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Five to watch at Anderson Girls'
The 2015 Carolinas Golf Association’s girls’ championship season wraps up with the 7th Jimmy Anderson Junior Girls’ Invitational at Jacksonville CC in Jacksonville, N.C. on November 21-22, 2015. The event will be a 36-hole stroke play tournament for junior girls between the ages of 13 – 18 who have not finished high school. The Carolinas Golf Association and the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour will conduct the event in conjunction with Jacksonville Country Club.
Jacksonville Country Club Board of Directors and several junior golf alumni of the club started the tournament in 2009 to honor Mr. Jimmy Anderson for his service as golf professional at Jacksonville Country Club and his dedication and support of junior golf. Jimmy Anderson was the head golf professional at Jacksonville Country Club for over 25 years. Each Saturday morning, he conducted a junior golf clinic to help spread the game of golf to the next generation. During his tenure at Jacksonville CC, he taught many juniors including Mallory Miller, the 1987 N.C. Junior Champion and numerous future collegiate and golf professionals. Not only did he teach the game of golf, but was always there with a helpful word of encouragement to any young golfer.
All but one past champion have gone on to play Division I collegiate golf including Tatum Briele of New Bern, N.C. (NC State), Sarah Bae of Pinehurst, N.C. (NC State), Evelyn Dole of Raleigh, N.C. (Virginia), Emily Brooks of Chapel Hill, N.C. (Elon). Jennifer Chang of Cary, N.C. has won the last two Anderson Girls’ Invitational and has committed to play college golf at Southern California.
Here are 5 players to watch at this year’s Jimmy Anderson Girls’ Invitational:
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Jennifer Chang of Cary, N.C. A high school sophomore, Chang has won the last two (2013 and 2014) Jimmy Anderson Girls’ Invitationals as well as repeated as the NCHSAA state 4A state champion. Chang also recorded wins in the N.C. Trusted Choice Big I Junior, the Ballantyne Junior Open and the Carolinas-Georgia Junior Championship. Change is ranked #2 in NC in the latest state junior rankings.
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Elizabeth Nguyen of Pinehurst, N.C. Nguyen is a high school junior and is ranked #14 in NC Girls’ rankings. Nguyen has lead Pinecrest HS to back-to-back second place finishes in the NCHSAA state championships. Nguyen is ranked first academically in the senior class at Pinecrest HS.
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Kendall Dobbins of Summerfield, N.C. A senior in high school, Dobbins is currently ranked #17 in the state of NC. Dobbins has six top ten finishes in junior tournaments over the past 12 months and has committed to play college golf at UNC-Greensboro.
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Hailey Freedman of Chapel Hill, N.C. Freedman, a high school sophomore, is ranked #18 on the NC state junior rankings. Freedman led her high school, Cardinal Gibbons, to the NCHSAA state 4A title in October.
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Emily Hawkins of Lexington, N.C. A high school sophomore, Hawkins has finished first three times in PKB Girls’ tour events in 2015 (PKB Rock Barn, PKB Pinewood and PKB Srixon Tour Championship). Hawkins is ranked #19 in NC on the junior girls’ rankings.
Others to watch are: Davis Bailey of White Plains, MD; Hanna Rose Bruxvoort of Chapel Hill, NC; Sarah Funderburg of Wilmington, NC; Taylor Hinson of Belmont, NC; Anna McDonald of Hickory, NC; Natalie Petersen of Holly Springs, NC and Cassie Robinson of Emporia, VA.
About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)
The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization that was founded in 1909 to promote and to protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is the second largest golf association in the country with over 700 member clubs represented by nearly 150,000 individuals.
Now in its 106th year, the CGA annually conducts 43 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 140 One-Day (net and gross) events and qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed more than $1,500,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives including junior and women's programs.
For more information about the CGA, visit www.carolinasgolf.org.
About the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Tour (PKBGT)
The PKBGT is an initiative of the non-profit Triad Youth Golf Foundation. The Foundation will provide financial and logistical support to the Tour and work with community and regional leaders to promote girls golf in the Carolina’s. The mission of T.Y.G.F. is to provide cost-conscious access to golf with a specific focus on girl’s golf development through the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf programs of Greensboro & Winston-Salem.
2016 will be the 10th season of the Tour which has experienced unprecedented growth in its first eight seasons. Participation on the tour has grown to over 450 members with our multi-day events regularly featuring between 60 to 90 girls.
The 2016 Tour will again feature 18, 36 & a 54-hole tournaments and is open to girls 12-18 with multiple series based on yardages, the elite Bell Division (divided into the elite Bell Series and the collegiate-prep Prep Series) and the high school developmental Futures Division. In addition, 2016 will feature the return of the Collegiate Series for 19 - 25 year olds looking for some competition during the summer months.
For more information abouth the PKB Girls' Tour, visit www.pkbgt.org/