News

HORSEHEADS, N.Y. -- Soaring Eagles Golf Course at Mark Twain State Park will host the 2022 New York State Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Amateur Championships next week, July 26-27.  

Related: Championship Central / Pairings / Scoring / Photos / Program / Past Winners

The field is set at 126 players divided into three divisions: Boys’ 18U, Boys’ 14U and Girls’ 18U. The Championships will run concurrently from Tuesday through Wednesday’s finish with tee times for the championship in groups of three. Competitors will play 18 holes in round one on Tuesday and 18 holes in round two on Wednesday. The players with the lowest scores for 36 holes will be the winners of their respective divisions. 

Championship Quick Facts

Dates: July 26-27, 2022

Host Site: Soaring Eagles Golf Course at Mark Twain State Park, Horseheads, N.Y.

Defending Champions: Julia Zigrossi (Girls’ 18U Junior), Jacob Olearczyk (Boys’ 14U Junior)

Format: This championship is a two-day 36-hole stroke play competition (no cut).

Ties: The player with the lowest score for 36 holes will be the champion. In the event of a tie for the Championship, a sudden-death playoff will be held immediately following play. If there is a tie for the winner in the Age Groups, the tie will be broken using the USGA's method of matching scorecards. 

Eligibility: Open to male and female amateur golfers that are either a resident of New York State or belong to an NYSGA member club or an NYSGA eClub (NYS residency required of eClub members). Players must be 18 years old or younger as of July 27, 2022 and have an up-to-date USGA Handicap Index. Juniors can get one free by joining an NYSGA eClub.

Course Par & Yardage:

Boys’ 18U: 6,987 yards, Par 71
Boys’ 14U: 6,004 yards, Par 71
Girls’ 18U: 5,446 yards, Par 71

80th New York State Boys’ 18U Junior Amateur Championship  

 

IN: 3,673 yards / OUT: 3,314 yards
TOTAL: 6,987 yards, par 35-36-71

65th New York State Boys’ 14U Junior Amateur Championship

 

IN: 2,935 yards / OUT: 3,069 yards
TOTAL: 6,004 yards, par 35-36-71 

59th New York State Girls’ 18U Junior Amateur Championship

 

IN: 2,681 yards / OUT: 2,821 yards
TOTAL: 5,458 yards, par 37-36-73
 

Schedule of Events

Monday, July 25

9:00am.......................Practice facilities open

9:00-4:00pm……....…Registration

10:00-3:00pm.............Practice round tee times       

11:00-2:00pm…….…..Player lunch

Tuesday, July 26

6:30am.......................Practice facilities open

7:30-9:30am……...….Round 1 (Girls' 18U & Boys' 14U)

11:30-2:30pm…..........Player lunch      

12:30-2:30pm……..…Round 1 (Boys' 15-18)

Wednesday, July 27

6:30am.......................Practice facilities open

7:30-9:30am……...….Round 2 (Boys' 15-18)

11:00-3:00pm…...…...Player lunch

2:30pm.......................Awards Ceremony (Boys' 15-18)

12:30-2:30pm……..…Round 2 (Girls' 18U & Boys' 14U)

7:30pm.......................Awards Ceremony (Girls' 18U & Boys' 14U)

The Field

The 80th NYS Boys’ Junior Amateur field contains two past NYS champions:

Charlie Fischer, 17, of East Aurora Country Club, is a two-time Buffalo District Golf Association (BDGA) Boys’ Junior Stroke Play winner. He is coming off of his best finish in the International Junior Masters. He won the 2019 NYS Boys’ 14U Junior, winning by five strokes to capture his first state championship after finishing runner-up in 2018. He finished tied for tenth place in the 2021 NYS Boys’ Junior.

Anthony Maglisco, 18, of Timber Banks Golf Club, won the 2018 Boys’ 14U Junior. He is a New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Section III Class B champion and finished tied for twentieth in the individual state championship in 2022.

The 65th NYS Boys’ 14U Junior Amateur field contains one past NYS champion:

Jacob Olearczyk, 14, of the NYSGA eClub - CNY, looks to defend his 2021 Boys’ 14U Junior Title. He has 17 first-place finishes on the Central New York PGA Junior Tour. Olearczyk medaled in the NYSPHAA Section III North Division qualifier in May.

The 59th Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship field contains one past champion: 

Julia Zigrossi, 16, of Ridgemont Country Club, is the defending Girls’ Junior champion. She also won back-to-back NYS Women’s Four-Ball Championships in 2021 and 2022. In addition, Zigrossi finished in fourth-place in the 2022 NYSPHSAA individual girls’ championship.

Other players to watch:

In the Boys’ 18U Junior

Jack Berl, 18, of the Country Club of Rochester, competed in the 73rd U.S. Junior Amateur in 2021. A recent graduate of Victor Senior High School, Berl placed second in the Coca-Cola Junior Championship in August 2020. Before that, he secured five consecutive top-15 finishes on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, including a victory at the Turning Stone Junior Open and placing top 10 in four of those events. He placed fourth in the NYSPHSAA championship this year. Berl was named co-player of the year by the RDGA in 2021.

Kellen Dean, 16, of the NYSGA Youth on Course, took home the 2022 NYS PGA Boys’ Junior Championship at Leatherstocking Golf Course in May. As a sophomore, he finished tied for 17th in the 2022 NYSPHSAA championship.

Caleb Decker, 17, of Seven Oaks Golf Club, won the Onondaga Golf and Country Club Junior invitational in May. He qualified for the 2022 NYSPHSAA state championship in 2022. He will join the St. Bonaventure golf team in the fall. 

