Hannon Junior 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.