HARLINGEN — Youth golfers from across the Rio Grande Valley and beyond will converge July 10-11 at Harlingen Country Club for the 39th annual Gillman Auto Group South Texas Junior Golf Classic.
The tournament will tee off at 7:30 a.m. each day, and there will be a driving competition at 5 p.m. July 9 to kick off the weekend’s activity. It is a sanctioned Southern Texas PGA Junior Tour event that typically draws competitors from San Antonio, Laredo, Houston, Corpus Christi and beyond, along with many of the top RGV golfers.
Despite strict guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic last July, the STJGC still boasted a large number of participants. With cases down and restrictions no longer in place in Texas, STJGC director Durrell Lovell said the tournament will be run like it was pre-pandemic. He’s anticipating around 75 participants and continues to get new applicants as the event nears.
“COVID changed everything, but golf is still golf and it’s going to be what it is. We’re still drawing kids from all over the state and all over the Valley. It’s going to be full strength and back to normal,” Lovell said.
The STJGC was founded by Lee Wylie with the intention of providing a competitive golfing experience for athletes of all ages across South Texas. Boys and girls golfers from 6 to 18 years old will compete in brackets based on age and gender.
As a junior tour event, points will be awarded based on their finish that will contribute to the golfers’ Tour Championship score. Several of the top athletes in the STPGA Junior Tour divisions call the Valley home.
Karina Rios of Mercedes is the No. 1 girl in the Little Linksters Program for children age 6-12 playing nine-hole events. Alliana Briones of Harlingen and Levi Bennett of Rancho Viejo are the girls and boys leaders in the Junior Links Program for children age 13-18. In the Junior Tour Program for those age 15-18, Jazlyn Segura of Weslaco and Allison McGinnis of Rancho Viejo are No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the girls points standings, and McAllen’s Esteban Gonzalez is the boys leader.
The winners in the high school group from 2020, Palmhurst’s LJ Chavez in the boys division and Edinburg’s Madison Ozuna in the girls division, have graduated, so this year’s competition will be wide open and Lovell expects a good show.
“The defending champions are not going to be back to defend their titles this year. It’s going to be a new set of challengers. We’re expecting a strong field,” Lovell said.
