Golfing teens start Junior Cup in Logan

Many of the top teenage golfers from the West will descend on Logan Country Club today for the Girls Junior Americas Cup tournament, which runs through Thursday.

Eighteen four-golfer teams will compete for the team title, and an individual winner will also be crowned. Among the former winners of the Girls Junior Americas Cup are LPGA golfers Lorena Ochoa, Pat Hurst and Brandie Burton.

The Utah team, which was determined by points from a yearlong competition, will include Nicole Gaddie, Sirene Blair, Tara Green, and Courtney Smith. The 14-year-old Blair recently finished second in the Utah Women's State Amateur. Longtime Utah Golf Association secretary Toni Guest is the team captain.

"I think we will do better this year," said Gaddie, who played on last year's team. "We want to do well — this is our home state, and it's nice to play on a course you're somewhat familiar with."

The defending champion team is Southern California, which has won six of the last eight years and tied in 2005 with Mexico. Besides Mexico, there are two teams from Canada — Alberta and British Columbia.

Other teams competing are Arizona, Northern California, San Diego, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Northern Nevada, Southern Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

The Junior Americas Cup was begun in 1978 as a way to bring girls together from various states and countries to "foster new friendships and mutual respect." The event also includes a tournament banquet as well as opening and closing ceremonies.

UTAH CHAMPIONSHIP EXEMPTIONS HANDED OUT: Hawaii's Tadd Fujikawa and Utah's Clay Ogden have been given sponsor's exemptions for the Nationwide Tour Utah Championship in September.

Tournament Director Mike Smith made the announcement Monday at Willow Creek Country Club, where the tournament will be played Sept. 10-13.

"Utah golf fans should be excited with the players we're bringing in with exemptions this year," Smith said. "We've got tremendous fan base and support from the community, so we're happy to give them something back with some exciting players to cheer for."

Fujikawa first made a splash on the golf scene in 2006 when at age 15 he became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Open. He has since turned professional and played in four PGA Tour events this year, making the cut three times.

Ogden grew up in West Point and played for the BYU golf team. He won the 2005 U.S. Public Links Tournament and played in the 2006 Masters. Last year he received an exemption and ended up finishing in eighth place.

Two other exemptions were given to players with some status on the Nationwide Tour. David Gossett, a former U.S. Amateur champion who also won the 2001 John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour received one, as did Kyle Thompson, who tied for second at last year's tournament in Utah.

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