Inside look at what to expect at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Dozens of golfers are hoping to become household names at the 12th annual Sage Valley Junior Invitational.

The event also serves as the kick-off for “golf month” here in the CSRA. Here’s a closer look at what we can expect this year.

“Growing up watching the Masters, it looks and feels like Augusta,” said Cooper Jones, Utah.

Golfweek ranks it as the number one junior event. In the CSRA, it’s the start of jacket season.

Jack Roberts is from Saint Marys, Georgia. He said, “It’s definitely the best turn I’ve been in. just all the interactions with people and hanging out with buddies is pretty cool.”

Thirty-six boys and twenty-four girls are all swinging their way into Sunday. It’s one of the few tournaments where the golfers live on campus.

Cooper Jones said: “The putting greens are 50 yards behind our house. We’re living with eight other guys, and it’s cool just on the property instead of hotel. You don’t have to drive home after the tournament.”

This weekend will be full of wear and tear on the clubs and the grounds.

Pete Davis is the chairman of the Sage Valley Junior Invitational. He said, “We’ve got a number of high school teams that are going to come out and participate on Thursday and Friday. But with our final round being on Saturday, we typically see a surge of patrons on Saturday, with it being the weekend, and we welcome everyone to come out.”

It’s only been a year since the girls’ field was added to Sage Valley. Since then, it’s been a catalyst for the growing game of women’s golf.

“We’ve got almost half of our girls’ field going to be participating in a few weeks of ANWA (Augusta National Women’s Amateur),” he said.

Last year’s inaugural women’s class plus a boys and girls playoff for the first time will be hard to top.

“Pretty spectacular ending the last year, but I’m so excited. We got such a strong field this year,” said Davis.

Jean-Philippe Parr is from Canada. He said, “Hopefully, we have a good tournament and there’s a lot of good scores.”

Tournament days are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Admission is free.

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