Christmas 14—Austin will be the center of the youth golf world when it will invite some of the best young golfers in the nation and beyond to the American Junior Golf Association championship in Austin Country Club from July 18-21.
Ryan Flanagan, Senior Regional Director, Midwest for the AJGA, said that ACC was chosen after working with Discover Austin and he’s excited to bring an AJGA event back to Minnesota for the first time in five years.
“It’s a big deal for the community. Golfers are coming in from all over the country and they’ll be filling up the hotel rooms and going to the restaurants in town,” Flanagan said.
The event will bring in approximately 100 golfers, who will hail from 19 states and three countries. Most of the players competing are aiming to play at a high level when they finish high school.
“AJGA has a lot of members all over the world and we have a wide variety of players,” Flanagan said. “Our mission is to provide college exposure for young golfers.”
The tournament put a spotlight on Austin and it will also allow local golfers to compete in a pro-am round against the top competitors. Austin city council member and member of the Board of Directors for Discover Austin Mike Postma was thrilled when the event was announced in November of 2022.
“It’ll be really cool to get our local golfers exposed to a high caliber of competition,” Postma said at the time. “Eventually some of these kids will play in the PGA. Tiger Woods played in this championship when he was young.”
The last time the AJGA held a tournament in Minnesota was at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove in 2018.
The AJGA is also set to host events in Austin in June of 2024 and 2025.