Around the Green

Fall Challenge Set for Sept. 28-29

LUBBOCK – The Legends Junior Tour heads to Lubbock for the first time since 2006 as the 84-player field of the Fall Challenge is set to take on The Rawls Course at Texas Tech on Sept. 28-29. 

“We’re excited to move the Fall Challenge out to West Texas and showcase more of the great golf courses throughout the state,” Legends Junior Tour Tournament Director Kevin Porter said. 

In its third year on the Legends Junior Tour schedule, the Fall Challenge will be the first tournament to be hosted in Lubbock since the West Texas Junior in 2006. The Fall Challenge was held at The Golf Club at Texas A&M last year and at The Traditions Club in 2017. 

“The Fall Challenge has become one of the most popular events on the calendar,” Porter said. “The LJT is excited to bring a great field out to The Rawls Course and test the players with a fun layout.” 

The Rawls Course opened in 2003 and was designed by Tom Doak. The renowned golf course architect also designed the world-famous Pacific Dunes in Bandon, Ore. Doak and his team excavated nearly 1.3 million yards of topsoil to sculpt the West Texas cotton field into a completely new landscape. The result was a par-72 championship golf course that can stretch out to 7,349 yards. It features a links-style layout with elevation change of up to 30 feet. 

“We are extremely excited to be involved and host our first Legends Junior Tour Fall Challenge,” The Rawls Course General Manager Greg Winter said. “We are very passionate about junior golf and we like being involved with anything that will help grow the game.” 

Scheduled for 36 holes of stroke play, the field will be split into three divisions: Boys 15-18, Boys 14 & Under and Girls 12-18. LJT Player of the Year points are up for grabs, as well as exemptions into the first annual Texas Junior Golf Alliance Invitational. The event will be ranked by both Golfweek and Junior Golf Scoreboard. 

At last year’s Fall Challenge, Crosby Guercio of Frisco carded rounds of 70-69 to post the only overall score in red figures and win the Boys 15-18 Division by four strokes. Three-time LJT Player of the Year, Hailey Jones of Dallas, won the Girls 12-18 Division following rounds of 73-74 while Tomek Pickrell of Cypress won the Boys 14 & Under Division. 

With the season’s end drawing near, Player of the Year Points are becoming very important as players jockey for a spot on their respective Jackie Burke Cup teams. There are only three tournaments remaining to earn points before the 2019 Player of the Year is announced for each division. Dallas Hankamer of Temple leads the Boys 15-18, while Lauren Nguyen of Katy leads the Girls 12-18 and Grant Yerger of Driftwood leads the Boys 14 & Under standings. 

Tee times for the first round begin at 8 a.m. off No. 1 and 10 tees on Sept. 28. Final Round pairings will be redrawn according to first round scores and begin at 8 a.m. off No. 1 and 10 tees on Sept. 29. 

For more information about the Fall Challenge at The Rawls Course, click here.