JTNC News

JTNC’s Caleb Shetler Wins Santa Clara County Championship

June 5, 2018

Caleb Shetler won the Santa Clara County over the weekend, shooting scores of  70-67-66 for a total of 203.

His 203 score tied Justin Suh for the third-lowest winning score in the 92-year history of the tournament. He outlasted a late charge by Steve Woods, who narrowed the lead to one shot going into the final hole after being back four shots midway through the round.  Woods ended up two strokes back at 205.

 

JTNC’s Ryan Grauman Wins Alameda Commuters

April 25, 2018 

A high school senior won the annual Alameda Commuters Championship.

Ryan Grauman of Danville grabbed the first round lead with a 7-under 64 and never looked back, finishing the 72-hole Championship at 9-under 275 to defeat runner-up Matt Heitel by a stroke.

Headed to St. Mary’s University this fall, Grauman’s second big move came via a final round 67 despite strong winds.

Sebastian Iqbal of San Jose and Brian Ma, winner of the 2017 San Francisco City, finished T-3 at 277.

Strength of Junior Golf

There is a growing theme in college and junior golf; going deep! I mean deep, here are some examples:

  • Andrea Lee of Stanford shots 58 in practice
  • Cal Berkley wins Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate with -47 as a team
  • College of Charleston wins Loyola Intercollegiate with -48 as a team
  • UNLV wins National Invitational Tournament with -50 as a team
  • Kaitlin Milligan of University of Oklahoma shoots 62 in the first round of the Westbrook Invitational
  • Ximena Gonzalez Garcia shoots 64 in the final round of the Global Junior Golf Event in Mexico
  • Florida Junior Tour had 27 boys break par at Stone Creek, including two final rounds 65’s
  • Dongjin Park shoots 61 in first round of IJGT Georgia Open at Savannah Quarters
  • Julian Perico shoots 205 (3 rounds) to win AJGA invitational, including 65 in 2nd round

These kids and college golfers are simply good, and this is not a trend that has just started. Data suggests that in 2016 there where 902 rounds in the 60’s by boys in AJGA tournaments and 626 rounds in the 60’s by girls. In 2017, boys broke par 1698 times, while girls did it 454 times. Even in 2004 numbers where very good and when considering the fewer tournament, work out to averaging approximately the same while still having significant rounds in the middle 60’s and tournaments won with scores under par.

The trend is not only in AJGAs, according to Chris Smeal, founder of Future Champions Golf, “the scores that it takes to compete in junior golf is very low! Last year, we had several scores under 65, including a 62 in our recent FCG Western States Cup and a record -15 under to win the girls division.” Data I have collected examining the Junior Tour of Northern California shows that to win in 2017 the average boys score was 143.48 (2 day) and the average girls score was 146 (2 day). When examining the scores, keep in mind that Perico’s 205 was at the Fazio Course at Carlton Woods which measures 7,358 with a course rating of 75.8 and a slope of 144. Likewise, the Florida Junior Tour at Stone Creek was played at 7,033 yards with a course rating of 73.4 and slope of 125. This means that at points junior golfers are playing at handicaps of +9 or better in tournaments, making the results eerily close to what it takes to play elite amateur and even professional golf.

According to Kevin Smeltz, a top 100 teacher and director of Instruction at Bishops Gate, as well as coach to Julian and Dongjin Park, “at Bishops Gate we have 80+ highly motived students who work to better their game every day. These students not only live right on a world class golf course and practice facility, they also have access to outstanding technology, and a support system which includes experts in fitness and psychology like Dr. Fran Pirozzolo and Ms. Karen Harrison, M.S.”

While the golf is not necessarily better than a decade ago, it is certainly deeper. Youth has more access to tournaments and opportunities to play. According to PGA tour Coach Dan Carharrer “the biggest difference from junior golf when I was a kid vs. now is that US Kids and other organizations have streamline the process allowing kids to build competitive experiences on courses where they have an opportunity to break par. Kids as young as 10 are shooting -10+ to win tournaments, creating a large pool of young golfers who are simply not afraid to shoot way low. With so many great young players, tournaments across the country are seeing low scores.”

