Press release USJM DAY 1

2009/12/22

United States Junior Masters 2009

Press release Day 1

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – The inaugural United States Junior Masters golf tournament began today and is being played on the Ocean Course at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. Seventy-eight junior golfers from 20 different countries make up the field. Local residents PGA TOUR Professional Jeff Klauk and former European Tour Professional Anders Forsbrand are serving as honorary chairmen of the event.
 
Leading into the 2nd round, Preamchuen Schbongkoscch of Thailand leads at -1 for the girls, followed by Juliet Vongphoumy of the USA from Providence, Rhode Island. Denmark's Caroline Nistrup is in third. Jacksonville's Cate Lauren is in 10th place.
 
On the boys side, South Korea Ju Hyuk Park leads in the boys division with -3 followed by Norway Ole Ramsnes -2, and in 3rd place China's Yu Xiang Liu at 1-under. USA holds 7th and 8th position with Patrick Rodgers of Avon, ID and Justin Thomas of Louisville, KY.
 
The second round will played on the Ocean Course at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club.

The United States Junior Masters (USJM) is part of the World Junior Golf Series whose continuous mission is to create a competitive international arena for youth to promote good citizenship, benevolence and outstanding ethical conduct while providing juniors with valuable life experiences.

“We are very excited about hosting the tournament here in northeast Florida and giving these young participants from around the world an opportunity to play such a great course in a terrific location,” said Jeff Klauk, honorary chairman. “We truly have an impressive field of junior golfers who will test their skills on uncharted territory as this will be the first time they may have ever played a golf course in the United States,” he added.

The USJM is the last event of the 2009 series of competitions which also included the Icelandic Junior Masters and the Harder German Junior Masters. By 2011, the series will grow to 10 tournaments. The junior golfers participating are 13-19 years old. The field is comprised of 30 girls and 48 boys.

“Golf is truly growing globally and with the Olympics in 2016, we are seeing more youth throughout the world engaging in our sport,” added Anders Forsbrand, honorary chairman. “This will be a unique eye-opener to these young golfers.”

The final round will be played on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

For more information and live scoring, visit www.wjgs.org.

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