Jack Estrella, 16, of Old Westbury Golf and Country Club, was a co-medalist in the Boys’ Junior Qualifier at Bethpage.

Zachary Locke, 18, of Corning Country Club, is a rising Sophomore on the Southern Wesleyan University golf team. He won the 2020 Toftrees Junior Open, while finishing runner-up at the Pittsburgh Mid-Summer Junior Open. Locke finished tied for 10th in last year’s Boys’ Junior.

C.J. Merrit, 17, of the MGA eClub - Long Island, made it to the semifinals of the 105th Met Junior Championship last week. He has six wins on the MET PGA Junior Tour, including the 2020 Match Play Championship.  

In the Boys’ 14U Junior

Halim Habib, 13, of the Country Club of Buffalo, is coming off of a win at the Buffalo District Golf Association Sub-Junior Match Play Championship. He won seven events on the Western New York Junior PGA Tour in 2020, including the Bobby Steele Memorial. That year, Habib placed third in the WNY PGA Junior Championship. He was fourth in his division at the 2020 Rochester Junior Open and won two events on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour in 2021.

Cole Jones, 14, of East Aurora Country Club, finished tied for 17th as an eighth grader in the NYSPHSAA state championship this year. He tied for third in the 2021 Boys’ 14U Junior, and was tied for the lead after the first round.

In the Girls' 18U Junior

Renna Chang, 14, of Harbor Links Golf Course, is a member of the Metropolitan PGA Junior Tour. She won the Future Series at Bethpage Red and the future series at Eisenhower Red 2021 and finished runner-up at the New York City Championship in 2020. At the 2021 Met PGA Junior Championship, Chang finished fifth and she tied for seventh in 2022. She finished fifth in the 2021 Girls’ Junior.

Madison Chen, 13, of the MET PGA Junior Golf Club, has three wins on the MET PGA Junior Tour. She finished tied for 11th in  the 2021 MET Junior PGA Championship.

Lia Huang, 14, of the YOC - MGA Club, finished tied for fourth place at the Met Junior PGA Championship this year and has two other top-5 finishes on the Metropolitan PGA Junior Tour in 2022. 

Hayden Knapp, 12, of Glens Falls Country Club, finished in fourth place at the NYS PGA Junior Championship in May. In the 92nd NYS Women’s Amateur Championship, she placed twelfth. 

Sophia Li, 15, of the MGA eClub - NYC, qualified for the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Olde Stone, where she was unable to advance into match play. She won the girl’s 10-12-year-old division in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Course in 2019. She is the first girl in the event's history to sink both putts from 30 and 15 feet.

Aliya Liberatore, 15, of Yahnundasis Golf Club, won the South Florida PGA Prep Tour Event at PGA National Estates in 2021. Last year, she won the CNY PGA Junior Apogee Investment Management Championship. Liberatore finished in seventh place in the 2021 NYS Girls’ Junior.

Isabella Salerno, 15, of Westchester Country Club, has two top-5 finishes on the Metropolitan PGA Junior Tour this year. She finished tied for twelfth in the 2021 NYS Girl’s Junior.

Gwendolyn Yarnall, 17, of Crag Burn Golf Club, was the runner-up in the 2021 Erie County Girls’ Amateur Championship. She has 10 first-place finishes in Western New York PGA Junior events.

Lily Zhang, 14, of Park Country Club, was recognized as an honorable mention for the Rolex Junior All-America Teams for 2021. She won the TaylorMade TP5 Junior All-Star, was runner-up in the Celadon Club Junior Championship hosted by Marina Alex, and fourth in the KPMG Stacy Lewis Junior All-Star Invitational. She was the runner-up at the 2021 NYS Girls’ Junior Amateur. The Buffalo native claimed the NYS PGA Junior title earlier this year.   

Boys’ 18U Junior Amateur - 2022 Qualifying Medalists

Jamestown Qualifier - Mac Quinn, Springville CC - 77
Elmira Qualifier - Luca Neally, Corning CC - 75
Rochester Qualifier - Colin Barber, Cobblestone Creek CC - 76
Watertown Qualifier - Kacy Lennox, Willowbrook GC - 76
Binghamton Qualifier - Ryan Thompson, Indian Hills GC - 73
Albany Qualifier - Jadon Pabon, Ballston Spa CC - 78, Matthew McClenon, Ballston Spa CC - 78
Mid-Hudson Qualifier - Tommy Mangan, Apawamis Club - 75
Utica Qualifier - Dante Bertoni, En-Joie GC - 70
North Country Qualifier - Ryan Jones, SLU Oliver D. Appleton GC - 78, Zachary Bruno, Glens Falls CC - 78
Finger Lakes Qualifier - Cody Burgess, Cobblestone Creek CC - 75
Long Island Qualifier - Jack Estrella, Old Westbury G&CC - 68, William Welling, YOC - MGA eClub - 68
Buffalo Qualifier - Michael Wolski, Lancaster CC - 73
Syracuse Qualifier - Joe Nicholson, Onondaga G&CC - 62 (set new course record)

Soaring Eagles Golf Course at Mark Twain State Park

Named for the great 19th-century author who spent summers in the area, Mark Twain State Park is the home of one of the most scenic and challenging 18-hole courses in the area. 

The course has a unique 18-hole design with only two parallel holes. The excellent conditions for this course were created thousands of years ago by a retreating glacier which laid down hundreds of feet of sand, gravel and silt. Buried ice blocks slowly melted, leaving water-filled depressions or “kettle ponds” on the course. 

The scenic and challenging course provides a fitting venue for New York’s top junior amateur players to compete for state championships.

Learn more about Soaring Eagles Golf Course at Mark Twain State Park