While, more players are breaking par, the best players are demonstrating they can go long streaks under par earning scoring differentials into the -7 to -9 range. Scoring differential is the players scoring average against the course rating. A scoring differential of 0 would mean the player normally shoots the course rating. A negative scoring differential means the player typically shoots better than the course rating, which in broad terms means the players handicap would equate to a “plus” or better than par. Now consider there are 500+ boys on Junior Golf Scoreboard and 300 girls with negative scoring differentials!

For junior golfer, parents and coaches, it is important to make “breaking par” one of the skills that juniors learn and practice as part of their development. For many this process will begin on their home golf course and can start with the junior playing the course from as short as 5200 yards. The key is the junior learns to leverage their strengths to make birdies, as well as feel comfortable as possible with shooting scores that start with the number “6” and as they improve their skills, even start to think about scores which start with “5”.

Early Commitments

In this month’s article, I would like to address the issue of early commitments. As many of the readers might be aware, Brad Dalke, a member of the 2017 NCAA Championship team at the University of Oklahoma Golf committed when he was 12 years old. Since that time, many more young men and women are committing early with players like Ben James (2021) committed to UConn and Hudson Weibel (2021) to Oklahoma. As this becomes more common, I wanted to explore the reasons it is happening, as well as the thoughts of eminent scientists about the phenomena.

A key aspect of early commitments is about the information available to people on sites like National Junior Golf Score Board and AJGA. These sites, which list college signees, only cover those which sign a National Letter of Intent; that is the player gets a scholarship. Scholarship players likely only make up less than half of all that play college golf, therefore the numbers for these players leave a poor anchor for players, families and coaches.

It is also important to remember that Letters of Intent can be offered two times per year. The first time is a 10-day window in November, when coaches are done the fall season and have the time to report results to outlets like NJGS or AJGA. The other window is in the spring, after April 1, when coaches are in the middle of exams and conference or regional tournaments. This makes it more likely they will not report the results.

Players, parents and coaches should also consider the long-term impact of the decision. According to Dr. Fran Piozzolo, a PhD and mental trainer for Northwestern University and Bishop’s Gate Golf Academy the decision one makes about where he or she will go to college is a very complicated and important decision that most 18 year-old high school athletes are not fully prepared to make. “The phenomenon of even younger student-athletes, some as young as 11 or 12, participating in recruiting activities, is troubling from several perspectives. Even the most mature and intellectually gifted young people cannot possibly be expected to make good decisions for themselves, with or without the assistance of parents and other advisors”. His comments are based on his own research which demonstrates the development of exceptionally talented athletes follows no predictable algorithm (Pirozzolo & Bjork, 2017), instead the research found “the myth that young prodigies have a gift that spans across many performance domains is just not supported by scientific data. Research strongly supports the assumption that gifted athletic prowess has more to do with the family than any other single factor in the development of exceptional talent (Bloom, 1985)”.

Dr. David Grecic, the chair of Sport at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom agrees with many point of Dr. Piozzolo, suggesting “the focus on early specialization in golf and its resultant practices is a worrying development. Youngsters and parents alike are being given the impression that adult level skills are required at younger and younger ages or they will be excluded from golf’s talent pathway.  This focus is transmitted from and to high schools, colleges and even management companies who are now exerting unwelcome and unmerited pressure on young golfers without understanding the true nature of the potential elite performer’s individualized developmental pathway. Indeed, unless we have a crystal ball and can see into the future many of the decisions made by recruiters to predict success are ill conceived and are not helpful in supporting youngsters who love the game”.

Brendan Ryan, a former college golf coach who writes extensively on junior and college golf suggests “players, under the supervision of their parents and coaches, need to own the process and understand they are on a unique journey that is not about checking boxes, but building developmental assets which will prepare them to lead healthy adult lives”. The issue, according to Brendan is that players and parents are too worried about aspects of the school that are not important, instead his advice is: ‘the only thing young people need to consider is how the school can help the student transform during their adolescence years into a healthy, happy adult”.

The fact is, in the US, there are lots of amazing universities that combine the opportunity to earn a degree, while playing competitive college golf. With so many amazing options, students should not be a hurry but instead work through to find a place where they will have the best opportunity to grow academically, socially and financially.

JTNC Alum Samantha Hutchison Named Big West MVP

April 20, 2018

JTNC Alum Samantha Hutchison Named Big West MVP

Former JTNC member Samantha Hutchison, now a junior at UC Davis, was named Big West Player of the Year in April.

