It may not rank up there with playing for your country at the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup, but competing for your state does put a little different spin on golf.
If it’s July, it’s time for teams representing Colorado to be assembled for three significant regional tournaments — the boys and girls Junior America’s Cup, and the Pacific Coast Amateur. All three events take place the last full week of July.
Four players representing the CGA — Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo, Josh Seiple and Ross Macdonald of Castle Rock and Ethan Freeman of Littleton — will participate in the boys Junior America’s Cup July 24-26 in Eagle, Idaho. The CWGA representatives for the Girls Junior America’s Cup — Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, Hannah Wood of Centennial, Taylor Dorans of Erie and Sydney Merchant of Morrison — will get the extra treat of a trip to Maui as they’ll also compete July 24-26. And CGA Pac Coast participants — Michael Harrington and David Schroeder of Colorado Springs and Sean Thomas of Arvada — will get a treat of their own as the tournament will be played at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon July 24-27.
Eric Wilkinson, the CGA’s director of junior competitions, will accompany the boys JAC team to Idaho, while CWGA assistant executive director Kim Nissen and CWGA rules & competitions manager Kelley Mawhinney will serve as captain and assistant captain, respectively, in Hawaii.
Both the boys JAC and the Pacific Coast teams from Colorado are coming off the best team performances in their history. At last year’s JAC at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, the host Colorado team placed third. And at the Pac Coast, the Coloradans finished second in the two-round Morse Cup. Meanwhile, at the girls JAC, the CWGA golfers placed eighth.
Both the boys and girls JAC tournaments feature teams from Canada, Mexico and the western U.S., with the girls field including 18 teams and the boys 17. The Pacific Coast Amateur has 15 teams from Canada and the western U.S.
Here are some of the top golf accomplishments for all the representatives of Colorado in the upcoming tournaments.
Boys Junior America’s Cup
Jimmy Makloski — Won the 2012 CGA Junior Stroke Play Championship and the 2011 CJGA Tournament of Champions. Competed in the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur. Makloski is playing in his second consecutive JAC.
Josh Seiple — 2012 U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier. Won the 2012 AJGA Aspen Junior Golf Classic. Finished sixh in the 2012 Future Collegians World Tour Tour Championship in Florida.
Ethan Freeman — Two-time 3A state high school champion and also won the 2011 CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship.
Ross Macdonald — A runner-up in the 2012 CGA Junior Stroke Play. Plays golf at Valor Christian High School with Seiple.
Girls Junior America’s Cup
Hannah Wood — Qualified for the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior and finished second in the recent CWGA Junior Stroke Play and third in the 5A state high school championship.
Taylor Dorans — Qualified for the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior, and won the girls division of the CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship and placed fourth in the 4A state high school tournament.
Jennifer Kupcho — Finished second in the 2012 Colorado Junior PGA Championship and third in the 4A state high school meet. Kupcho has won several CJGA tournaments so far in 2012.
Sydney Merchant — Now just 14 years old, Merchant won the girls division of the CJGA 11-13 Junior Series Championship last year. She finish 46th in the girls 13-14 division of 2011 Calloway Junior World Golf Championships and tied for fourth in the 2012 CWGA Junior Stroke Play.
Pacific Coast Amateur
Michael Harrington — Won the 2009 CGA Mid-Amateur. This will be the third consecutive Pac Coast for Harrington, who played in the U.S. Amateur in 2009 and 2010.
David Schroeder — Runner-up in both the 2011 CGA Stroke Play and the 2012 CGA Public Links.
Sean Thomas — The Colorado State University-Pueblo golfer qualified for the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
