Northern California won the boys Junior America’s Cup team title for the ninth time, but the crowd reaction at the closing ceremonies at Hiwan Golf Club made it clear that the “home team” representing the CGA had done something extraordinary.

Colorado teams have been competing in the boys JAC annually since 1975, but before Friday their best recorded finish was fourth place. That changed in the third JAC ever held in Colorado as the CGA squad (pictured) earned a medal for placing third, behind only perennial powers Northern and Southern California.

“It’s weird thinking we got third because Colorado is not known for doing real well in this event, so it’s pretty cool,” said Cameron Harrell of Colorado Springs, who placed 10th individually, joining Cole Nygren of Longmont (sixth) in the top 10.

In all, 17 four-man teams from the western U.S., western Canada and Mexico compete in the JAC, which normally only is held in Colorado once every 17 years.

Fifteen-year-old Jonah Texeira, competing for San Diego, beat a field of mostly older players to win the Sally Pini Memorial Medalist trophy, given to the individual champion. But even he didn’t break or match par for the week as his 2-over-par 72 in Friday’s final round left him at 1-over 211 overall. That gave him a two-stroke victory over Northern Californians Jonathon De Los Reyes and Andrew Bonner.

In the team competition, Northern California shot an impressive 3-over-par 213 in the final round to post a 640 total, good for a 12-stroke margin over Southern California. Colorado was next best at 657.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the last team win by Northern California came the last time Colorado hosted the JAC, in 1999. The Northern Californians also prevailed the only other time the event was held in Colorado, in 1982.

The CGA’s previous best showing in the boys JAC was a fourth in 1985, the year a Phil Mickelson-led team from San Diego was a co-champion.

This time around, Nygren (pictured at left) led the way for Colorado by carding rounds of 74-71-71 for a 216 total despite a four-putt double bogey on the final hole. Nygren, the 2011 AJGA Aspen Junior Golf Classic champion, was 4 under par through 10 holes Friday before dropping back.

“I honestly didn’t know about the Junior America’s Cup until Dustin (Jensen, the CGA’s director of youth programs, and the tournament director for the 2011 JAC) told me about it,” Nygren said. “For me it was between (playing) this or an AJGA event in San Diego, and I chose this because it’s something you don’t get to do every day. I’m very happy I came here even if I hadn’t played well. It’s very fun.”

Rounding out Colorado’s scores were Harrell (70-74-74–218), Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo (80-72-76–228, 35th place) and Ben Moore of Cherry Hills Village (75-80-81–236, 49th place).

Harrell, who will play college golf at Colorado State University beginning in the fall, wrapped up his junior golf career with a birdie on the final hole in front of roughly 100 spectators.

“It’s kind of cool this year that we got a little home crowd to follow us,” said Harrell, who also competed in the JAC last year. “And at least we played well for them. They’re not here to watch us finish in last place. We did good.”

As for Texeira (pictured at left), the JAC marks his second major junior championship. Last year, he won the Future Collegians World Tour national title. On Friday, he rode a 15-foot eagle on the second hole to the title.

“It’s a big win for me because there’s a lot of great players here,” said the Los Angeles-area resident. “It feels really good to beat a lot of great, great players. It’s very cool.”

All in all, Jensen called the tournament “perfect”, especially considering it was pulled together in roughly 4 1/2 months after JAC officials decided to move the 2011 event from Mazatlan, Mexico due to safety concerns.

“Everybody loved it,” Jensen said of the venue. “It was everything you could dream of in Colorado. You bring the kids up to the mountains, and we had a herd of probably 200 elk come up (near the clubhouse on Monday) and you had almost every team standing around watching and going, ‘Wow.’ It had that feel of Colorado. It couldn’t have gone any better. And throw in that our team does the best it’s ever done, and you couldn’t ask for a better week.”

Helping make things run smoothly at Hiwan were roughly 175 volunteers, including 31 families who hosted the contestants for the week. As with other aspects of the tournament, the volunteer efforts had to be organized with only about 4 1/2 months’ notice.

“Fortunately, we’ve had the AJGA here in the past and the club enjoyed it so much, so it was easy to put together because of the history we’ve had with those events,” said Rich Triberti, the volunteer chairman for the JAC. “I think everything went fantastic, and I think everyone is happy. The members are happy and the kids are happy.”