The winner of the 2013 NCGA Junior Championship, Hutchison was also named to the All-Big West First Team.

“I can’t say enough about how supportive coach (Anna) Temple, my family and my teammates were in my journey this season,” Hutchison told The Enterprise. “They were so encouraging and really brought out the best in me.”

One of Hutchison’s Aggies teammates is sophomore Yoonhee Kim, who won nine times on the Junior Tour. Hutchison’s brother, Thomas, who plays on the UC Davis men’s squad, was the JTNC Boys’ Player of the Year in 2016.

 

JTNC Web.com Tour Ellie Mae Classic Qualifier at Poppy Ridge GC

Pairings | Alphabetical Pairings | Scoring

Player Information | Approximate Yardages

Standard Local Rules | JTNC Pace of Play Policy

Ryan Grauman of Alamo will get a chance to play with the pros.

Grauman, 18, earned a spot in this year’s Web.com Ellie Mae Classic by shooting a winning score of 4-under 68 in an 18-hole qualifier at Poppy Ridge GC.  He’d post six birdies with two bogeys.

Finishing second was Round Hill CC member Ryan Burnett at 70.

Last year, Colt McNealy, the younger brother of now pro Maverick McNealy, earned the Ellie Mae Classic ticket by shooting a 1-under 70 on the TPC Stonebrae course.

This year’s Ellie Mae Classic is slated for Aug. 9-12.

The Skill of Breaking Par

In our previous article, NCAA Handicap, we provided data on the tournament handicaps of the #1 players at DI, DII, NAIA and Junior College. In this article, we are going to talk about the importance of the skill of breaking par including providing data on the number of rounds under par by junior golfers and ways you can build the skill of breaking par.

In the last article we reported that the best player in the country Justin Suh of USC has a handicap of between +6-+7 in tournament golf over the fall. Likewise, last year I reported that there were over 900 rounds played under par by boys in AJGAs and over 700 rounds played under par by girls. In my own experience, playing with many elite junior players including Won Jun Lee, Karl Villips and Aiden Ye, it is common for them to shoot significantly under par at their home golf courses and often shoot between -3 to -7 on their home golf course during practice. What does this mean for a junior golfer and their family reading this article? Breaking par is a skill and like any other skill should be practiced. I would strongly recommend that tournament golfers play frequently from shorter tee boxes (as close as 5400 yards) with goals of shooting lower and lower. For example, a good junior tournament golfer might have the following goals:

  • Shoot 70 or better a lot from 6800 yards
  • Shoot 68 or better from 6400 yards
  • Shoot 65 or better from 6000 yards

These numbers should be tweaked slightly depending on the junior, their skill level and tournament experience.

Investing in breaking par is an important skill for junior golfers since men’s college coaches certainly seek players who have experience breaking par in tournaments. Also, it is likely that tournament golf will be 1-4 shots harder than playing your home golf course. If earning a college scholarship requires a scoring average of 75 or better, this means that the player might need to average as little as 71 on their home golf course!

Remember that, like any skill, shooting under par is going to take time. When working on the skill, players might want to start by segmenting rounds into smaller groups, maybe groups of 3 holes. Then try and have as many 3-hole scores under par per round as possible. As the player’s skill increases, they might make the segments bigger, for example 9 holes, until the player can accomplish their goal over 18 holes.

Please also remember that whenever possible, players should be playing at least 18 holes per day. Elite golf is about continuous steady play. Shooting outstanding scores over 54 holes requires not only great technical skill but also endurance, hydration, nutrition, focus, stress management and the ability to make birdies. In the summer, when juniors don’t have any academic responsibilities, it would not be impossible to play 36 holes or more of golf per day. As players improve skills, they should not be afraid to play other golfers of a similar level in competition. It would be ideal if the competition had a consequence; the loser may have to clean the winners clubs or if appropriate for a snack after the round.

I hope this article has been helpful to junior golfers and their families. In the coming months, along with the Northern California Golf Association, we hope to produce more statistically based information to help junior golfers and their families make informed decisions. Should you have any questions about the process or ideas for topics to be covered, please do not hesitate to let us know!

