By Josh Gaunt for OGA.org

With the weather heating up, comes the return of the competitive Oregon Junior Golf major tournament season.

The major tournament season kicked off on June 5-6 as the Centennial Junior tournament was played at Centennial Golf Club in Medford. Sam Renner won the Boys Open 14-18 division on the first hole of a tie-breaking playoff after shooting a 139 (-5). Yvonne Vinceri won the Girls Open 12-18 division with a 142 (-2).

“It was great, we were so happy to be back playing golf again,” Oregon Junior Golf Director Shanda Imlay said. “113 kids played at the Centennial Junior tournament. The kids were fantastic, Centennial couldn’t have been a better host. We were able to play like normal so we’re hoping that is the trend moving forward.”

There are nine major tournaments in the Oregon Junior Golf season.

The Peter Jacobsen Junior Challenge hosted by Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis on June 15-16 was also a qualifier for the Junior World Championship in San Diego on July 10-16.

“What’s so important about the majors, is this provides our players a resume to send off to coaches so it’s very important to host major events,” Imlay said. “It’s one of the best-attended events, we had 189 players in the event. Trysting Tree and Sean Arey the Head PGA Golf Pro, do a great job supporting Oregon Junior Golf. It’s been there for the last several years.”

In the Boys Open 14-18 Division, it was Colin Hodgkinson who shot back-to-back 67s en route to an 8-under par finish and the win. In the Girls Open 12-18 Division, Vinceri (71-72) registered her second consecutive win with a four-stroke victory over the field.

The 24th Oregon Junior Stroke Play is a 54-hole stroke play gross tournament set for June 21-23 at Chehalem Glenn Golf Course in Newberg. The field will be cut to the low half plus ties after 36 holes.

This event is different from other OJG events in that it has a handicap index limit as the boys must have an index of 7.0 or less and the girls an index of 14.0 or less.

“This is the second year that we go back to Chehalem Glenn, this is a perfect course for these caliber players because it will test your mental and physical game,” Imlay said. “That’s the type of golf course we’re looking for. The boys are playing from about 6,500 yards and the girls about 5,900 yards, so it’s a true test.”

Kellan Sasken has been the PGA Head Golf Professional of Chehalem Glenn Golf Course for 3 years after being a Head Pro in Montana for five years.

“We love to do anything we can to grow the game,” Sasken said. “We’re all about community and especially for juniors, it’s neat to have them out at the golf course and to test their abilities. The tournament went very well last year so we’re excited to have it back.”

Bill Robinson designed Chehalem Glenn GC along with a variety of other courses in Oregon, Canada, and the East Coast. Robinson also designed the OGA Golf Course.

The first nine holes at Chehalem Glenn were built in 2005 and the back nine opened a couple of years later.

“It’s out in wine country, a very scenic golf course and a challenging golf course,” Sasken said. “Not a course people are typically coming out and going low on. A lot of forced carries and a lot of elevation change. Uneven lies so it tests you in all facets of your game. This tournament hosts the best of the juniors in Oregon so it’s a fitting course for them.”

Considering the handicap index limit associated with this tournament, the field is still well attended which is a sign more junior golfers are scoring better consistently.

“We have our highest participant numbers ever that we’ve had in this tournament, currently we're at 116 players,” Imlay said. “Eighty-six boys and 30 girls are playing and we had 20 girls last year so quite a significant jump in girls participation which is wonderful to see, especially of that caliber.”