After 44 years of competing annually in the boys Junior America’s Cup competition, Colorado’s representatives finally had the pleasure of having the team trophy presented to them on Thursday afternoon.

Colorado, which had never before finished better than third place in the prestigious junior event, won the JAC team championship this week after competing in the event since 1975. The Junior America’s Cup now features 18 teams from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico.

And to add icing to the cake for Colorado, Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins captured the individual title out of the field of 72 on Thursday.

“When I signed my scorecard, (captain Dustin Jensen) came over said, ‘I think we did it,'” Stewart relayed later by phone. “It just shocked me and we were really excited after that and I gave all the boys hugs.”

Team-wise, the Coloradans overcame a three-stroke deficit entering the final round at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Golf Course in Anaconda, Mont., rallying to overcome Utah and Mexico. The foursome representing the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado posted a 7-under-par 209 on Thursday, giving the team a three-day total of 26-under-par 622. That was one better than Mexico, three better than Utah and four better than fourth-place Arizona.

Joining Stewart on Colorado’s JAC championship team were Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch, Davis Bryant of Aurora and Walker Franklin of Broomfield. Bryant was playing on his fourth JAC team, Stewart and McCoy their second and Franklin his first. (The champions are pictured, from left: Franklin, Jensen, Stewart, McCoy and Bryant.)

Prior to Thursday, Colorado’s best showings at the JAC were third places in 2011 (at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen) and in 2015. The JGAC team was fourth last year.

Bryant competed on that team in 2015 — and every year since — so he has some perspective on Thursday’s accomplishment.

“It feels awesome,” said the 18-year-old, who will soon begin his college golf career at Colorado State University.

“We worked well together this week and we didn’t let a bad hole affect us. We hit a shot and forgot about it, which was great. We were able to make a lot of birdies (55 in all, plus two eagles) and take advantage of the shorter holes when we had them. We all made mistakes, but we were able to capitalize on our opportunities. We all helped in some way throughout the week. To bring (the title) back to Colorado, it feels awesome.”

Down the stretch, after Stewart made a double bogey and Franklin a triple bogey early on the back nine on Thursday, the team finished just strongly enough to claim the championship. Stewart played his final seven holes in 3 under and McCoy his final five in 3 under.

Captaining the team once again this year was Jensen, the former CGA managing director of operations, who is now an associate dean at the University of Jamestown (N.D.), his alma mater. Jensen has captained or co-captained every Colorado boys JAC team but three since 2005. Though he’s back in North Dakota full time now, he volunteered for duty in Montana with the CGA and Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado staffs busy with the Girls Junior Americas Cup in Evergreen and the CoBank Colorado Open in Denver.

“It’s crazy. There’s so many years with so many great players. You just never know if and when (winning a title) is going to happen,” Jensen said on Thursday. “These guys were awesome this week. They continued to score constantly. It was just birdie after birdie after birdie. They didn’t complain about anything; they just got in and played.

“We made our par for the course this week 69 and we ended up shooting 1 stroke over par for what we hoped. Twenty-seven under par was the hope and we shot 26 and won by one. I guess we guessed right before the tournament.”

As for Stewart (left), the senior-to-be at Fossil Ridge High School prevailed by two strokes for the individual title. Stewart, who will play his college golf at perennial national power Oklahoma State starting in 2019, carded rounds of 64-68-68 for a 16-under-par 200 total. Last month’s AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior champion finished the week with an eagle, 20 birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey for 54 holes.

Stewart gained the upper hand early in the round when 36-hole leader Zachary Jones of Utah pumped two shots out of bounds and took a quadruple-bogey 8 on No. 4.

“That kind of flipped everything,” Stewart said. “But I tried not to think about that too much because there was so much golf left to play. … But I’m just happy we won as a team.”

Stewart placed 13th individually at last year’s JAC. He qualified for this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur, which was contested this month.

The University of Denver-bound McCoy placed 14th on Thursday, closing with a 69 for a 212 total. Bryant, who finished ninth individually in last year’s JAC, tied for 17th this week at 213.

