If you had some free time this past weekend between your rounds of golf, you probably saw a 22-year-old win the Valero Texas Open. Ashkay Bahtia is only 22 years old and with his win this past Sunday, he will be playing in the Masters this coming weekend. If Ashkay Bahtia sounds familiar, it is because ten years ago, he won the 2014 Drive, Chip, and Putt competition that takes place in Augusta, Georgia for junior golfers. Maybe in ten years, someone who is playing this weekend on the Hurricane Tour could be playing at Augusta. With that being said, let’s look at our full slate of junior golf tournaments over this hallowed weekend in the sport. The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour will be hosting six tournaments in six different states across the U.S.
Hartford Kickoff at Farmington Woods
We start our tournament preview in Avon, Connecticut at the Farmington Woods Golf Club. Farmington Woods is known for its beauty as the course winds through a condo development in Avon, Connecticut, which is in almost the exact center of the state. Avon is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from New York City. The course reviews describe Farmington as being a slightly bit challenging, but as the old saying goes “iron sharpens iron.” Be wary of the 4th and 12th holes on the course, as there are challenging water hazards. A couple of tough doglegs are sprinkled throughout the course, as well. It should be a fun and challenging weekend in beautiful Avon.
Looking ahead at the weather, it will be a pleasant weekend out in Avon. Saturday will be mostly cloudy with a high of 55 degrees. The wind will be blowing a bit, hitting a high of 16 mph throughout the day. Sunday will be a little nicer with the temperatures rising to 60 degrees with sunshine supposed to be poking through the clouds throughout the day. The winds will be sitting around the same speeds for Sunday as they were for Saturday. Keep that in mind on the course, depending on which way you are shooting. Best of luck on a beautiful and challenging course at Farmington Woods this weekend.
Charlotte Spring Junior Open at Mooresville
Looking at the second tournament of the weekend, we travel to North Carolina to Mooresville Golf Course in Mooresville, North Carolina. The Mooresville Golf Course has seen favorable reviews and was described as having plush fairways and smooth greens. The first hole at Mooresville throws a water hazard at you and is a considerably long hole. But get past that first hole, and the course will reward you with a few less hazards. You can scout ahead by looking at the course’s drone tour on their website. Looking at the course overall, it should provide some steep competition for our golfers this weekend.
On the weather side of things, it is looking like a beautiful weekend in North Carolina. Saturday promises to be sunny with a high of 72 degrees and light winds topping out at 15 mph. Sunday will have some cloud cover, but the temperature will rise to 81 degrees. Make sure to pack the sunscreen with the UV Index being an 8 out of 11 on both days. A great course with great weather waits for you in North Carolina this weekend.
Cantigny Junior Open
The great state of Illinois is the host for the next tournament on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. The Cantigny Golf Course in Wheaton, Illinois is the host club for this weekend’s tournament, and it is by far one of the larger clubs that HJGT has a tournament at. Cantigny has 3 different courses, each is nine holes, and each one has its own set of challenges. The course is known for its bent grass tees, greens, and fairways and its assortment of water hazards as well. The three courses provide 12 lakes, two creeks, and over 70 bunkers scattered throughout. Each of the three courses is a par 36 with a total length of 3545 yards. The two courses being used for the Hurricane Tour this weekend are the lakeside and the hillside courses. The hillside course is the shortest of the three courses but boasts some of the toughest holes on the course. The 6th green is completely surrounded by water and the 7th green is two-tiered, which provides enough challenges as it is. The lakeside course may seem as challenging as the hillside, but there is a reason it is called lakeside. The lakeside course has four different lakes that come into play on six different holes. Bring your patience to Cantigny this weekend.
Looking at the weather for Wheaton, Illinois this weekend, it is shaping up to be a gorgeous weekend. Saturday is shaping up to be a perfect day with very little to no cloud cover and the temperature reaching 67 degrees. Sunday warms up with the high being 72 degrees but there will be clouds present throughout the day. Enjoy the beautiful weather and challenging courses in Wheaton this weekend.
P.B. Dye Golf Club Junior Open
We go back over to the east coast to Ijamsville, Maryland. The P.B. Dye Golf Club will host the Hurricane Tour this weekend. The P.B. Dye Golf Club is named after the course architect P.B. (Paul Burke) Dye. P.B. has been instrumental in the creation of over 30 golf courses throughout his life. This particular course opened in 1999 and is carved from 250 acres of rolling hills and woodlands which gives it a more secluded feel. The pictures on the course’s website depict a stunning course filled with trees and a few water hazards here and there. The reviews of the course make it out to be a challenging course and some golfers seem to struggle, but our juniors are certainly up for the challenge.
While this course may be one of the tougher ones on the tour, expect decent weather to help with any difficulty. Saturday will have partly cloudy skies and a high of 62 degrees. It will be a bit windy, so keep that in mind out there. Sunday will warm up more with temperatures expected to hit 71 degrees, but the cloud cover will stay for Sunday. Overall, it will be a fun and challenging weekend in Maryland.
The Virtues Junior Open
This next golf course has a list of accolades attached to it. It won Golf Digest’s award for Best New Upscale Public Course of 2000. The Virtues Golf Club is the #1 public course in Ohio and #73 in America’s Greatest Public Courses by Golf Digest 2019-20. The Virtues Golf Club is located just 40 miles from downtown Columbus, Ohio. This course is a par 72 with wide rolling fairways and immaculate greens. According to the club website, the course winds its way gracefully through the property, with many tree preservations, testing every shot with uphill, downhill, and sidehill lies. The reviews of the course paint it as picturesque and a great place to play and that is one of the reasons that the Hurricane Tour is having a tournament there this weekend.
Looking at the weather for the weekend, it looks like great conditions for golfing. Saturday will have mostly sunny skies and a high of 61 degrees. The wind will be blowing a little with gusts topping out at 20 mph. Sunday will warm up with a high of 70 degrees. The clouds will be rolling in and out throughout the day and the wind will not be as strong. It should be a very enjoyable experience and weekend in Nashport, Ohio.
Walt Disney Classic at Lake Buena Vista Presented by AdventHealth
The Walt Disney Lake Buena Vista Golf Course is the host for the last tournament of the weekend down in Florida. The Walt Disney Classic at Lake Buena Vista is presented by AdventHealth. The course can be characterized by small, slightly elevated, well-protected bunkered greens that force the golfer to make accurate shots to score well. It is a beautiful course that has hosted the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, and USGA events. This course has some wrinkles to it as well with the 7th green being an island surrounded by water. Overall, the course is beautiful, and you may need to take some photos before leaving after the weekend. The reviews of the course seemed mostly favorable, so our golfers should be in for some low scores.
Looking at the weather for South Florida this weekend, it is going to be sunny and hot. Saturday will be a high of 83 degrees with no clouds and a very light wind. Sunday will see some clouds roll in, but temperatures rise to 85 degrees during the day. Light winds will be seen again throughout the day. It will be a nice hot weekend for golf in Orlando.
