The Sage Valley Junior Invitational, one of the premier junior golf events in the U.S., is moving up a month on the calendar in 2020.
Traditionally held in April, the Sage Valley Junior will shift to March 9-15 in the spring, mainly to avoid potential conflicts with other tournaments and to ensure it continues to attract an elite 54-player field.
“The Junior Invitational has established its place as the premier annual event for junior boys,” said Pete Davis, chairman of the SVJI Sports Foundation. “Our dates in April have sometimes created conflicts for players with end-of-year school events and high school golf schedules. In addition to reducing these issues, the March dates should also lend themselves to cooler weather conditions.”
Sage Valley Golf Club in Aiken County, S.C., hosts the event, with the winner donning the “Golden Jacket.” Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin won the tournament in 2019.
There are several ways to earn eligibility for the 54-hole stroke-play tournament. Among them: Automatic qualifiers include the 2019 Junior Invitational Champion, 2019 Boys Junior Champion and furthest advancing junior in the 2019 U.S. Amateur. Remaining slots are filled based upon year-to-date rankings.
Past Junior Invitational participants include Justin Thomas, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Curtis Luck, Doc Redman, Emiliano Grillo, Aaron Wise ad Michael Thorbjornsen.