The 16-year-old Franklin shared 27th place at 215.

All in all, you couldn’t get a much better week for the Coloradans, who emerged with both the team and individual titles and had a great time in the process.

“It’s a really fun tournament because we don’t really get to play many team events like this one until we get to college,” Bryant said. “It’s a fun time to spend with your buddies. We jack around and have fun, but also played some pretty good golf while we were at it. It was a really fun week and we’re really glad to finish it off this way.” 
 

1. (out of 18 teams) Colorado 205-208-209–622
1. Dillon Stewart, Fort Collins 64-68-68–200
14. Cal McCoy, Highlands Ranch 71-72-69–212
17. Davis Bryant, Aurora 70-70-73–213
27. Walker Franklin, Broomfield 73-70-72–215

For all the scores from the JAC, CLICK HERE.

Colorado will go into Thursday’s final day of the JAC just three strokes out of the lead in Anaconda, Mont. The With a 19-under-par 413 total after Wednesday’s second, Coloradans hold third place out of the 18-team field, trailing leader Mexico (410) and second-place Utah (412). The JAC features squads from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Colorado backed up a first-round 205 with a 208 on Wednesday, and every team member is in the top 25 individually out of the 72-player field.

Dillon Stewart (left) of Fort Collins, who shared the individual lead with a first-round 64, is in second place after Wednesday, three back of Utah’s Zachary Jones, who shot a course-record 63 at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Golf Course. Jones made an eagle and eight birdies on Wednesday, offset by one bogey.

Stewart, the 2018 AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior champion, carded a 4-under-par 68 on Wednesday, recording an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.

Davis Bryant of Aurora, a Colorado State University-bound golfer who’s competing in his fourth JAC, moved up to 14th place with his second straight 70. He played his final four holes in 4 under par, with one eagle and two birdies.

And Walker Franklin of Broomfield and Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch share 24th place at 143, with Franklin firing a 70 on Wednesday and McCoy a 72.

3. (out of 18 teams) Colorado 205-208–413
2. Dillon Stewart, Fort Collins 64-68–132
14. Davis Bryant, Aurora 70-70–140
24. Cal McCoy, Highlands Ranch 71-72–143
24. Walker Franklin, Broomfield 73-70–143
   
For all the scores from the JAC, CLICK HERE.

With the top three scores from each squad counting toward the team total, Colorado shot an 11-under-par 205. The Coloradans — who have never finished better than third in this event for teams from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico — trail only Mexico (202) and are tied with Arizona.

Colorado has been a roll in recent years in this 18-team event as it placed third in 2015, sixth in 2016 and fourth last year.

Leading the way in round 1 of the 54-hole event was Stewart, who last month won the AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior. The future Oklahoma State golfer made nine birdies and one bogey in his 64 at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort Golf Course. That left him tied for the individual lead with Ian Siebers of Washington, who was bogey-free on Tuesday.

Two other Coloradans broke par on Tuesday, four-time JAC participant Davis Bryant of Aurora (2-under-par 70, good for 18th place) and Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch (71, 24th place). Bryant, who made four birdies on Tuesday, will be playing college golf starting this fall at Colorado State University, while McCoy (an eagle and two birdies) is headed to the University of Denver.

Rounding out Colorado’s players was first-time JAC contestant Walker Franklin of Broomfield, who opened with a 73. (Pictured is the Colorado squad, from left: McCoy, captain Dustin Jensen, Stewart, Bryant and Franklin.)

Play will continue through Thursday.

2. (out of 18 teams) Colorado 205
T1. Dillon Stewart (pictured below), Fort Collins 64
18. Davis Bryant, Aurora 70
24. Cal McCoy, Highlands Ranch 71
34. Walker Franklin, Broomfield 73

For all the scores from the JAC, CLICK HERE.

The CGA had about 4 1/2 months.

Colorado wasn’t scheduled to host its next boys JAC until 2016, but due to safety concerns the 2011 tournament was moved from Mazatlan, Mexico to Evergreen. Hiwan Golf Club — which has been home to a U.S. Junior Amateur, a U.S. Girls’ Junior and 28 Colorado Opens — quickly stepped forward to host the prestigious event.

