Team New Jersey Places Fourth In PGA Junior League Championship

Team New Jersey took fourth place won the PGA Junior League Golf Championship recently, having reached the championship for a record fourth straight year in the five-year history of the event.

Team New Jersey, which plays out of Royce Brook Golf Club, won the Mid Atlantic Regional at LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Pa., in October to reach the championship stage.

Team New Jersey lost the third-place match to Team Ohio, 6.5 to 5.5. Team California defeated Team Georgia, 8-4 for the championship. The team captain is Anthony Latham, PGA professional , at Royce Brook in Hillsborough.

The state of California has had teams win the PGA Junior League Golf National Championship in four of the five years of competition. Teams representing the states of Georgia and California have made it to the finals all five years, with Georgia winning in 2013.

PGA JUNIOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

In addition to Latham, 13-year-old Louis Giovi has been with the team since the very beginning. The PGA Junior League championship was held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 19-21, for the 2016 PGA Junior League Championship.

There are 36,000 youngsters who compete in the PGA Junior Leagues, including 2,900 teams in 600 leagues nationwide.

In 2015, Team New Jersey, which included junior golfers from Royce Brook, did themselves proud by finishing third in the PGA Junior League Golf Championship in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

It was the third time in the four-year history of the event that Royce Brook golfers competed and their highest finish by far.

The 2015 state champion squad from Royce Brook was among the eight finalist teams from around the United States when the competition was conducted Nov. 5-8, at Disney’s Palm Course at the Walt Disney Resort in Florida.

In the third place match, Team New Jersey (Hillsborough) edged Team Ohio (Cleveland) 6.5-5.5.

The PGA Junior League Golf Championship features nine-hole matches played in a popular two-person scramble format, with points awarded based on number of holes won. Final scoring is based on the record of matches won, tied and lost. Each team played three matches between Friday and Saturday to determine a winner in the East and West Division, who competed for the Championship title.