Boys Junior America’s Cup
At Par-70 Hiwan GC in Evergreen

TEAM SCORES
Northern California — 210-217-213–640
Southern California — 210-224-218–652
Colorado — 219-217-221–657
Oregon — 213-220-230–663
Washington — 224-219-221–664
Hawaii — 223-224-218–665
Sun Country — 219-230-219–668
Alberta — 227-220-222–669
Arizona — 220-230-220–670
San Diego — 227-219-226–672
Mexico — 223-228-222–673
Utah — 230-224-222–676
British Columbia — 221-230-226–677
Idaho — 224-232-231–687
Nevada — 233-237-229–699
Montana — 231-242-238–711
Wyoming — 235-240-239–714

INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Jonah Texeira, San Diego, 70-69-72–211
Jonathon De Los Reyes, Northern California, 67-74-72–213
Andrew Bonner, Northern California, 71-70-72–213
Bryson DeChambeau, Northern California, 72-73-69–214
Dominick Francks, Washington, 76-67-72–215
Jake Knapp, Southern California, 72-72-72–216
Cole Nygren, Colorado, 74-71-71–216
Kevin Kwon, British Columbia, 69-77-71–217
Max Carter, Oregon, 69-74-74–217
Cameron Harrell, Colorado, 70-74-74–218
Seung Jae Maeng, Hawaii, 73-73-72–218
Austin Banz, Utah, 73-70-76–219
Aaron Terrazas, Mexico, 73-75-71–219
Logan France, Arizona, 73-77-70–220
Kenneth Fadke, Sun Country, 71-75-74–220
KK Limbhasut, Southern California, 68-77-76–221
Will Higham, Idaho, 75-72-74–221
Tyler Saunders, Alberta, 78-70-74–222
Emilio Maurer, Mexico, 73-77-72–222
Kevin Murphy, Oregon, 70-76-78–224
Dylan Kornberg, Arizona, 73-74-77–224
Andrew Whalen, Washington, 75-75-74–224
Curtis Chan, British Columbia, 74-75-76–225
Alex Chiarella, Hawaii, 77-74-74–225
Alex Angard, Southern California, 70-75-81–226
Matt Williams, Alberta, 74-79-73–226
Brett Hogan, Alberta, 75-76-75–226
Nicholas Smart, Utah, 78-77-71–226
Nick Mandell, Washington, 73-78-75–226
James Lee, Sun Country, 75-79-72–226
Rico Hoey, Southern California, 78-79-70–227
Blake Toolan, Arizona, 74-80-73–227
Richard Hattori, Hawaii, 75-80-72–227
Kamrin Allen, Wyoming, 74-80-73–227
Jimmy Makloski, Colorado, 80-72-76–228
Scott Riley, Nevada, 78-76-74–228
Bobby Gojuangco, San Diego, 79-74-76–229
Cody Neal, Northern California, 77-76-76–229
Kalena Preus, Hawaii, 75-77-77–229
Marty Sanchez, Sun Country, 73-85-73–231
Sulman Raza, Oregon, 76-78-78–232
Patrick Sanchez, Mexico, 77-76-79–232
Danny Ochoa, San Diego, 79-76-78–233
Nathan Wunderli, Utah, 81-77-75–233
Colton Dallimore, Utah, 79-77-78–234
Kade Crossland, Idaho, 77-80-77–234
Henry Cunningham, San Diego, 78-79-78–235
Brandon McIver, Montana, 80-78-77–235
Cameron Davison, British Columbia, 79-78-79–236
Ben Moore, Colorado, 75-80-81–236
Jordan Wright, Nevada, 76-79-81–236
Derek Rucki, Alberta, 80-74-83–237
David Faraudo, Mexico, 78-79-80–237
Eli Rogers, Montana, 76-79-82–237
Kyle Miley, Idaho, 75-83-80–238
Nikolas Gonnella, Nevada, 79-82-78–239
Isaac Merry, Sun Country, 90-76-74–240
David Elliott, Idaho, 74-80-86–240
Chris Crisologo, British Columbia, 78-82-81–241
Brady Calkins, Washington, 79-77-85–241
Ryan Porch, Montana, 76-85-81–242
Chris Cremer, Wyoming, 78-81-84–243
Jamie Waltmire, Arizona, 84-79-81–244
Bradley Keyer, Nevada, 83-86-77–246
Reed Platke, Montana, 79-87-80–246
Danny Davis, Wyoming, 83-79-89–251
Quintin Pope, Wyoming, 91-84-82–257
Alistair Docherty, Oregon, 74-70-WD

The 39th annual boys Junior America’s Cup is producing some unique results in the rarefied air of Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen.

The CGA is putting its home-state advantage to good use and is on pace for its best team finish ever at the event, while a 15-year-old who plays for San Diego leads the individual competition after Thursday’s second round.

Northern California holds a six-stroke advantage over Oregon, while defending champion Southern California trails by seven going into Friday’s final round. Colorado, which has never finished better than fourth in its 36 previous appearances in the boys Junior America’s Cup, is in fourth place, nine out of the lead.

“We knew this would be the year to have our best finish and maybe make a run at” the title,” said Cameron Harrell (pictured above) of Colorado Springs, who shares seventh place individually.

