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Top junior golfers will travel to Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Aug. 17-20
BRASELTON, Ga. - The field is set for the American Junior Golf Association’s only international event of the 2009 season. The Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic will be held at the El Camaleón Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Aug. 17-20.
The tournament will be a 54-hole stroke play event. The field boasts 84 top junior golfers, ages 12-18, from 15 U.S. states and México. This year, México will be represented by 43 junior golfers in the field.
Leading the Boys Division in the tournament will be Kevin Jorden of Juno Beach, Fla., and Rocky Khara of Sebring, Fla. Jorden, 17, has four top-10 finishes in his golf career, including a fifth-place finish at the 2008 Randy Wise Junior Open. He tied for tenth at the 2009 Aldila Junior Open.
Khara, 17, has four top-15 finishes in his AJGA career. He tied for 11th at the 2009 AJGA Flossmoor Junior Open, and placed seventh in the 2008 AJGA Knoxville Junior Open.
In the Girls Division, Portland Rosen of Sugar Land, Texas, and Gabriela Lopez of Heroes de Padierna, Mexico, will both be returning to the El Camaleón Golf Club for a second attempt at the title. Rosen, 17, finished fourth in the 2008 Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic, and has five other top-10 finishes in her AJGA career. She tied for 10th in the 2009 Laredo Energy Junior at Traditions and at the 2009 Las Vegas Junior Open presented by The Pacemaker.
Lopez, 15, has placed in the top-10 in four of the five events of her AJGA career. She placed third at the 2009 Bob Estes Abilene Junior and tied for fifth at the 2009 Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout presented by Pepsi. After a ninth-place finish at the 2008 Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic, Lopez is back to try for victory.
Other Mexican players to watch include Alejandro Villasana of Hacienda Las Misiones, Santiago, N.L., who is coming off of a second-place at the 2009 Elbit Systems of America Junior Golf Classic. Alicia Malagon, 17, of Tampico, Tamaulipas Mexico, has two second-place finishes in her career at the 2009 Valero Texas Open Junior Shootout presented by Pepsi and the 2007 Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic.
A practice round will be held Monday, Aug. 17, with an 11:30 a.m. shotgun start. Tournament play will run from Tuesday, Aug. 18 to Thursday, Aug. 20, with tee times from 7 – 9 a.m. off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees of the El Camaleón Golf Club. An awards ceremony will immediately follow final-round play. Admission is free of charge and spectators are welcome.
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The largest Association of its kind, the AJGA has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of more than 5,000 junior golfers from 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. More than 200 former AJGA juniors currently play on the PGA and LPGA Tours and have compiled more than 350 wins. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Lorena Ochoa, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Cristie Kerr, Pat Hurst, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Julieta Granada.
For more information, please visit www.MayakobaGolfClassic.com/junior or the AJGA Web site at www.ajga.org.
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