NCAA Handicap

Starting this year, I have partnered with the Northern California to provide junior golfers, their families and golf professionals more data about junior golf development and the college search process. For our first article, we are going to examine the question: How good are the #1 players at Division 1, Division 2, NAIA and Junior College Men’s Golf? With the help of Jim Cowan, director of course rating and handicapping for the Northern California Golf Association, I set out to examine the tournament handicaps of each of these players from their results in the 2017 fall season and answer this question!

According to GolfStat.com, the best Division I golfer in the fall of 2017 was Justin Suh of the University of Southern California. Justin was the best player at any level with an adjusted scoring average of 68.5 for 12 rounds. The best player for Division II golf was Jacob Huizinga of the University of West Florida. For 12 rounds Jacob averaged 69.4. The best NAIA player was Rowan Lester from Texas Wesleyan University. For 11 rounds Rowan averaged 70.27. The best Junior College player was Mathias Lorentzen from McLennan CC. For 7 rounds Mathias averaged 69.71. After identifying the players, I build a spread sheet for each player with each of their rounds, the yardage and the course rating. Weather was not taken into consideration. Yardage was also based on the numbers listed on tournament results and may not be absolute, however they are close enough to provide a baseline.

Player Name Score Ratings Diff Course
Justin Suh 70 76.6/150 -5.0 Olympia Fields
69 76.6/150 -5.7 Olympia Fields
Ave Differential: -6.175 71 76.6/150 -4.2 Olympia Fields
Upper half: -7.35 67 76.0/134 -7.6 Trinity Forest
(6 of 12) 69 76.0/134 -5.9 Trinity Forest
67 76.0/134 -7.6 Trinity Forest
67 75.4/143 -6.6 Pumpkin Ridge
71 75.4/143 -3.5 Pumpkin Ridge
63 75.4/143 -9.8 Pumpkin Ridge
67 74.4/144 -5.8 Poppy Hills
66 74.4/144 -6.6 Poppy Hills
67 74.4/144 -5.8 Poppy Hills
Rowan Lester 69 74.1/137 -4.2 Hawks Creek
67 74.1/137 -5.9 Hawks Creek
Ave Differential:   -2.673 78 74.1/137 +3.2 Hawks Creek
Upper half: -4.4 69 72.7/137 -3.1 Salishan
(5 of 11) 67 72.7/137 -4.7 Salishan
69 72.7/137 -3.1 Salishan
71 72.4/142 -1.1 Straits Course
70 72.4/142 -1.9 Straits Course
73 74.5/136 -1.2 Guilardia
70 74.5/136 -3.7 Guilardia
70 74.5/136 -3.7 Guilardia
 

 

 

 

Jacob Huizinga

69 74.0/134 -4.2 Streamsong Blue
63 74.0/134 -9.3 Streamsong Blue
Ave Differential:   -3.608 70 74.0/134 -3.4 Streamsong Blue
Upper half: -5.5 68 74.6/147 -5.1 PGA Ntl – Champion
71 74.6/147 -2.7 PGA Ntl – Champion
71 74.6/147 -2.7 PGA Ntl – Champion
75 75.9/142 -0.7 Innisbrook – Copperhead
70 75.9/142 -4.7 Innisbrook – Copperhead
71 75.9/142 -3.9 Innisbrook – Copperhead
73 71.3/135 +1.4 Trump Ntl – Red Tiger
69 71.3/135 -1.9 Trump Ntl – Red Tiger
64 71.3/135 -6.1 Trump Ntl – Red Tiger
Mathias Lorentzen 68 70.2/118 -2.1 Andrews CC
70 70.2/118 -0.2 Andrews CC
Ave Differential:   -2.186 75 74.0/126 +0.1 Twin Rivers
Upper half: -4.233 66 74.0/126 -7.2 Twin Rivers
(3 of 7) 71 71.9/129 -0.8 Rawls Course
68 71.9/129 -3.4 Rawls Course
70 71.9/129 -1.7 Rawls Course

In the data we have listed both the average differential, as well as the upper half. The average differential is the handicap based on all the rounds the individual played in the fall. The upper half is their tournament handicap; it only considers a certain percentage of the best rounds.

When reviewing the data, please keep in mind that the yardages for the tournaments have not been verified and it is likely that they could have played a shorter distance at least one of the rounds. Weather was also not factored in or score vs field.

Regardless of these factor, this article highlights the skills of these tremendous young players, who are playing exceptional golf on difficult courses. In the follow up article, we are going to examine the importance of breaking par for the junior player, as well as highlight tips to help you!

