20th Annual Starburst Junior Golf Classic kicked off Sunday, June 10!
The 20th Annual Starburst Junior Golf Classic, one of the largest junior golf tournaments in the state, kicked off with activities and vendors at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course Sunday, June 10 at 6 p.m. Players picked up their player swag bag, tournament pairings and all caddie apparel, participated in a College Chat Q&A session with MCC Golf Coach Vince Clark, enjoy dinner, practiced their swings and watch 820 golf balls fall from the sky for the Greater Waco Chamber’s Helicopter Golf Ball Drop.
“The popular Helicopter Ball Drop is a unique aspect of our tournament that really engages all of our players and their families,” said Amanda Haygood, sports and special events director at the Waco Chamber. “Players – and anyone in the community – can purchase a $5 raffle ticket to match a golf ball. It’s an impressive sight, watching up to 1,300 golf balls be dropped from a helicopter. And the owner of the ball that lands in, or nearest, to the golf hole will win $1,000!”
The Starburst Junior Golf Classic starts the tournament play around the Greater Waco area June 11-13, 2018. Managed by the Greater Waco Chamber, the Starburst Junior Golf Classic will host hundreds of players from ages of 7 to 18 across four area courses. The 2018 players are from seven states, and we have an international player. (Registration closed on Friday, June 1.)
Courses for the 20th Starburst Junior Golf Classic include:
- Cottonwood Creek Golf Club, Waco
- Ridgewood Country Club, Waco
- Wildflower Golf Club, Temple
- Stonetree Golf Club, Killeen
Over the span of three days, girls ages 7-10 and boys ages 7-9 will play nine holes and girls 11-18 Championship and boys 10-18 Championship will play 18 holes. The Starburst Junior Golf Classic is also part of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), enabling Championship and 11 to 17 age division top finishers to receive AJGA performance stars.
Complete tournament information can be found at StarburstGolf.com, or contact Amanda Haygood at (254) 757-5611.
Starburst Facts:
- Patrick Reed competed and won boys 9-10 in 2001 and boys 11-12 in 2003. Photo from 2003.
- Jordan Spieth shot 2-under-par 34 on his final nine of the 54-hole tournament, closed with a pair of birdies and won the Championship Boys title with a 1-under 71 at Cottonwood and a three-round total of 2-under 212 in 2007. Jordan won the boys 12 division in 2006 and place in boys 11 in 2005.
- Two of Starburst Junior Golf Classic’s previous players, Alexa Pano and Sky Sudberry, were featured in the Netflix Documentary, The Short Game. Alexa has played three Starburst tournaments and Sky has competed in two tournaments. Sky still plays in Starburst.
- The Starburst tournament was featured in the 2015 Esquire Network docu-series The Short Game in episode two, which features Avery Zweig, Awesome Burnett and Sachin Kommineni. Avery and Awesome still play in Starburst.
- Previous player Awesome Burnett is returning to the 2018 tournament, along with many others.
- 30-second Event Commercial
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