Wyndham Clark has not only been making the rounds, but he’s been playing many good rounds, at the highest level of junior golf in recent weeks.
Just since mid-July, the 15-year-old from Greenwood Village has traversed the country, competing in southern California, New Jersey and Florida. And next week he’s headed for Oklahoma. For good measure, he returned home to play in Monday’s U.S. Amateur qualifying in Fort Collins.
But beyond just competing in some of the top tournaments in junior golf, Clark is proving that he’s one of the best players his age in the nation — and possibly the world.
— Two weeks ago at the Callaway Junior World Championships in San Diego, Clark tied for third in the boys 15-17 division. This is a tournament that has helped launch the career of some of golf’s biggest names. Winners of the boys 15-17 tournament have included Tiger Woods, Nick Price, Craig Stadler, John Cook, David Toms, Corey Pavin and Anthony Kim. Kevin Stadler, Craig’s son, also won the event, in his case during his time attending Kent Denver High School.
As for Clark this year, he tied for top American finisher in the field, shooting 5-over-par 293 for 72 holes. The only players to beat Clark were Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (285) and Korea’s Han Chang-Won (289).
— Last week at the U.S. Junior Amateur in Bedminster, N.J., Clark continued his strong play by not only qualifying for the match play portion of the event, but winning two matches to advance to the round of 16. Clark finished seventh in the 36 holes of stroke play, and won 6 and 4 in the first round of match play and 3 and 2 in the second round, before losing 7 and 6 in the round of 16.
— After finishing a stroke out of a playoff for the final U.S. Amateur berth at Ptarmigan Country Club on Monday, Clark is currently competing in the 16-18 age division of the Optimist International Junior Championships in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Following Friday’s second round, he’s tied for 10th place.
The net effect of Clark’s impressive play is that he’s moved up to 55th in the American Junior Golf Association’s Polo Rankings. In the last two weeks alone, he’s jumped a whopping 257 spots in those national standings. And in the last year, he’s vaulted 969 places. In another prominent national ranking system, Clark stands 57th overall, according to the Junior Golf Scoreboard.
But perhaps the most eye-catching part of those rankings is where Clark stands nationally among the high school class of 2012 (Clark attends Valor Christian in Highlands Ranch). The AJGA and Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings both indicate he’s second in the nation among the class of 2012, behind only Shun Yat Hak of Lake Mary, Fla.
As Clark said last month after winning the CGA Junior Stroke Play by 11 shots, “I hope to be the best; that’s my goal.” Being ranked highly on a national level “is pretty motivating.”
Certainly Clark’s fellow competitors in Colorado know how strong a player he is. Besides dominating the Junior Stroke Play, Clark finished second in the 4A state high school tournament last fall while still a 14-year-old freshman.
As Benjamin Krueger said — perhaps only half-jokingly — after finishing a distant second to Clark at the Junior Stroke Play, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned pro before he got out of high school.”
Though Clark had gained a level of national attention before these last few weeks, the Callaway Worlds and the U.S. Junior Amateur have been a “coming-out party” of sorts, as one local observer put it. Colleges can’t begin recruiting high school players in earnest until they become juniors, but plenty of coaches and other interested observers were closely following Clark the last couple of weeks.
While Clark, who plays out of Cherry Hills Country Club, has had quite a golf odyssey since mid-July, it isn’t over yet. After finishing the Optimist tournament in Florida, he’ll travel to Oklahoma for an AJGA event next week before returning home. Clark will play in the CGA Stroke Play Aug. 13-16 at Lakewood Country Club before starting high school golf again at Valor Christian.
