The Northern Junior Championship will take place August 1st - 3rd at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, CT. Andrew Sciarretta of Wilton, the 2015 Connecticut Junior Amateur Champion, is the top ranked junior player in Connecticut and is seeking to capture his first Northern Junior title.
All players will play 18-holes of stroke play on Tuesday, August 2nd and Wednesday, August 3rd at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Conn. Tee times will run from 7:00am - 1:00pm both days, and the low 36-hole competitor in the Boys and Girls Championship will be declared the Champion. There will be an awards ceremony and trophy presentation following the conclusion of play on Wednesday at approximately 5:30pm.
The Northern Junior Championship is a nationally ranked junior golf tournament that was created in order to provide the highest level of competition for top junior players. The 36-hole stroke play event is contested over two days at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut and is open to amateur boys and girls under the age of 19 who have not entered their first year of college. Our goal is to provide the same first class championship experience and red-carpet treatment that the best national events around the country offer.
Twenty-four states, provinces and countries are being represented in the tournament. Forty-one players are from Connecticut are seeking to capture the Northern Junior title.
Benjamin James, 13, of Milford, Conn. is the youngest Boys competitor in this year’s field. James, a 2021 high school graduate, won the US Challenge Cup’s Spinal Technology Junior Classic this spring, finished runner-up in the AJGA Junior All-Star event at Windham Mountain Resort, and successfully qualified for the Connecticut Open Championship.
Tiya Chowdary, 13, of Belle Mead, New Jersey is the youngest player in the Girls Championship. A 2021 high school graduate, Chowdary recently won the New Jersey PGA’s University Open with rounds of 71-75—146 and finished third in the New Jersey PGA Junior Championship.
Seven of the top eight ranked boys from Connecticut are competing in the 2016 Northern Junior Championship. They are (in order of ranking):
Andrew Sciaretta - Wilton, Conn. (2016)
Adam Friedman – Westport, Conn. (2016)
Nathaniel Dong – Glastonbury, Conn. (2016)
Chandler Morris - Southbury, Conn. (2016)
Connor Looney – Ridgefield, Conn. (2017)
Tim Rotermund – Madison, Conn. (2017)
Ryan Levy – Trumbull, Conn. (2018)
Five of the top six ranked girls from Connecticut are competing in the 2016 Northern Junior Championship. They are (in order of ranking):
Sarah Houle – Sandy Hook, Conn. (2018)
Elizabeth Garfield – Fairfield, Conn. (2019)
Kathryn Dzialga – Greenwich, Conn. (2021)
Mia Grzywinski – Farmington, Conn. (2019)
Emma Heim – Suffield, Conn. (2016)
James Turner of Gloucester, Mass. is the highest ranked player in the Boys Championship (#216 in Golfweek/Sagarin rankings) and is coming off the biggest win of his young career. Turner captured the 87th New England Amateur Championship at Hartford Golf Club, shooting rounds of 73-68-67-65—273 for a five stroke victory.
Angela Garvin of Feeding Hills, Massachusetts is the highest ranked player in the Girls Championship (#203 in Golfweek/Sagarin rankings). Garvin, a 2019 high school graduate, has already picked up four victories in 2016, winning the Massachusetts Girls Junior Championship, the Connecticut Section PGA Junior Championship, the Spinal Technology Junior Classic and the Hartford Junior Shootout.
There are a total of 6 players in the field who have previously won their respective state junior amateur titles in New England. They are: Eric Evans (2015 New Hampshire Junior Champion), Andrew Franz (2016 Connecticut Junior Amateur Champion), Angela Garvin (2016 Massachusetts Girls Junior Champion), Catherine McEvoy (2013 Connecticut Girls Junior Champion), James McKee (2014 and 2016 New Hampshire Junior Champion) and Andrew Sciarretta (2015 Connecticut Junior Amateur Champion).
Brendan Hansen, Spring Lake, N.J. (Champion, IMG Northeast Tour Championship)
Sarah Perine, Staten Island, N.Y. (Champion, IMG Northeast Tour Championship)
Liam Boyle, Baldwin, N.Y. (Champion, IMG at Crystal Springs GC)
Samantha Yao, Berwyn, Penn. (Champion, IMG at Crystal Springs GC)
Yoona Kim, Oradell, N.J. (Champion, IMG at Charleston Springs GC)
Will Ford, Reistertown, Md. (CPGT University of Maryland Championship)
Jacqueline Cherry, Elliott City, Md. (Champion, CPGT University of Maryland Championship)
Catherine McEvoy of Riverside, Connecticut enters the Northern Junior hoping to become the first Connecticut player since 2011 to win the Girls Championship (Nathalie Filler). McEvoy won the 50th Connecticut State Women’s Amateur title at Indian Hill Country Club last year, shooting rounds of 78-76-73—227 to win by a single stroke.
Virginie Ding of Hong Kong, China comes into the 2016 Northern Junior Championship with plenty of momentum, having recently won the AJGA Junior All-Star at Rush Creek in Minnesota. Ding shot rounds of 76-71-73—220 capture her first AJGA title by two strokes.
The U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls Junior Amateur is widely regarded as the top junior event in the world, and six players successfully qualified for this prestigious championship. Angela Garvin of Feeding Hills, Mass., Brendan Hansen of Spring Lake, N.J., Joseph Levitan of Saint Simons Island, Ga., Selina Li of Hong Kong, China, Yoona Kim of Oradell, N.J. and Jack Maguire of Ridgefield, Conn. all successfully advanced through local qualifying and competed in their respective championships this past July. Both Garvin and Hansen advanced to the Round of 64 in match play.
Michelle Lee of Hong Kong, China has already picked up four national victories thus far in 2016, winning the Computer Merchant Cup, Long Island Junior Classic, Connecticut Summer Classic and Francis Ouimet Junior Stroke Play Championship.
Finn Boynton of Milford, Conn., Caroline Farber of Providence, R.I., Angela Garvin of Feeding Hills, Mass. andChristine Shao of Green Brook, N.J. are all in the field for next week’s 41st Junior PGA Championship. The tournament will be played for the first time at Wannamoissett Country Club in Rhode Island on August 9th – 12th, and past winners include Lexi Thompson, Trevor Immelman, David Toms, In-Bee Park and Christie Kerr.
Matthew Pulgini of Middletown, Delaware earned medalist honors at 116th U.S. Open Local Qualifying held at Silver Creek Country Club in Hellertown, Pennsylvania earlier this spring. While an impressive accomplishment in of itself, Pulgini had the unique privilege of being paired with Billy Hurley III for the 36-hole Sectional Qualifying in Maryland. Hurley, who claimed medalist honors at the qualifier, went on to win the Quicken Loans National just a month afterwards.
Lawson Buhl of North Haven, Conn. is representing the host club at the Northern Junior for the second consecutive year. Buhl recently finished fourth at the AJGA Preview at Dauphin Highlands with rounds of 74-72—146 and is looking to capture his first junior title on his home course.
Chandler Morris of Southbury, Conn. is playing in his fifth Northern Junior Championship, the most of any competitor in the field. Morris earned his spot in the field by capturing the 2016 Ryan T. Lee Junior Open at Timberlin Golf Club with 73-71—144, a tournament named in honor of 2007-08 Champion Ryan Lee.