Around the Green

Veritex Bank to Sponsor 20th Byron Nelson Junior Championship

DALLAS—The Texas Golf Association and Legends Junior Tour are proud to announce a new strategic partnership with Veritex Community Bank, one of the leading financial institutions in Texas. This summer, the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship will be played for the 20th time. The most prestigious junior boys’ championship in the state is scheduled for June 4-6 at venerable Lakewood Country Club.
 
Longtime Lakewood CC member Malcolm Holland, the Veritex Bank CEO and President, was part of the small group that created the Byron Nelson Junior Championship back in 1999. Holland’s son Charlie won the event in 2004.
 
“We at Veritex are honored to be a part of the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship,” Holland said. “I remember 20 years ago when (Lakewood Director of Golf) Gilbert Freeman, (then-North Texas PGA Executive Director) Darrell Crall and I sat around a table to create the premier Texas junior golf tournament. Looking back and knowing we accomplished that vision, it’s remarkable. To think now Veritex has a part in continuing this great work, it’s truly amazing. We look forward to many more years supporting Texas’ finest junior golf event.”
 
The great Byron Nelson once said, “Winners are different. They’re a different breed of cat.” That’s never been truer than with the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship. The celebrated event has seen its fair share of winners who have gone on to great success at the collegiate and the professional level.
 
At the top of the list is Jordan Spieth, who won the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship three times (2008-10) before going on to win two U.S. Junior Amateurs and three professional major championships. Spieth’s Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship feats include setting the Lakewood course record in 2009 with a 9-under 62. Spieth, of course, played his collegiate golf at the University of Texas, where he helped lead the Longhorns to a national championship. He then turned pro and won Masters Tournament and U.S. Open titles in 2015 and the 2017 Open Championship.
 
Fellow UT alums Holland and Cody Gribble also are past champions of this event. In addition to Holland’s victory in 2004, he played in three NCAA Championships (2007, ’08, ’09), as well as being named All-Big XII in 2008. Gribble won the event in 2007 and earned his first professional victory on the PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2016.
 
Chandler Phillips won the event in 2014 before heading to Texas A&M, where he became the school’s all-time career victories leader. Phillips has earned six wins in his first three years along with First-Team PING All-American and First-Team All-SEC honors, as well as being named on the prestigious All-Nicklaus Team. Phillips was a semifinalist for the 2018 Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award and has been chosen to represent the United States at two Palmer Cups.
 
Other past Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship winners include Ryan Baca (2000-01), Alex Moon (2006), Eric Durbin (2005), Vincent Martino (2011), Ryan Grider (2015), Justin Fraley (2002), Levi Valadez (2016), Luke Dossey (2017) and 2018 champion Pierceson Coody.
 
In last summer’s 19th playing of the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship, Coody won after getting to 7-under 206 overall and three strokes ahead of the field. The Plano-native made 16 birdies in three rounds, including eight in the final round, when he shot 4-under 67. Coody etched his name on the trophy and is now competing collegiately at the University of Texas.
 
The 84-player field will play 54 holes of stroke play competition. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 30 players and ties for the final round. The tournament is World Amateur Golf, Golfweek and Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked. Numerous AJGA performance stars will be handed out to the top finishers, including “Fully Exempt” status.
 
Players in the field earned exemptions from previous LJT Tournaments, the Northern and Southern Texas PGA and the Houston Golf Association, which are members of the Texas Junior Golf Alliance.
Lakewood Country Club is hosting the Byron Nelson Junior Championship for the 12th time since the Legends Junior Tour took over the event in 2006. LCC was opened in 1912 and the golf course was designed by Scotsman, Tom Bendelow, whose prolific career included more than 400 golf courses.
 
Texan Ralph Plummer redesigned the layout in 1947, offering subtleties and mysteries from tee to green that take time to master.  The team of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore completed a facelift of Lakewood Country Club in 1995 and then again in 2014. The par-71 layout features bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens throughout the 6,750-yard course.
 
“Our membership gets behind these kinds of events,” said Freeman, who has been Lakewood’s esteemed Director of Golf since 1994. “We’re very excited for the 20th edition of this event and the club cannot wait to watch and support these kids throughout the week.”
 
Located in the heart of Dallas, Lakewood Country Club has shown a knack for hosting great tournaments throughout the years. Byron Nelson himself won the Texas Victory Open at Lakewood Country Club in 1944, which was the start of his remarkable two-year run of 26 tournaments wins. The tournament would change names a couple of times before becoming the AT&T Byron Nelson.
 
Veritex Community Bank is dedicated to providing the best banking services to Texans. Taking the time to get to know each customer and make the right decisions for their financial needs. Veritex can help with a small business loan, commercial loan, treasury service, mortgage or classic banking services like savings and checking accounts.
 
For more information about the 2019 Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship, click here.