The next generation of golf shines with the first 2-time Junior Invitational champions

While the golf world’s attention is focused on the Players Championship this week, another elite tournament was taking place about 300 miles north of TPC Sawgrass: the Junior Invitational, held annually at Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, SC

The tournament is ultra-exclusive, offering only a few dozen invitations to the world’s top young amateurs: 36 boys and 24 girls, who compete over 72 holes of stroke play.

Sage Valley location just 17 miles northeast of Augusta National has helped the tournament develop a Masters-like reputation for young players, complete with the presentation of a gold jacket for winners.

Past champions of the prestigious tournament read like a who’s who of established stars in men’s and women’s collegiate and professional golf. In its 15-year history, winners have included Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia, Joaquin Niemann and Anna Davis. The Sage Valley girls race was added in 2022, while the boys’ history dates back to 2011.

This year, two rising stars marked their entries into the tournament’s illustrious history. Asterisk Talley won her second gold jacket in three years with an eight-under-par total (69-75-69-67).

On the boys’ side, Miles Russell, the world’s top-ranked junior, became the first player in tournament history to win back-to-back years. His 15-under total (64-70-72-67) gave him a three-shot cushion over his nearest competitor.

Both Talley and Russell are the first players to win the Junior Invitational twice.

“It feels great. It gives me a lot of confidence on such a difficult course to be able to do it twice.” Talley said Golf week. “It’s really nice to win here again. I love the atmosphere here, so it’s nice to win again.”

“It’s pretty special,” Russell agreed. “Especially in a place like this that has so much class. You’re just lucky to be here. So to be able to do that with each other is quite an honor.”

Talley graduates high school next year and has verbally committed to play collegiately at Stanford. Russell is currently committed to play collegiately at Florida State, along with Charlie Woods.