The CGA has been selected to host the prestigious boys Junior America’s Cup in 2011 after safety concerns led event organizers to move the tournament from Mazatlan, Mexico.
The JAC now will be held July 27-29 at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, with a practice round and the opening ceremonies set for July 26.
Seventeen four-person teams of top-level junior golfers — from the western U.S., western Canada and Mexico — will compete in the annual event, which features both team and individual competition.
This summer will mark just the third time that the tournament has been played in Colorado, with Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy (1982) and Perry Park Country Club in Larkspur (1999) previously serving as hosts.
“It’s going to be great to bring one of the premier junior events here to Colorado,” said Dustin Jensen, the director of youth programs for the CGA, and also a member of the JAC Executive Committee. “Someone needed to step up and we’ve taken that on.”
The CGA was originally scheduled to host the Junior America’s Cup in 2016, but with the violence Mexico has experienced, it was decided that Colorado and Mexico would switch their years, with Mexico now taking over the 2016 tournament. The CGA Executive Committee approved the change this week.
Hiwan, which was designed by Press Maxwell and opened in 1962, is no stranger to holding major golf tournaments. Known for its very challenging greens, the club hosted the Colorado Open from 1964 through 1991, with such notables as Sam Snead, Phil Mickelson, Hale Irwin and Fred Couples competing. As for junior golf events, Hiwan was the site of the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 1965 and the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1976. In addition, the American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Tournament of Champions was held at the club in 2006, when a young man named Rickie Fowler placed fifth.
As has been the tradition at the Junior America’s Cup, the 68 competitors will reside with host families in the area surrounding Hiwan.
In the decision to move the JAC to Hiwan, Jensen wore two hats. Not only does he work for the CGA, but he’s served on the JAC Executive Committee since 2008. He’s been captain of the CGA’s Junior America’s Cup team every year since 2005, though he’ll give up those duties this year because he’ll be running the event.
“I’ve wanted to host this tournament,” he said. “So I put a proposal together, and Hiwan was all over (the idea). It’s a slam-dunk for us to host such a prestigious event.”
In Jensen’s mind, Hiwan was an ideal site for the tournament, which attracts not only top junior players but many of the nation’s college coaches. Besides the club having hosted big-time junior tournaments in the past, its location shows off some of the best that Colorado has to offer.
“If you’re going to hold an event like this in Colorado, the key in my mind is to showcase the mountains,” Jensen said. “There’s not a better fit in that regard than Hiwan, especially with its proximity to the Denver metro area.”
Even though the CGA and Hiwan will have less time than normal to deal with some logistical issues involved, they weren’t in the least hesitant to play host.
“I’m excited about the extra work,” Jensen said. “I was adamant that I really wanted to take this on. It’s a really important event, and I can’t wait to see the end result.”
At the Junior America’s Cup, the best three scores (out of four) from each golf association each day are counted toward the team total. And the 54-hole stroke-play event also crowns an individual champion.
The Junior America’s Cup dates back to 1959, when the junior golf associations from Mexico, Alberta and Southern California competed. In 1973, the event expanded to 11 teams.
The CGA, which conducts the major amateur golf championships in Colorado, first sent a team to the Junior America’s Cup in 1975, though a representative of Colorado has never won the team competition. The CGA squad finished eighth in last year’s tournament in Albuquerque.
Among the players who have participated in the JAC over the years are Tiger Woods, Mickelson, Couples and Steve Jones, who grew up in Yuma, Colo., and went on to win the 1996 U.S. Open.
The change of venue for the boys Junior America’s Cup tournament will have no effect on the 2011 girls JAC, which will be held July 26-28 in Genoa, Nev.
