The Boys are
Back in Town

The Bay Area plays host to both the USGA and NCGA Junior Championships this summer

 

By Hilary Howard


The 18th at Olympic Club is one of the best finishing holes in all of golf.

             In the span of two weeks this summer Northern California will play host to the best and brightest in boys golf when the USGA Junior Championship comes to The Olympic Club in late July and the NCGA Junior is played down the street at Lake Merced Golf Club in early August.

Continuing a legacy that goes back more than 50 years, the United States Golf Association is returning to San Francisco’s hallowed Olympic Club for another national championship. Last visited by the USGA in 1998 for the U.S. Open, this year the future stars of the game will get to experience the Bay Area legend. Meanwhile, the NCGA Junior returns to Lake Merced for the tournament’s 75th anniversary.

Lake Merced is no stranger to the world of junior golf. The club has a long tradition of supporting and promoting junior golf programs and events. The NCGA Junior has been held at Lake Merced 46 times since the tournament’s inception in 1930. In addition, Lake Merced became only the third Northern California venue to host the USGA Junior in 1990.

Lake Merced Head Pro Dan Burke was introduced to his future workplace when he competed in the NCGA Junior 25 years ago. “It is great to see the outstanding kids who have come through Lake Merced,” says Burke. “Watching the juniors play and grow is one of the many rewards of hosting the event. The members love to see the young players showcase their talents.”

The NCGA Junior has been a springboard for many of the future stars in the world of golf. Past winners of the event include Bob Rosburg, Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller and Bobby Clampett. While Lake Merced has been the primary site of the event, other venerable clubs such as San Francisco Golf Club, Harding Park and The Olympic Club have also hosted.

While competitors cannot have reached their 18th birthday prior to the close of the championship, the conditions and competition remain fierce. The course during the NCGA Junior is set up in very similar fashion to the U.S. Open qualifiers at Lake Merced. When the USGA Junior was played there in 1990, the cut was the highest (165 for two rounds) ever in the history of the event.

The NCGA Junior will be played August 2-3 at the Willie Locke designed Club. Brian Ward won the event last year and will be unable to defend his title because of the age requirement.


The tough par-3 third at Lake Merced. .

Despite the tough 6,784-yard layout, players have traditionally been able to navigate Lake Merced fairly well. “I remember seeing how hard the course was set up and thinking 80 would be a good score,” says former Lake Merced Head Pro, Jay McDaniel, who is now at Claremont CC. “They would go out and shoot even par. It was amazing to see that level of play from the young kids in Northern California.”

The overall popularity of the NCGA Junior gave Lake Merced impetus to host the national championship.  After noticing the success of the NCGA Junior, it made sense to Lake Merced member Dr. Merton Goode, former NCGA and USGA Board member, that the Daly City club host the USGA Junior. Goode, brought a few USGA people out to the course to check the facilities. They liked what they saw and voted to accept Lake Merced as the host of the championship.

The importance of the NCGA Junior was not lost on Goode. “Since Lake Merced had held the NCGA Junior for so many years with great results,” says Goode, “the USGA knew we had a strong commitment to junior golf.”

The first USGA Junior was played in 1948 with 495 entries. In the span of 50 or so years, the number of entries has grown to more than 4,500. As the level of instruction and emphasis on junior golf only gets better, it is exciting to think about the direction this championship is headed.

Considered one of the most difficult tournaments to win twice because of the depth of the field, it will be defending champion Brian Harman of Savannah, Georgia’s task to add his name to a list of USGA champions at Olympic that includes the likes of Tiger Woods, Johnny Miller and David Duval. Woods is the only player to have won the Junior Amateur more than once, winning in 1991, 1992 and 1993. With his first victory, Woods became the youngest player to win the event, at 15 years, six months and 28 days old.

By winning the USGA event three times, Woods brought a new level of publicity and excitement to the championship. Few in the golf world had heard of Tiger before the USGA Junior, but his unparalleled success in the event helped him burst onto the national scene. Woods’ first USGA event was at Lake Merced, where he lost in the semifinals.

Along with the great names that have competed in the championship, the multitude of prestigious golf courses that have hosted the event adds to the allure. “The USGA’s decision to pick a venue that has hosted past U.S. Opens, says a lot about the prestige and importance of the tournament,” says McDaniel. “Junior golf has been elevated to a new level.”

The Junior Championship remains one of the more ardous USGA Championships to win because of the age limit and quality of junior golfers today. Jack Nicklaus qualified for the tournament five times, but his best finish was a semifinals appearance. It remains the only USGA championship for which the Golden Bear has been eligible and did not win.

Since the USGA conducts only 13 championships per year, “Anytime there is a USGA event in Northern California, it is special,” says Goode. “To have both tournaments at neighboring clubs in the Bay Area is very exciting.”