While the golf world’s attention has been focused on the Players Championship this week, another elite tournament was taking place about 300 miles north of TPC Sawgrass: the Junior Invitational, held annually at Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, S.C.
The tournament is ultra-exclusive, extending only a few dozen invitations to the top junior amateurs in the world: 36 boys and 24 girls, who compete over 72 holes of stroke play.
Sage Valley’s location just 17 miles northeast of Augusta National has helped the tournament develop a Masters-like reputation for junior players, complete with a presentation of a gold jacket for the winners.
Past champions of the prestigious tournament reads like a who’s who of recognizable stars in men’s and women’s collegiate and professional golf. In its 15-year history, winners have included the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia, Joaquin Niemann and Anna Davis. The girls’ competition at Sage Valley was added in 2022, while the boys’ history dates to 2011…