The boys Junior America’s Cup features 17 four-man teams from the western U.S., western Canada and Mexico, and the event is being held in Colorado for just the third time.

Fifteen-year-old Jonah Texeira, who lives in the Los Angeles area but plays for San Diego, is the only player at or under par after 36 holes. The 2010 Future Collegians World Tour national champion shot a 1-under-par 69 Thursday and owns a 1-under 139 total.

“It’s an honor to be in the lead,” Texeira said. “This is a great tournament.”

First-round leader Jonathon De Los Reyes of Northern California (67-74) and teammate Andrew Bonner (71-70) share second place at 141.

Colorado, which tied Northern California for round of the day on Thursday (7-over-par 217), has two players in the top 10 of the individual standings. Colorado State University-bound Harrell is in seventh place at 144 despite making two double bogeys in his final six holes on Thursday. And Cole Nygren of Longmont got up and down for par on five of his last six holes Thursday to shoot 71 and share 10th place at 145.

Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo (80-72–152) and Ben Moore of Cherry Hills Village (75-80–155) round out Colorado’s scores.

“We’ve got four pretty solid kids,” said Nygren (pictured at left), winner of last month’s AJGA Aspen Junior Golf Classic. “All in all I think we’re doing pretty well.

“We thought we had a pretty good advantage (going into the week). Most places don’t have mountains like this and they don’t have to deal with greens like this. Plus, the elevation (7,600 feet) is killer. Kids from (sea level) fly greens like there’s no tomorrow. It’s even different for us. So we knew we could take top five if we played well, and we’re playing pretty well so far.”

Harrell estimates the CGA team’s home-state advantage may be worth five strokes per round versus opponents from sea level.

The CGA began playing in the Junior America’s Cup in 1975, and its best finish on record was fourth in 1985.

While the elevation at Hiwan is taking a toll on many competitors accustomed to playing at sea level, the fast, sloping greens are proving to be a big challenge as well.

“These are some of the ‘slopeiest’ greens I’ve ever putted on,” said Texeira, who nevertheless made about every putt he looked at under 8 feet on Thursday.

“I think the greens just get everybody,” Harrell added. “They’re just really tough. They break a lot. You just don’t really know what they’re doing.”

Tee times for Friday’s final round will run from 7 to 8:20 a.m.

Boys Junior America’s Cup
At Par-70 Hiwan GC in Evergreen

TEAM SCORES
Northern California — 210-217–427
Oregon — 213-220–433
Southern California — 210-224–434
Colorado — 219-217–436
Washington — 224-219–443
San Diego — 227-219–446
Alberta — 227-220–447
Hawaii — 223-224–447
Sun Country — 219-230–449
Arizona — 220-230–450
British Columbia — 221-230–451
Mexico — 223-228–451
Utah — 230-224–454
Idaho — 224-232–456
Nevada — 233-237–470
Montana — 231-242–473
Wyoming — 235-240–475

INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Jonah Texeira, San Diego, 70-69–139
Jonathon De Los Reyes, Northern California, 67-74–141
Andrew Bonner, Northern California, 71-70–141
Max Carter, Oregon, 69-74–143
Austin Banz, Utah, 73-70–143
Dominick Francks, Washington, 76-67–143
Jake Knapp, Southern California, 72-72–144
Alistair Docherty, Oregon, 74-70–144
Cameron Harrell, Colorado, 70-74–144
KK Limbhasut, Southern California, 68-77–145
Alex Angard, Southern California, 70-75–145
Bryson DeChambeau, Northern California, 72-73–145
Cole Nygren, Colorado, 74-71–145
Kevin Kwon, British Columbia, 69-77–146
Kevin Murphy, Oregon, 70-76–146
Kenneth Fadke, Sun Country, 71-75–146
Seung Jae Maeng, Hawaii, 73-73–146
Dylan Kornberg, Arizona, 73-74–147
Will Higham, Idaho, 75-72–147
Tyler Saunders, Alberta, 78-70–148
Aaron Terrazas, Mexico, 73-75–148
Curtis Chan, British Columbia, 74-75–149
Logan France, Arizona, 73-77–150
Andrew Whalen, Washington, 75-75–150
Emilio Maurer, Mexico, 73-77–150
Brett Hogan, Alberta, 75-76–151
Nick Mandell, Washington, 73-78–151
Alex Chiarella, Hawaii, 77-74–151
Jimmy Makloski, Colorado, 80-72–152
Kalena Preus, Hawaii, 75-77–152
Matt Williams, Alberta, 74-79–153
Bobby Gojuangco, San Diego, 79-74–153
Cody Neal, Northern California, 77-76–153
Patrick Sanchez, Mexico, 77-76–153
Derek Rucki, Alberta, 80-74–154
Sulman Raza, Oregon, 76-78–154
Blake Toolan, Arizona, 74-80–154
James Lee, Sun Country, 75-79–154
David Elliott, Idaho, 74-80–154
Scott Riley, Nevada, 78-76–154
Kamrin Allen, Wyoming, 74-80–154
Danny Ochoa, San Diego, 79-76–155
Nicholas Smart, Utah, 78-77–155
Ben Moore, Colorado, 75-80–155
Richard Hattori, Hawaii, 75-80–155
Jordan Wright, Nevada, 76-79–155
Eli Rogers, Montana, 76-79–155
Colton Dallimore, Utah, 79-77–156
Brady Calkins, Washington, 79-77–156
Rico Hoey, Southern California, 78-79–157
Cameron Davison, British Columbia, 79-78–157
Henry Cunningham, San Diego, 78-79–157
Kade Crossland, Idaho, 77-80–157
David Faraudo, Mexico, 78-79–157
Nathan Wunderli, Utah, 81-77–158
Marty Sanchez, Sun Country, 73-85–158
Kyle Miley, Idaho, 75-83–158
Brandon McIver, Montana, 80-78–158
Chris Cremer, Wyoming, 78-81–159
Chris Crisologo, British Columbia, 78-82–160
Nikolas Gonnella, Nevada, 79-82–161
Ryan Porch, Montana, 76-85–161
Danny Davis, Wyoming, 83-79–162
Jamie Waltmire, Arizona, 84-79–163
Reed Platke, Montana, 79-87–166
Bradley Keyer, Nevada, 83-86–169
Quintin Pope, Wyoming, 91-84–175
Isaac Merry, Sun Country, NC-76–NC
 

