TOURNAMENT RECAPS

Event: AJGA Thunderbird International Junior
Course: Grayhawk GC (Raptor Course)
When: May 29-31
Where: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Winners: Rob Grube, Hinsdale, Ill. (75-67-68‹210)/Belen Mozo, Cadiz, Spain (70-73-66--209)
Runners-up: Webb Simpson, Raleigh, N.C. (74-71-66--211), Jon McLean, Weston, Fla. (72-70-69--211), Robert Gates Jr., Gainesville, Fla. (76-65-70--211), George Gandranata, Jakarta, Indonesia (68-72-71--211)/In-Bee Park, Eustis, Fla. (69-71-70--210)
Skinny: Belen Mozo tied the women's course record on the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club with a 6-under-par 66 in the final round of the Thunderbird International Junior. Mozo rallied from six shots behind to take the title, carding three consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-4 and made the turn at 5 under for the day. She finished the day with seven birdies.
''Winning this tournament is very important to me,'' she said. ''It gives me a lot of confidence.''
Mozo, who made the trek to the United States for the first time, is the top-ranked junior for her age group in Spain and was a member of the victorious Ping Junior Solheim Cup team in 2003. She becomes the first international player who received an invitation to win the event. Finishing one shot back at 6-under 210 was 2002 Rolex Junior Player of the Year In-Bee Park.
Rob Grube made a late run of his own to take the boys title with a 6-under 210 total.
Grube, a Rolex Junior All-American, picked up his second AJGA victory by carding a final round 68 after starting the day two shots back. He hit 13 greens on Sunday and carded five birdies.
''I always knew I could win a tournament like this,'' the Stanford-signee continued. ''I have been very close a couple of times and to finally do it feels good. It's great to win anywhere, but to do it here . . . is very special.''
One shot back at 211 were Webb Simpson, Jon McLean, Robert Gates Jr. and George Gandranata.
- For complete results, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

Event: FCWT National Championship
Course: PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament and TPC Stadium Course)
When: May 29-31
Where: La Quinta, Calif.
Winner: Brian Locke, Los Angeles (69-71-66--206)
Runner-up: Tim McKenney, Scottsdale, Ariz., (73-67-69--209)
Skinny: Seventeen-year old Brian Locke wanted to make sure he took home the championship title and after recording an eagle and 17 birdies for 54 holes he was pretty much a lock.
The Californian opened with rounds of 69 and 71 before his final round 6-under 66 sealed the FCWT National Championship title. Locke, who finished at 10 under for the event, held off playing partner and FCWT Player of the Year Tim McKenney by three shots. McKenney's final-round 69 was enough to hold off 13-year-old Richard Lee, who shot 68 to grab third. Lee earned his exemption into the FCWT finale via his victory on the Maple Leaf Junior Tour in May.
- For complete results, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

Event: IJGT Tour Championship
Course: Grand Cypress Resort
When: May 29-31
Where: Orlando, Fla.
Winners: Matt Giftos, Nashua, N.H. (75-65-69--209)/Jennie Arseneault, Grinnell, Iowa (70-78-71--219)
Runners-up: Minghao Wang, Bradenton, Fla. (75-70-68--213)/Kristin Wetzel, Hilton Head, S.C. (72-79-72--223)
Skinny: The 2004 IJGT season closed on Memorial Day, as Matt Giftos and Jennie Arseneault came away with the boys and girls titles respectively at the Tour Championship.
Giftos won for the second time this year in as many IJGT events. After posting an opening-round 75, he followed with rounds of 65 and 69 to seal the title and a spot in the prestigious Players Amateur, which will be played in July.
Earning second-place honors was Minghao Wang who shot rounds of 75-70-68.
In the girls division Arsenault, the 2004 IJGT Female Player of the Year, led wire-to-wire, posting rounds of 70, 78, and 71 to take the title by four shots. Kristen Wetzel came in second place with a 223 total. Rounding out the top 3 was Marlowe Boukis.
- For complete results, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

Event: SJGT Jekyll Island Junior Classic
Course: Jekyll Island Club
When: May 24-25
Where: Jekyll Island, Ga.
Winners: Kevin Johnson, Jesup, Ga. (67-72-139)/Garrett Phillips, St. Simons Island, Ga. (74-74--148)
Runners-up: Blake Stark, Canton, Ga. (71-72--143)/Lauren Cousart, Athens, Ga. (73-78--151)
Skinny: After opening with a 5-under 67, Kevin Johnson was the clear favorite to take the SJGT Jekyll Island Junior Classic title. And after carding a final round 72, Johnson took the title by five shots over Blake Stark. Stark was the only other player to finish the event under par.
In the girls division, Garrett Phillips was able to take the title by three over Lauren Cousart. Cousart, who held the first-round lead after a 73, closed with 78. Phillips had matching 74s for a 4-over 148 total.
- For complete results, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

