PGA Jr. League: The San Diego All-Stars Make It Back to AZ for the National Championship

This weekend, 13 teams of junior golfers from California, Hawaii and the Southwest competed in the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Regional at Wailea Golf Club in Kihei, Hawaii, to determine a winner from both the 13u and 17u age divisions.

In the 13u division of golfers ages 10-13, five 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 California-based San Diego County League 13u All-Stars led the field on the first day of competition, heading into day two with an impressive 28-under-par stroke play qualifying round on Saturday.

Advancing to the semi-finals were California’s Santa Teresa 13u All-Stars seeded second (-22); Hawaii’s Moanalua 13u All-Stars seeded third (-18); and Scottsdale’s Arizona Junior Golf 13u All-Stars seeded fourth (-17). California’s Redwood Empire Redwood 13u All-Stars did not advance into semi-final play, shooting 11 over par. In Sunday’s match play semi-finals, San Diego faced four seed Arizona Junior Golf 13u All-Stars, whom they defeated 8-4. Elsewhere in the bracket, two seed Santa Teresa 13u All-Stars beat three seed Moanalua 13u All-Stars 6.5-5.5. In the afternoon, the San Diego County League 13u All-Stars defeated Santa Teresa 7-5 to earn their trip to the National Championship in October. San Diego is no stranger to the National Championship. This marks their second trip in as many years, while the team claimed the national title in 2015 and 2018.

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.

Going into Sunday match play, California-based Redwood Empire Redwood 17u All-Stars were top-seeded (-21); followed by the Inland Golf Academy 17u All-Stars (-12) of Corona, Calif.; San Diego’s Pat Diaz Golf 17u All-Stars (-10); and the Maui All-Star 17u (-9). The remaining four teams—Hawaii’s Moanalua 17u All-Stars (-9), Henderson, Nev.-based Dragon Ridge #1 17u All-Stars (-5), Redwood Empire Cypress 17u (-1) and Dragon Ridge #2 17u All-Stars (+7) did not advance.

In Sunday morning’s semi-finals, No. 1 Redwood Empire Redwood defeated the No. 3 Pat Diaz All-Stars 8.5-0.5, while the No. 2 Inland Golf Academy 17u All-Stars and the No. 4 Maui All-Stars tied 4.5-4.5. Maui advanced, winning the tiebreaker with more holes than Inland Golf Academy. In the afternoon, the Redwood Empire Redwood 17u All-Stars bested the Maui League 17u All-Stars, with a 7-2 victory to become Region Champions.

The remaining, lower seeded four teams from Saturday’s 17u stroke play qualifying––Honolulu’s Moanalua 17u All-Stars (-9), Henderson, Nev.-based Dragon Ridge #1 17u All-Stars (-5), California’s Redwood Empire Cypress 17u All-Stars (-1) and Nevada-based Dragon Ridge #2 17u All-Stars (+7)–could participate in an optional 9-hole, two-person scramble Raptor Shootout on Sunday. Gunnar Lee (Kaneohe, Hawaii) and Zaedis Yoshizawa (Honolulu, Hawaii) took home top honors with a 29. Dragon Ridge #1’s Joshua Chiu and Alliah Jordan followed with a 33, while Bri-Ela Nakagawa and Mariko Yonemura of the Moanalua 17u All-Stars shot a 34.

See the final results from Region 12 HERE.