INTERNATIONAL NEWS
AJGA NAMES ROLEX JUNIOR
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
FCWT JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENT
PAPAGO 2019
L
uke Strand of Mukilteo, WA (2023) won the Boys 12-14 division
with rounds of 87-85. Strand carded one birdie during Round 2 on
the par 4, 2nd hole. He also had 15 pars for the 36-hole tournament.
In the Girls division, Shelby Busker of Detroit Lakes, MN (2020) carded
rounds of 79-78 for the win. Miss Busker began Sunday’s round one
stroke back of the lead. On Sunday, she had a rough hole early on with
a double bogey on number 2, but then after making the turn at 41 she
played the back nine at 37 (+1). Shelby won by 2 shots over Ananda
Zhai. Miss Zhai of Woodbury, MN (2022) improved her second round
by 13 strokes. After opening with an 86 on Saturday, Ananda carded a
73 on Sunday (the lowest in the Girls division). She moved from 3rd to
2nd place and led the Girls division in birdies with 2. Shelby led in pars
with 24.
FCWT GREATHORSE 2019
W
hat a beautiful fall weekend for a junior golf tournament in
New England! The day began with some fog, but the sun
was out and excitement was in the air for the fi nal Round of
the FCWT Junior Golf Tournament at GreatHorse 2019.
In the Boys 12-14 division, Ryan Downes of Longmeadow, MA
(2024) went low and fi red a fi nal round of 71 (-1). Downes made
two bogeys and two birdies on the back nine (his fi rst nine). Then he
made the turn and carded two birdies and only one bogey for his fi nal
nine. Ryan had 5 birdies for the tournament and led this division in
pars with 22. He fi nished 16 strokes ahead of the fi eld at +4 for the
tournament.
Matthew Hua of Neeham, MA (2023) posted a 78 on Sunday and moved
up 4 spots on the leaderboard to fi nish T2 with Ryan Chang.
8 GolfPlus Junior November-December 2019
R
ose Zhang of Irvine, California, and
Maxwell Moldovan of Uniontown,
Ohio, join a historical list of the
American Junior Golf Association’s
Rolex Junior Player of the Year
award recipients: Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth,
Tiger Woods, Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer,
Ariya Jutanugarn and Inbee Park.
Moldovan becomes the fi rst Ohio native and fi rst
Midwestern male to earn the prestigious award
while Zhang is the 12th California girl to earn the
prestigious award, the fi fth in the past fi ve years
(Yealimi Noh, 2018; Andrea Lee, 2014; Alison
Lee, 2013; Kristen Park, 2010).
Introduced by the AJGA in 1978, the Rolex
Junior All-America Teams annually recognize the
world’s premier junior golfers. The 2019 teams
honor 96 junior golfers, 48 boys and 48 girls,
ages 14-19, from 25 states and eight countries,
including Australia, Canada, China, Japan,
South Korea, United Kingdom, United States
and Venezuela. These young men and women
distinguished themselves through outstanding
play in 135 national junior golf events, 120 of
which were conducted by the AJGA. The teams
were determined exclusively through the Rolex
AJGA Rankings as of October 15.
Zhang, Moldovan, and the 2019 Rolex Junior
All-America Teams will be honored Sunday,
November 24 during the Rolex Junior All-
America Awards Banquet, live streamed from
PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach
Gardens, Florida. “The Greatest Night in Junior
Golf” will also celebrate the achievements of the
AJGA’s Scholastic Junior All-America Team and
Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award recipient. The
Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet also
serves as the offi cial start of Rolex Tournament
of Champions week, the fi rst offi cial AJGA event
of the 2020 season.