Event: BMO Financial Group Future Links Prairie Championship
Course: Hecla Golf Club
When: May 16-18
Where: Riverton, Manitoba
Winners: Darren Wallace, Langley, British Columbia (69-74-74--217)
Runners-up: Dale Vallely, Medicine Hat, Alberta (75-70-74--219)
Skinny: Darren Wallace shot a final-round 74 to take the BMO Financial Group Future Links Prairie Championship. After heading into the final round with the lead, Wallace was able to hold off Dale Vallely by two for the victory. Vallely finished at 3-over 219, one shot in front of Richard Conlin.
- For complete results, visit www.golfweek.com/juniorgolf/

LEVY: EMBRACE LOSS
AS A LESSON FOR FUTURE

Losing can be an ugly word that has multiple connotations and negative memories attached to it. It can be a description of not meeting a goal, lead to a feeling of disappointment, and add to the wonder of what could have been.

In golf, losing is a result. And it happens more often than in almost any other sport.

Take Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam for instance -- the world's most prolific male and female golfers. Each of them in their most successful seasons has won a percentage of tournaments so highly untouched, each is marveled at by the golf world for their accomplishments.
- For more, visit www.g olfweek.com/articles/2004/juniorgolf/boys/38987.asp

NEWS AND NOTES

* Freshman Rickie Fowler of Murrieta Valley (Calif.) High School shot a 10-under-par 62 to shatter the tournament record and match the course record at the SCGA Golf Course. The record round lifted Fowler, 15, to victory at the 34th CIF-SCGA High School Southern Regional Boys Championship. He finished six shots ahead of Matt Shaw of Clovis High School.

Torrey Pines High School won its second consecutive team title, finishing three shots ahead of Gahr High School of Pomona. With the best five of six scores counting for the team total, Torrey Pines shot a 4-over 364 total (two shots better than last year's total).

Fowler, playing on his team's home course, birdied all four par-5 holes and finished with 10 birdies and eight pars on the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed layout. The old tournament mark of 65 was set by Steve Conway of Santa Margarita High School in 2000 at the same course.

* The FCWT named Tim McKenney from Scottsdale, Ariz., the boys 16-18 division Player of the Year.

In 2003-04 McKenney won the FCWT ASU event and the event at Bayonet, the FCWT's highest rated regular season event in the Golfweek/Titleist rankings. McKenney's scoring average was 71.62.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tim McKenney
PLAYER OF THE YEAR (EAST REGION): Seath Lauer
PLAYER OF THE YEAR (CENTRAL REGION): Weldon Martin
PLAYER OF THE YEAR (WEST REGION): Tim McKenney

* Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., will host the 2006 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. The championship will be played July 17-22.

Carmel's South Course, where the championship will be contested, was designed by Ellis Maples and opened in 1969. In 1988, Rees Jones made revisions to the South Course, which is well bunkered and features narrow fairways.

* Portugal's Maria Joao Montenegro Moreira da Silva, 13, became the youngest person to pass the R&A Rules examination. Moreira da Silva was one of 56 delegates taking part in the Rules School at the Belas Clube de Campo near Lisbon.

Moreira da Silva made up her mind to study the Rules of Golf after being given an incorrect decision by a referee in competition. She was accompanied at the school by her parents.

The exam followed a series of lectures and on-course demonstrations and the top mark was achieved by Joao Paulo Pinto, a referee with the Portuguese Golf Federation, who has tutored Maria.

* More than 100 boys and girls from 15 charitable organizations throughout the Louisville-Jefferson County (Ky.) area gathered on a humid Monday afternoon at Shawnee Golf Course.

The PGA of America's Community Relations Program, with the support of more than 20 Kentucky PGA Section pros, helped guide youths who may have never pick up a golf club.

The event also attracted more seasoned players like Amber Taylor, who has been playing for about four years. Taylor, 19, was born with Down Syndrome, played for two years on her prep girls' golf team.

''There are little successes and there are big ones for many of these children,'' said David Taylor, a construction superintendent, who accompanied his daughter, Amber, to the clinic. ''For Amber and many others like her, they don't know any boundaries. The high school gave her a chance and they saw that she was better than they had expected. She was a crowd favorite everywhere she played.''

Amber hit a few chips near the flagstick during the clinic and lagged a few 50-foot putts to within tap-in range.

''She's a pistol,'' said Michelle Durbin, Taylor's coach at Doss High School. ''She did make great improvements and was a contributor, not a token to our team.

