January 20th and 21st
Carson Young of Pendleton leads his South Carolina team into the 5th edition of the Carolinas-Georgia Junior at Mount Vintage Plantation. Young will be joined by future Clemson teammate, Austin Langdale of Townville and current SC Juniors Champion, Jeremy Grab of DanielIsland. Young, the 2012 SCJGA Player of the Year, has been on fire, winning numerous junior and amateur events in the past year, including the Carolinas Amateur and the prestigious Bobby Chapman Invitational. Langdale, the 2012 SC Trusted Choice Big I Champion, has been a model of consistency during his junior golf days and will no doubt, be a successful collegiate player. Also joining the SC boys is Austin Zoller of Summerville. Zoller captured the Charles Tilghman Junior last weekend in North Myrtle Beach.
Austin Zoller
North Carolina will be led by current NC Junior and NC Dogwood Junior Champion, Carter Jenkins of Raleigh. Jenkins has committed to play golf at UNC- Greensboro. He is joined by Zach Seabolt of Raleigh, the 2012 NC Trusted Choice Big I Champion, and a recent Winthrop College signee. The 2011 Donald Ross Junior Champion, Joshua Martin of Pinehurst, will help anchor the NC squad along with fellow Auburn signees, Will Long and Victor Wiggins of Gastonia.
The Georgia team will be led by 15 year old David Mackey of Bogart. He is the current U.S. Kids Teen World Champion and has played well at Mt. Vintage in the past, finishing in a tie for 4th place last year. He is joined by John Yi of Marietta, the 2012 AJGA Huntsville Junior Champion and Tripp H’Doubler of Atlanta, a Missouri Tiger signee. Local resident and Mercer University signee, Emmanuel Kountakis of Augusta will join his other Georgia teammates on an extremely strong boy’s team.
In the girls division, North Carolina will again be led by its two time Player of the Year, Sara Bae of Cary. Sara is headed to High Point for her college days and returns to Mount Vintage hoping to improve on her 5th place finish last year. She will be joined on this talent rich girl’s squad by 2012 Carolinas Junior Champion and Tennessee signee, Lucia Polo of Greensboro and Madison Moosa of Charlotte. Moosa is coming off a victory at the Charles Tilghman Junior last weekend in North Myrtle Beach.
Heading up the Georgia girls will be Sloan Shanahan of Suwanee, a Clemson signee. Sloan will be looking to improve on her 6th place finish last year at Mount Vintage. Joining Shanahan will be a pair of Augusta State University signees, Jessica Haigwood of Roswell and Eunice Yi of Evans. Yi is the 2012 Beth Daniel Invitational Champion and the runner-up in the 2012 Joe Cheves Invitational.
South Carolina will be led into battle by 2 time defending CGJC champion, McKenzie Talbert of North Augusta. Talbert has already signed to play collegiately at Clemson University and will continue to add to her impressive career as one of the most decorated girls to ever play golf in South Carolina. She will be joined by 2012 SCJGA Player of the Year, Reona Hirai of Summerville. Reona has been on fire of late, having captured 4 titles in the month of November to charge past fellow CGJC teammate and friend Kelli Murphy to capture POY honors. Murphy, of Elgin, sports quite a resume of golfing achievements and has just recently committed to Auburn University.
The juniors will be joined by many spectators and collegiate coaches during the two-day event at the challenging Mount Vintage layout. Full field information, directions, and the schedule of events for the tournament are available on this website.
