Columbus golfers tee off at the 61st Georgia Junior Championship

Four young golfers from Columbus hope to write the next chapter in the rich history of the sport at the Georgia Junior Championship which began today at the Coosa Country Club in Rome, Georgia.

Brooks Urquhart, Harrison Bridges, Monty Thakur, and Sam Sillitto are competing for the championship title against 140 other golfers from around the state. As of today, July 6, Urquhart is leading at 7 under par with a score of 65 on the first day of the tournament.

The Georgia Junior Championship, held annually since 1966, is open to male amateur golfers who are members of Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) Member Clubs, are residents of Georgia, and have not reached their 19th birthday before the end of the championship. The format is 54 holes of stroke play.

Some of these teenagers may have been inspired by Larry Mize, winner of the 1987 Masters or today’s Columbus golfing sensation, Russell Henley, who holds the #5 World Golf ranking position.

Perhaps in the future the young men who are competing in the Georgia Junior Championship will become part of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.

Georgia Golf Hall of Fame

The Georgia Golf Hall of Fame is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Georgia’s golf traditions, heritage, achievements and excellence.

Among those who inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame from Columbus are Billy Key, who won the Georgia State Junior Championship three years in a row in the late 1940s.

Hugh Royer, Jr. was nurtured into a love of golf by Country Club of Columbus professionals Fred Haskins and Charlie Harper, as well as University of Georgia golf coach Howell Hollis. His first win was the All-Southern Junior in 1949 at the age of 13. In 1958, he won both the Georgia Amateur and the Southern Amateur before turning professional in 1959.

Hugh Royer III was introduced to golf from day one by his father. As a junior, the younger Royer would travel with his father as he still played professionally.

In 1986, Royer won the Georgia Amateur Championship at Coosa Country Club in Rome as well as the Southeastern Amateur. In 1987, he underwent open-heart surgery, recovered, and went on to finish second at the Georgia Amateur Championship that same year and won both the Azalea Amateur Invitational and the Western Amateur. Royer and his father (who won the Georgia Amateur in 1958) are one of two father-son winners of the state championship.

Wright Waddell, Carter Mize, and Gunby Jordan are also members of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.

Georgia boasts a thriving golf industry that brings $5.3B worth of total economic impact to the “Peach State”. This includes $3.4B worth of direct economic activity from golf facilities and golf-related businesses. Georgia golf encompasses 362 on-course golf facilities serving nearly 680,000 in-state golfers, of which 170,000 avid golfers play 25+ rounds annually.

Now we add the up and comers into the equation. Wish them luck. The tournament ends on Wednesday, July 8. You can follow the results here.