Defending Champion, Sara Im of Duluth, won the girls division for the 2nd year and Steve Kibare of Canton won the boys division in the 2020 Georgia PGA Junior Championship after 54-holes of golf was contested at The Legends at Château Élan in Braselton. The field consisted of Georgia’s elite 156 juniors and was cut to the low 76 players and ties after 36-holes of play.
After a clean 1st round of golf on Monday, Round Two was plagued with two weather delays totaling three hours to prolong ‘Cut-Day’. Seven groups of the Boys 16-18 division had four holes or less to finish on Wednesday before the cut was made. The Final Round was suspended for another hour and 20 minutes due to inclement weather before eventually Im, (220, +4) and Kibare (219, +3) were alone at the top of the leaderboard in their respective divisions. A notable highlight of Round One was Boys 16-18, Wiley Hickerson of Gainesville, GA had his 1st ever hole-in-one on the par 3 hole #15 with a pitching wedge from 146 yards out.
By winning the Georgia Girls and Boys PGA Junior Championship respectively, along with the Girls & Boys Runner-Up, the players would be invited to play in the national Girls and Boys Junior PGA Championship. Unfortunately, both of these events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Championships were going to be held at PGA Golf Club in July.
Each of the 41 PGA of America Sections would have given out two invitations each to their Girls & Boys. Junior competitors must be under the age of 19 as of the final round of the championship.
The Girls and Boys Junior PGA Championships is where some of the best in the world get their start. Many of today’s PGA and LPGA Tour professionals made their debut at the Championship. Notable past participants include Stewart Cink, Cristie Kerr, Phil Mickelson, Grace Park, Inbee Park, Dottie Pepper, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie and Tiger Woods.