Fully Exempt AJGA Status

📰 – Story Updated May 4, 2020. 

Very few junior competitors come close to even sniffing out Fully Exempt AJGA PBE Status, but those who finish top 5 in their division in the Junior Order of Merit (JOM) prove themselves superb enough to earn such a feat and are awarded the best playing opportunities in the world. Fully Exempt AJGA PBE Status holders are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and their performance shows it. Earning Fully Exempt AJGA Status puts players at the top of all tournament application lists and gives them the best chance possible of getting into AJGA tournaments.

Here are some of the top-ranked AJGA tournaments that fully exempt status holders may get into in 2018.

The Under Armour® / Jordan Spieth Championship presented by American Campus Communities was founded in 2014 and takes place at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas. Spieth is a five-time AJGA champion, and his continued support has been fantastic. In 2017, the initial tournament field included 44 Boys with Fully Exempt status and 16 Girls with Fully Exempt status. Schools in attendance in 2017 included Southern Methodist University (Men & Women), Texas Tech University (Men), University of Central Arkansas (Men), University of Houston (Men), University of Oklahoma (Men), the University of Texas at San Antonio (Men), Clemson University (Women), TCU (Women), and the University of Texas at Austin (Women).

The Lizette Salas Junior Championship at Palos Verdes, formerly known as the Project Worldwide Championship at Palos Verdes, takes place in Palos Verdes Estates, California. In 2017, the Boys initial tournament field required a status of 19 Performance Stars or more to gain entry; 2 Boys with 18 Performance Stars gained entry via PBE tiebreaker. The Girls initial tournament field required a status of 12 Performance Stars or more to gain entry; 1 Girl with 11 Performance Stars gained entry via PBE tiebreaker. RuQing Guan of (2018) of Guangzhou, China won the event in 2017. Guan was named a 2016 First Team Rolex Junior All-American and this was her fifth AJGA victory.

The Swinging Skirts Invitational takes place at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The top 54 girls based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings as of June 26, 2018 (includes ranked events ending the previous week) and 18 International Invitees will have the chance to compete in 2018. The winner of this tournament receives an exemption into the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship that takes place in October of 2018.

The Junior PLAYERS Championship takes place at the home of the PLAYERS Championship, TPC Sawgrass – The PLAYERS Stadium Course located in Ponte Vedra, Florida. The top 60 boys based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings as of July 17, 2018 (includes ranked events ending the previous week), and 18 International Invitees will have the chance to compete in 2018. Shuai Ming Wong (2018) of (Hong Kong) The Woodlands, Texas won the event in 2017, carding scores of 71-71-70.

For questions about the AJGA or AJGA Performance Based Entry please contact the AJGA or visit ajga.org.