Around the Green

LJT Collegiate Preview Set For August 5-6

FORT WORTH — The Legends Junior Tour’s Collegiate Preview heads to Mira Vista Country Club for the first time in the tournament’s five-year history.

Mira Vista Country Club was designed by 16-time PGA Tour winner and 1973 Open Champion Tom Weiskopf with the help of Jay Morrish. The traditional parkland golf course features demanding tee shots and pure Bermuda grass greens with subtle break. Mira Vista Country Club Head Golf Professional Courtney Connell looks forward to hosting this year’s Collegiate Preview.

“We want to put the best players on our stage and roll out the red carpet,” Connell said. “This is a golf course that requires every club in the bag and is a genuine test.”

The Collegiate Preview features players 14 years and older who are members of the Texas Junior Golf Alliance. It is a 54-hole event that is ranked nationally by Junior Golf Scoreboard, Golfweek and the World Amateur Golf Rankings. The 78-player field is set up like a collegiate event in that competitors play 36 holes on the first day and 18 on the second. This format helps prepare players for the next step in their golf careers.

 “The Collegiate Preview does a great job of building stamina for players who wish to compete on the collegiate level,” Legends Junior Tour Tournament Director Kevin Porter said. “Players that have played with us and gone on to play collegiate golf have said the Collegiate Preview did a good job in preparing them for the next level.”

San Antonio’s Garrett Martin won last year’s Boys Division at Cimarron Hills Golf & Country Club in Georgetown. Martin, who will join the Texas Tech men’s golf team this fall, carded rounds of 74-67-71 to post 4-under 212 for the tournament. He was the only player to break par in the final round and finished eight shots better than the rest of the field.

Katy’s Elina Sinz defended her 2017 Collegiate Preview title and won the Girls Division by four strokes over Zoe Slaughter. Sinz carded five straight pars coming down the stretch to finish at 236 overall and win by four strokes.

Along with points toward the race for LJT Player of the Year, AJGA Performance Stars are awarded to the top 10 finishers in the Boys Division.

Exemptions into future LJT Invitational Tournaments are also up for grabs. The Boys Division champion will earn an exemption into the first annual Texas Junior Golf Alliance Invitational. The top-three finishers in the Boys Division earn spots in the George Hannon Junior Invitational and the 2020 Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship.

The champion of the Girls Division also receives a spot in the Texas Junior Golf Alliance Invitational and George Hannon Junior Invitational. The top-three finishers become exempt in the 2020 Texas Girls’ Invitational.

For more information on the 2019 Collegiate Preview, click here.