AJGA Weekend Preview
 - Thunderbird and More

The AJGA’s summer season is here and it kicks off with an exciting weekend that includes the Thunderbird International Junior, the ACDS Dominican Junior Open presented by the Puntacana Resort & Club, the Leadbetter Junior Golf Academy Junior All-Star, the AJGA Las-Vegas Junior at Reflection Bay presented by Live View Golf, and the AJGA Preview at Château Élan.

The Thunderbird International Junior takes place at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. This year marks the 18th edition and the winners will join the list of champions with Ryan Moore, Brian Harman, Morgan Pressel, and Brittany Lang. In 2017, Jacob Bergeron (2017) of Slidell, Louisiana won the Boy’s Division. He was tied with Noah Norton (2017) of Chico, California heading into the 18th in the final round and sunk a clutch 20-foot eagle putt to win. In the Girl’s Division, Alyaa Abdulghany (2017) of Newport Beach, California won after battling head to head with second-place finisher Rachel Heck (2020) of Memphis, Tennessee in the final round.

This year’s Thunderbird International Junior will surely be packed full of excitement. With one of the most stacked fields in junior golf, a score just under par will not be good enough to win the title (25 out of 78 players were under par through round one in 2017).

The ACDS Dominican Junior Open presented by the Puntacana Resort & Club, formerly known as the AJGA Dominican Junior Open presented by the Puntacana Resort & Club will return for round two in 2018. This all Boys field features players from as far away as South Korea, South Africa, and Germany. Prescott Butler (2018) of Old Westbury, New York was crowned champion in 2017 after firing 68–66–74. 2017 runner-up Juan Delgado (2019) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic returns in 2018 to battle for the title.

The Leadbetter Junior Golf Academy Junior All-Star takes place in ChampionsGate, Florida. ChampionsGate Golf Club, former host of the Sergio Garcia Foundation Junior Championship, will host the Leadbetter Junior Golf Academy Junior All-Star for the first time this year. In 2018, the tournament has attracted a star-studded field with recognizable names such as John Daly II. That’s right, “Little John”, son of British Open and PGA Championship winner John Daly. Five players from China, two players from Singapore, two players from South Korea, and one player from Thailand are in the field.

The AJGA Las Vegas Junior at Reflection Bay presented by Live View Golf will take place for the first time in Henderson, Nevada this weekend. The tournament’s first edition attracted players with substantial AJGA Status. The Boys initial tournament field required a status of 27 Performance Stars or more to gain entry; 2 Boys with 26 Performance Stars gained entry via PBE tiebreaker. The Girls initial tournament field required a status of 26 Performance Stars or more to gain entry.
The last tournament to take place this weekend is the AJGA Preview at Château Élan. Château Élan, the home of the AJGA, is located in Braselton, Georgia. This will be the sixth time that the tournament is being held and 96 players who have not had AJGA tournament opportunities are competing.