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Hoping to keep the trophy in the state are local players, Jordan McLaurin of Ironton, Hanule Seo of St. Louis, Tanner Werner of Jackson, and Emily Matthews, Jordan Sheets and Joe Wiggans, all of Cape Girardeau.
McLaurin recently graduated from Arcadia Valley High School and has signed a National Letter of Intent to play collegiate golf with Missouri State in the fall. He has had an impressive first half of the 2008 season, finishing fourth in the John Deere Classic Junior Open. Over the course of his career, McLaurin secured five top-10 finishes.
Seo will be playing in her third event this season. The rising senior at MICDS recently tied for second at the Nationwide Insurance Junior presented by the Memorial Tournament. For Warner (2011, Jackson Senior), Matthews (2008, Notre Dame Regional), Sheets (2009, Notre Dame Regional) and Wiggans (2009, Cape Central), the Dalhousie Junior Championship will be their first event of the 2008 season.
The local players will face some stiff competition, as some of the nation's top golfers will compete at the Dalhousie Junior Championship. Jack Schultz of Whitefish Bay, Wis., Sam Jandel of Dayton, Ohio, and Michael Sorenson of Hartland, Wis., will be leading the Boys Division.
Schultz is currently ranked No. 76 in the Polo Golf Rankings. The rising senior tied for eighth at the ReBath Heather Farr Classic in March and went on to tie for second at Future Legends in July. Schultz has six career top-10 finishes on his record.
Jandel already has one win under his belt, the 2007 Nationwide Insurance Junior presented by the Memorial Tournament. The rising senior has had six top-15 finishes throughout his AJGA career.
Sorenson is fresh off a win at the Future Legends in July and is looking to add another win to his record.
The Girls Division boasts impressive talent as well. Leading the pack are Valentina Fontaine of Hilton Head Island, S.C., Courtney McKim of Raleigh, N.C., and Jamie Lavin of Deerfield Ill.
A rising senior, Fontaine has already posted three second- place finishes this season, tying for second at both the John Deere Classic Junior Open and the Midwest Junior Players Championship.
McKim has earned six top-10 finishes throughout her AJGA career including two third-place finishes at the Golf Pride Junior Classic and the AJGA National Qualifier, both in 2007.
Lavin has already posted two top-10 finishes this season. In June, the rising senior finished fourth at the SAP Junior Open and tied for seventh at the Midwest Junior Players Championship.
An official AJGA Qualifier will take place prior to the tournament at 8 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 10. The AJGA Qualifier helps to round out the tournament field and allows less experienced players to play their way into the Dalhousie Junior Championship.
The Dalhousie Junior Championship will kick off with the Junior-Am Fundraising Tournament at 8 a.m. Monday, Aug. 11. A practice round will take place at 1:30 p.m. later that day. Tournament tees times will run from 7 -- 8:39 a.m. (first wave) and noon - 1:39 p.m. (second wave) Tuesday, Aug. 12 and Wednesday, Aug. 13 off Dalhousie Golf Club's Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The tournament field will be cut to the low 66 players following play Wednesday, Aug 13. The final round will take place Thursday, Aug. 14 with tee times running from 7 -- 8:57 a.m. off Nos. 1 and 10 tees. An awards ceremony will immediately follow final round play Thursday, Aug. 14.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA, the largest Association of its kind, has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 foreign countries.
(See the full tournament field here and the qualifier participants here.)
Titleist, the AJGA's National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association's success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA's second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 160 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 300 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.