I hope you have enjoyed the data. Should you have any questions, comments or ideas for future articles, please do not hesitate to contact me at brendan@golfplacementservices.com. Happy golfing.

New Qualifying Series for NCGA Junior Championship

January 31, 2018

New Qualifying Series for NCGA Junior Championship

There’s a new route for players to earn a spot into the prestigious NCGA Junior Championship.

New for 2018, the Spring Series will count as a qualifying series. What that means is that, for every Spring Series championship (Spring I-Spring VII), the top three finishers inside the Top 10 who are not already exempt into the NCGA Junior Championship will earn an exemption.

2017 champions Brian Stark and Yealimi Noh

“This is a new and exciting way to get more of our best players into the NCGA Junior Championship,” said JTNC Director Aaron Hartesveldt.

Players will be notified if they have earned a spot in the NCGA Junior following the conclusion of each Spring Series event. The Spring Series starts with the Spring Series I at Stockton Country Club and Elkhorn Golf Club (March 17-18).

This year’s 89th NCGA Junior Championship will be held at Lake Merced GC in Daly City, where the championship was first held all the way back in 1930.

Here’s the complete Exemptions list for the 2018 NCGA Junior Championship 

4th Annual Challenge Cup

Access NCGA GO for the hotel rates in the area!

Challenge Cup Pairings | Live Leaderboard

Singles Matches (January 4)

The Challenge Cup title is headed back to Southern California.

The PGA Southern California Junior Tour won the 2019 Cup, defeating the Junior Tour of Northern California, 14-10, on Friday at par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

It marked the first title for SoCal since the inaugural Cup was held in 2016. The Series is now tied at two victories apiece.

“It’s really cool,” said JTNC member Sam Sommerhauser despite the loss. “We don’t get to play a lot of match play, plus the north-south rivalry is kind of fun.”

The Cup features 12 members (eight boys, four girls) of the CIG-sponsored JTNC taking on 12 players from the SCJT in a Ryder Cup-like format. A day after jumping out to a 7.5-4.5 lead in Fourball and Foursomes, the SCJT won Singles play as well, outscoring the JTNC, 6.5-5.5.

Posting wins for the JTNC were Sommerhauser (5 and 4), Caleb Shetler (2 and 1), Lucas Carper (3 and 1), Danielle Suh (default) and Mika Jin (7 and 6). The SCJT got victories from Johnny Walker (2 and 1), Joseph Chun (3 and 1), Caden Fioroni (4 and 2), Ian Maspat (1-up) and Jasmine Koo (3 and 1).

“It’s fun to play as a team. We don’t normally get to do that,” said the JTNC’s Jacqueline Lucena. “Playing match play is always fun too.”

While the event has become a favorite of the players, it’s also become a hot spot for college coaches looking for talent. Among the collegiate programs with representatives onsite at this year’s event was University of Arizona, Pepperdine and Loyola-Marymount University.

 

Photo Gallery

Opening Day (January 3)

The Southern California Junior Tour is a day away from evening the overall series at the annual Challenge Cup.

With the sun shining overhead, the SCJT jumped to a 7.5-4.5 lead over the JTNC as the fourth overall Challenge Cup got underway Thursday at par-71 Poppy Hills GC in Pebble Beach.

In morning Fourball action, both teams finished play tied with three points. The JTNC got a pair of wins from the tandems of Jacqueline Lucena and Jasmine Chen and George McNeely and Lucas Carper, while the SCJT got victories from the teams of Jasmine Koo and Jasmine Lew and Guy Clauss and Caden Fioroni. The two other matches ended in halves.

Later in Foursomes, the SCJT outscored the JTNC, 4.5-1.5. The SCJT again got wins from the teams of Koo and Lew and Clauss and Fioroni. Also winning for SoCal was the tandems of Kamille Dimayuga and Sherilyn Villanueva and Joseph Chun and Ian Maspat. The JTNC’s lone win came from the tandem of McNeely and Carper.

The Cup features 12 members (eight boys, four girls) of the CIG-sponsored Junior Tour of Northern California taking on 12 players from the Southern California Junior Tour in a Ryder Cup-like format.

Friday’s play will feature 12 Singles matches. The JTNC leads in the series, 2-1.

 

Photo Gallery

Scroll to top