RICHMOND, KY (June 1, 2021) – The first major championships of the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour’s 2021 season take on added value this week. For the second time in four years, competitors of this year’s Kentucky Junior PGA Championships will be vying for spots in the National Junior PGA Championships, which are also being held in Kentucky. That makes the next two days in Richmond very meaningful for those in the 15-18 Divisions, as the top three players from both the Boys and Girls 15-18 Divisions will qualify for those competitions.

To do that, 18-hole boys will be navigating Gibson Bay Golf Course while all other players, including 18-hole girls, will be at nearby University Club at Arlington. Both tournaments will take place on June 2-3 with individual stroke play being the format of play. Those in the Boys 15-18 Division will be hunting down one of the three spots that guarantee a place in the field at Kearney Hill Golf Links on July 12-15. For the girls, Valhalla Golf Club is the destination they are looking to reach, with the multi-time host of the PGA of America’s premier championships hosting the best young females in the world for the first time on July 27-30.

As expected, the list of players heading to Richmond this week is a who’s who among young Kentucky golfers. Because the COVID-19 pandemic canceled last year’s National Junior PGA Championships, it has been two years since Kentucky’s youth last had the opportunity to qualify for these two marquee events. But these tournaments this week remain two of the most prestigious in Kentucky Junior Golf and winning this week will be a significant notch on the resume for whoever comes out on top. Among the notable male players in the Kentucky Boys Junior PGA Championship are the following, with their first round starting times in parenthesis.

• Hayden Adams (10:00 a.m.) – The first player in a premier group that rounds out the morning wave of Wednesday’s tee times off hole 1, Adams enters as the reigning champion of the Kentucky Boys Junior Amateur. A win this week would make it two majors in a twelve-month span for the Sayre School student.
• Luke Coyle (9:40 a.m.) – Not long removed from competing at Augusta National Golf Club in this year’s Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals, one of Kentucky’s up and coming players has been a constant fixture on leaderboards in seemingly every tournament he enters.
• Osyrus Peace (8:30 a.m.) – Peace is the leader of the Tour’s Boys 15-18 points standings entering this event. He has already won twice, with those victories coming at the Kentucky Junior Match Play Championship and last week’s Series Tournament at Indian Hills Country Club. If Peace finds himself as the highest-ranked player in the standings not already exempt for the Barbasol Junior Championship at the end of this tournament, he will gain a secured spot for the championship at Keene Trace – Keene Run on June 29 – July 1.
• Cam Roberts (9:40 a.m.) – Roberts was the only golfer to receive both the Gay Brewer, Jr. Grant and the Justin Thomas Grant this year. The young, talented player from the Pikeville area has shown incredible golfing ability even with being relatively new to the game. A win this week would further add to his growing reputation.
• Warren Thomis (10:00 a.m.) – The defending champion of this tournament ran away with the title last year when he won by seven strokes. The hometown kid out of Richmond would like a similar performance this time so he can advance to the National Junior PGA Championship after not getting that chance last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Rylan Wotherspoon (10:00 a.m.) – Wotherspoon had a phenomenal 2020 season that truly solidified his place as one of the finest young golfers Kentucky currently has. Some of those accomplishments last year included winning the KGCA All-State Championship, being named Mr. Golf in Kentucky and earning his first AJGA victory.
• Rocco Zakutney (9:50 a.m.) – Zakutney advanced to U.S. Open Final Qualifying by virtue of a top-six finish a month ago at Kentucky’s Local Qualifier at Cherry Blossom Golf Club. He’ll compete for a spot at Torrey Pines on Monday, June 7 following this competition.

Over at The University Club at Arlington, some of the young ladies seeking out the Kentucky Girls Junior PGA Championship include these players:

• Trinity Beth (9:00 a.m.) – The runner-up in this tournament last year, Beth is entering after a relatively fresh victory at Calvert City Country Club where she won the Marshall Strong Classic.
• Macie Brown (8:40 a.m.) – Brown had a clinical performance here last year where she won by five strokes for her first major title on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour. Like Warren Thomis, a duplicated performance this year would mean getting that coveted exemption into the National Junior PGA Championship that was not feasible a year ago.
• Madison Hudson (9:00 a.m.) – Hudson joined Cam Roberts last month as a Justin Thomas Grant recipient. The Dry Ridge product would love nothing more than to win this week and compete in a national competition at Thomas’ hometown of Louisville to make the 2017 PGA Champion proud.
• Casey Powell (9:50 a.m.) – Powell won the final major on the Tour’s circuit in 2020 at University Club of Kentucky, which hosted the Lou Perry Tour Championship. Before she begins her college golf career at Jacksonville University this fall, she’ll look to finish her junior golf career in style this summer, and a win in Richmond would be a great start to do that.
• Athena Singh (8:10 a.m.) – Singh won a little over a week ago at Seneca Golf Course in the Summer Preview, which followed an appearance in Augusta where she competed in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals. Beginning to establish herself as one of the top female players in Kentucky Junior Golf as of late, winning this week would certainly emphasize her status in the game right now.

Kentucky Junior Golf will have full coverage of the Kentucky Junior PGA Championships on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. Additionally, the final hole of the final group in both the Boys 15-18 and Girls 15-18 Divisions will be live-streamed on the organization’s Facebook page. Any playoffs necessary to decide those titles will also be live-streamed.

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Click here to view tee times at University Club at Arlington

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