This summer’s tournament, which features some of the best junior golfers from the western U.S., western Canada and Mexico, will be held Wednesday through Friday (July 27-29), with practice rounds and the opening ceremonies scheduled for Tuesday.

It will be just the third time the boys JAC has been held in Colorado; in 1982, it was contested at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy, and in 1999 it came to Perry Park Country Club in Larkspur.

“As a state golf association, this was something we wanted to take on,” said Dustin Jensen, director of youth programs for the CGA, and the tournament director for the JAC this year. “And we haven’t missed a beat” in organizing the event on short notice. “I think it will be a first-class tournament.”

This year’s 68-player Junior America’s Cup will feature 11 golfers ranked in the top 200 internationally by Junior Golf Scoreboard, including two in the top 100: Alex Chiarella from Pukalani, Hawaii and Jake Knapp of Costa Mesa, Calif.

Seventeen state or regional golf associations will field a team of four players — all 17 and under — and both team and individual competitions will be held. The Junior America’s Cup has been conducted annually since 1973, though its origins date back to 1959.

“It’s exciting to bring in the top players from three different countries,” Jensen said. “You look at the list of past players in the event and it’s like a who’s who of golf.”

Indeed, among those who have competed in the JAC over the years are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin and players with Colorado connections such as Steve Jones and Mark Wiebe. More recently, the fields have included such names as Ryan Moore, Anthony Kim and Patrick Cantlay, who won the individual JAC competition in 2008 and recently shot 60 in a PGA Tour event as an amateur.

With such talent on display, many college golf coaches scout at the Junior America’s Cup. And with the tournament featuring a team format not unlike that of college events, the coaches like to see how prospective players perform in that format. The top three scores from each golf association each day count toward the team total.

Not surprisingly, teams and individuals from California have often been the ones to beat in the JAC. But though Southern California has won the team title two of the last three years, there has been a wider variety of champions since the early 1990s.

Colorado will be represented at Hiwan by Cameron Harrell of Colorado Springs, a second-time participant who recently finished 28th in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships; Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo, who played in the 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur; Cole Nygren of Longmont, winner of the recent AJGA Aspen Junior Golf Classic; and Benjamin Moore of Cherry Hills Village, who placed third in this month’s CGA Junior Stroke Play Championship.

Jensen normally serves as captain for the CGA team, but with him being tournament director, Bob Austin will take over the captaincy this year. Austin is the boys golf coach at Kent Denver High School, winner of five consecutive state high school titles, and he’s a member of the CGA Junior Committee. His wife, Christie Austin, is a member of the USGA Executive Committee.

The CGA has sent teams to the Junior America’s Cup since 1975. The Colorado contingent, which finished eighth last year, has never won the team title.

With its mountainous terrain and high altitude, Hiwan should give the JAC competitors a good taste of what Colorado golf is all about.

“The goal is to bring (the players) in and show them what Colorado is truly like,” Jensen said. “It’s a tremendous facility and has a great history. It’s a dream place to hold a tournament.”

The players, by the way, will reside near the premises, all staying with host families.

If past tournaments are any indication, the greens at Hiwan will put competitors to the test. They’re expected to run between 11 1/2 and 12 in the Stimpmeter.

“As tournament director, it’s a little scary to pick hole locations,” Jensen said. “On the greens — that’s the part of the course where the tournament will be won or lost.”

Spectators are invited to attend the tournament — as well as the opening and closing ceremonies — free of charge. The opening ceremonies are set for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, with the closing festivities scheduled for just after the conclusion of play on Friday. Championship rounds begin from 7 to 8:30 a.m. each day.

After the opening ceremonies, a players’ dinner is planned where the guest speaker will be Colorado-based U.S. Paralympic Ski Team member Ralph Green, who had his left leg amputated as a teenager after being shot in some random street violence in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Because Colorado is switching places with Mexico in the boys JAC hosting rotation, the tournament won’t be scheduled to return to the state until 2028. For tournament pairings and other information, CLICK HERE.