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.

The CGA — along with Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen — was more than happy to step in and fill the void when safety concerns led officials from the boys Junior America’s Cup to move the tournament from Mazatlan, Mexico this year.

But the short turnaround time for hosting a major international junior tournament does present some challenges, especially considering the change was finalized in mid-March for an event scheduled for July 27-29 at Hiwan.

Normally, golf associations that participate in the Junior America’s Cup know many, many years in advance when they’ll host the JAC. In the case of the CGA, it was slotted in for 2016. But with the volatile situation in Mexico, what was a five-year timeline became condensed into less than five months.

One of the issues is the money involved with hosting such an event. Tournament entry fees paid by participants — 17 four-person teams from the western U.S., western Canada and Mexico — cover some of the costs, but the host association agrees to make up the difference. However, given the late change in tournament plans, the money involved wasn’t in the 2011 CGA budget.

With that in mind, Hiwan has agreed to host a Junior America’s Cup fundraising event to help offset some of the expenses. The fundraiser has been set for Monday, June 27, with an 11:30 a.m. lunch, followed by a 1:15 p.m. shotgun-start tournament.

“Anybody can come out, if they want to support Junior America’s Cup and play a great course,” said Dustin Jensen, director of youth programs for the CGA and also a member of the JAC Executive Committee.

The cost to participate in the fundraiser is $85, which includes golf, practice balls, lunch and the possibility to win prizes. Those interested can call Hiwan at 303-674-3369 or e-mail head professional Kyle Heyen at kyle@hiwan.com.

Jensen said the CGA, which last hosted the Junior America’s Cup in 1999, has been “forward-thinking” regarding the next JAC in Colorado, setting aside several thousand dollars each year in anticipation of hosting the tournament in 2016. Now, with Colorado’s host year moved to 2011, the association will continue to set aside that amount, but now “we’ll just pay ourselves back.”

The Junior America’s Cup competition involves three rounds of tournament play (July 27-29), but that’s far from the extent of the event.

Competitors will arrive on Monday (July 25) and meet their Hiwan-area host families for the week. On Tuesday (July 26), golfers will play their practice rounds, then they’ll don their association coat and tie and participate in opening ceremonies, which are open to the public and are not unlike those at the Ryder Cup. The national anthems for the U.S., Canada and Mexico are played, and the competitors all parade in and are introduced, and some speeches are made.

Afterward, a dinner for 150-200 people is held, and a to-be-determined keynote speaker will address those in attendance.

After the first tournament round on July 27, a putting competition will be held on the putting green, and the club pool will be open to competitors. Then immediately following the completion of play on July 29, the closing ceremonies will be held, where the team and individual champions are recognized.

All in all, “The players love it,” said Jensen, who has captained every Colorado boys JAC team since 2005 (the 2010 Colorado team is pictured above). “It’s completely different than what they normally play in. Though there’s an individual medalist, the real focus is on the team atmosphere. And the kids are serious about (the competition).”

The four players who will represent Colorado will be named on July 8, Jensen said, but he hopes that the great majority of logistical issues regarding the tournament are taken care of by June 1.

“The more that’s done by then, the better,” he said. “With our (CGA) schedule and Hiwan’s, it’s hard to keep your head above water” after that date.