Short Shots: The AJGA Thunderbird International Junior will donate $30,000 to 50 Phoenix-area charities. . . . Online membership registration for the FCWT 2004-05 season is now available at www.fcwtgolf.com. . . .Tulsa resident Shannon Begnel, a 19-year-old business major at the University of Oklahoma, won the regional Pinnacle Distance Challenge in Tulsa May 22. Begnel posted a winning drive of 330 yards at Tee Town Golf Ranch to earn a spot in the Pinnacle Distance Challenge national finals later this year. . . . The PGA Learning Center, the PGA of America's state-of-the-art facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and PGA Golf Club will host three summer junior golf programs beginning in June. The 2004 Summer Youth Golf Program introduces children 3-8 years of age to the game. PGA Professionals will run two four-week sessions on Saturdays from 9-10 a.m. beginning June 5-26 and July 10-31. Advance registration is required and each session is limited to 40 players. For more information, call 772.468.7686, extension 110.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

AJGA
June 1-4 -- PING Junior at Mirasol, Country Club at Mirasol (Sunrise Course), Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
June 1-4 -- Nike Golf Junior All-Star at Colonial, Colonial CC (Jackson Course), Jackson, Miss.
June 1-4 -- AJGA Southwestern Junior, Isleta Eagle GC, Albuquerque, N.M.

SJGT
June 2-3 -- SJGT Vestavia Junior Classic, Vestavia CC, Huntsville, Ala.

NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE

AJGA
June 7-10 -- Ringgold Telephone Company Junior, Windstone GC, Ringgold, Ga.
June 7-10 -- Ping Indianapolis Junior, Bridgewater Club, Carmel, Ind.
June 7-10 -- Nike Golf Junior All-Star at Quad Cities, Glynns Creek GC, Long Grove, Iowa
June 7-10 -- Fore!Kids Junior of Louisiana, TPC of Louisiana, New Orleans

SJGT
June 7-8 - Huntsville Junior Classic, Huntsville (Ala.) CC

INDEPENDENT
June 8-10 -- Bubba Conlee Invitational, Cherokee Valley GC, Olive Branch, Miss.

BOYS
1. Brian Harman 70.19
2. Webb Simpson 70.84
3. Zack Byrd 70.99
4. Tim Schaetzel 71.06
5. Randy Lowry 71.14
6. Glenn Northcutt 71.20
7. Tim McKenney 71.52
8. Jon McLean 71.53
9. Toby Ragland 71.61
10. Chris McCartin 71.63
11. Jonathan Moore 71.66
12. Trent Leon 71.68
13. Jarred Texter 71.77
14. Matthew Swan 71.81
15. Phillip Mollica 71.86
16. Jon Curran 71.88
17. Michael Schachner 71.99
18. Patton Kizzire 72.00
19. Josh An 72.02
20. Cameron Tringale 72.08
21. Robert Riesen 72.22
22. Robert Gates Jr. 72.24
23. Greg Forest 72.24
24. Philip Francis 72.33
25. George Gandranata 72.35
- For complete rankings, visit www.golfweek.com/ juniorgolf/ratings/boys.asp

GIRLS
1. Paula Creamer 69.93
2. In-Bee Park 70.45
3. Julieta Granada 71.18
4. Morgan Pressel 71.57
5. Mallory Hetzel 71.63
6. Jennie Lee 71.96
7. Esther Choe 72.12
8. Angela Park 72.36
9. Emma Cabrera-Bello 72.46
10. Azahara Munoz 72.63
11. Brittany Lincicome 72.74
12. Kimberly Meck 73.17
13. Tiffany Joh 73.30
14. Sydney Burlison 73.33
15. Mina Harigae 73.66
16. Taylor Leon 73.67
17. Adriana Zwanck 74.03
18. Marika Lendl 74.06
19. Ki-Shui Liao 74.19
20. Stefanie Page 74.47
21. Lauren Espinosa 74.76
22. Jennifer Pandolfi 74.78
23. Tiffany Chudy 74.99
24. Stephanie Kono 75.07
25. So-Hyun Park 75.07

- For complete rankings, visit www.golfweek.com /juniorgolf/ratings/girls.asp

RECRUITING CENTRAL
We frequently hear from NCAA Division I coaches questioning why they receive so many letters from high school golfers who do not have the game to compete at that level. In this information age it's not too difficult to check the media or Web sites to see what scores are being shot at many of the higher profile schools. If the scores don't fit, don't write to the coach.

This is a good time to remind juniors about the opportunities at NAIA schools. The NAIA has 175 men's and 116 women's golf teams at their four-year member institutions. At the NAIA Men's Championship last week, the top-4 players finished under par for four rounds.

Most NAIA men's and women's golf programs offer golf scholarships, and the coaches are eager to hear from strong players who don't quite have the game for an NCAA Division I.
- For more college recruiting information, visit the Ping American College Golf Guide at www.collegegolf.com/.

THIS WEEK IN GOLFWEEK
Check the June 5 issue of Golfweek for a detailed look at the split between Tiger Woods and coach Butch Harmon.

POLL QUESTION
Do you think the U.S. Golf Association should have granted 14-year-old amateur Michelle Wie a special exemption into the 59th U.S. Women's Open?

Have an interesting junior note to report, or know an interesting junior we can profile? E-mail Golfweek assistant editor Graham Elliott at gelliott@golfweek.com.

Have a question about the Golfweek/Titleist Performance Index? E-mail rankings@golfweek.com.