Bill Nichols

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Young stars highlight upcoming HP Byron Nelson Junior

Dallas’ Scott Scheffler and McKinney’s Brad Dalke of McKinney highlight the 78-player field for next week’s HP Byron Nelson Junior Championship. The Legends Junior Tour event, one of the region’s most popular, runs Monday through Wednesday at Dallas’ Lakewood Country Club.


Scheffler, 15, has won his last two LJT starts. After finishing fifth at the Texas Amateur, he is competing in this week’s Western Amateur. He tied for second with Austin’s Stratton Nolen at last year’s Nelson Junior, four strokes behind Dallas’ Jordan Spieth, who won for the third straight year. Spieth’s streak will end because he is concentrating on amateur events before enrolling at Texas in the fall.

Dalke, 13, attracted national attention with his victory at last month’s AJGA Thunderbirds International Junior. He has three top-seven finishes, including a second, in four other AJGA events in 2011. He is 10th in the Polo Junior Rankings despite being at least two graduating classes behind everybody in the top 74.



The 12th HP Byron Nelson Junior features players from Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mexico and Brazil. First-round play begins at 9 a.m. off Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Live scoring will be available at www.TLJT.org.

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The area’s oldest junior event is approaching. The 88th Dallas Junior Golf Championship will be July 13-15 at Tenison Park, Cedar Crest and Keeton Park.

The tournament is packed with tradition. Ralph Guldahl won the championship flight in 1928 before embarking on a Hall of Fame career. Major champion Don January won in 1947 and 1948. Justin Leonard won his first tournament in the pee wee division at Tenison Park. Lee Trevino and Spec Goldman played but never won.

City champions will be crowned in each age division. For registration and other information: www.dallasjuniorgolfchampionship.com; 972-772-4144.

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The deadline to register for the 41st Chesapeake Energy Texas State Open Second Chance qualifier is Monday (5 p.m.). All entries must be received by the Northern Texas PGA via mail, online, facsimile, overnight carrier, or in person. At least eight spots will be available.

Second Chance Qualifying is June 30 at The Cascades Club in Tyler, and for overflow, Van Zandt CC in Canton. The Chesapeake Energy Texas State Open will feature 144 professionals and amateurs competing for $135,000 in prize money at The Cascades.

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Scheffler recently won the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier at the Vaquero Club in Westlake. He shot 74-66 to finish two strokes ahead of Nolen. Matt Gilchrest of Southlake and Nicholas Robert of McKinney earned the other two spots, and Vincent Martino of Southlake will be second alternate. The U.S. Junior Amateur will be July 18-23 at Gold Mountain GC in Bremerton, Wash. … Talia Campbell of Dallas won medalist honors at the U.S. Girls Junior qualifying event on Tuesday at Mira Vista CC in Fort Worth. Campbell shot 72 to finish one stroke ahead of the three others who earned spots _ Irina Paulin of the Philippines, Marijosse Navarro of San Antonio, and Kayli Quinton of Houston. The U.S. Girls Junior is July 18-23 at Olympia Fields (Ill.) CC. … Paul McConnell and Christopher Brown of Garland, and Isaiah Huerta of Duncanville qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. McConnell won the 36-hole qualifier at Firewheel GP’s Lakes Course three weeks ago. He shot 73-71 to finish one stroke ahead of Brown and Huerta. The Championship is June 27-July 2 at Bandon (Ore.) Dunes. …

Cool Clubs will be the presenting sponsor of the fourth Lanny Wadkins Junior Championship, a Legends Junior Tour event on Aug. 1-2 at Honors Golf Club Dallas. Tournament participants will be invited to a custom fitting session at the Dallas location of Cool Clubs. … Dallas-based ClubCorp has acquired three golf properties in the eastern area of Long Island, New York: The Hamlet Golf & CC in Commack, The Hamlet Willow Creek Golf & CC in Mt. Sinai, and The Hamlet Wind Watch Golf & CC in Hauppauge. ClubCorp plans major renovations of the clubs, which were purchased from the Holiday Organization. ClubCorp has more than 150 golf and country clubs, business clubs, sports clubs, and alumni clubs, mostly located in California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia.

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