PGA Jr. League: The Saratoga National/Anders Mattson Golf All-Stars Punch Ticket to First National Championship

This weekend, six teams of junior golfers from the Northeast competed in the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Regional Championship at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse, NY, to determine a winner from both the 13u and 17u age divisions.

In the 13u division of golfers ages 10-13, four teams competed for a spot in the ESPN live-televised National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., coming up on Oct. 6-9. The Saratoga Springs-based Saratoga National/Anders Mattson Golf 13u All-Stars led the field on the first day of competition, heading into day two with an 8-under-par stroke play qualifying round on Saturday. 

Two additional New York-based teams advanced to the semi-finals at 18-over-par, including the two seed Syracuse 13u All-Stars, based in Syracuse and Cortland, N.Y., and three seed Buffalo North 1 13u All-Stars. Massachusetts-based Berkshires 13u All-Stars entered the second day of play seeded fourth (+44).

In Sunday morning’s semi-finals, the top-seeded Saratoga National/Anders Mattson Golf 13u All-Stars defeated the Berkshires 13u All-Stars 8.5-3.5 in match play. Elsewhere in the bracket, Syracuse 13u All-Stars tied the Buffalo North 1 13u All-Stars, 6-6. Ultimately, Syracuse advanced to the finals, winning the tiebreaker with more total holes won than Buffalo.

In the afternoon, the Saratoga National/Anders Mattson Golf 13u All-Stars defeated the Syracuse 13u All-Stars 9-3 to earn their trip to the National Championship in October. This is the team’s first Championship appearance. 

Another notable achievement during the weekend: 10-year-old Kai Nafziger, a member of the Berkshires 13u All-Stars, made his first ever hole-in-one on the Drumlins Country Club Hole No. 8 (Par 3, 115 yards) using a driver.

Competing in the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship Season for the second year, the growing 17u division (ages 14-17) concludes its All-Star journey at the Regional.

Two teams competed at the 17u level in Region 2: the Altamont, N.Y.-based Orchard Creek Apples 1 17u All-Stars and the Glen Oak 17u All-Stars of East Amherst, N.Y. The teams competed in a 27-hole stroke play competition, completing 18 holes on Saturday and 9 holes on Sunday. The Glen Oak 17u All-Stars edged the Orchard Creek Apples 1 on Saturday with an aggregate total of 148 to Orchard Creek’s 155. On Sunday, Orchard Creek shot a 76, while Glen Oak shot 77.

With a total aggregate score of 225, the Glen Oak 17u All-Stars bested the Orchard Creek Apples 1 17 All-Stars, who shot 231, to become the 17u Region Champions.

See all the final scores HERE.