Junior Stars Shine in USGA’s Return to The Monster

What Happened

The USGA spends a lot of time focusing on the player journey, the unique position the Association is in to provide national championships for the world’s best players for their entire careers, from their junior days through their senior years. For the top juniors in the world who took on Oakland Hills today for the first round of the 76th U.S. Junior Amateur, they were not only treated to fantastic conditions for this week’s event, but a true preview into that long-term journey, with thousands of spectators onsite and course conditions similar to what they can expect at the 2034 U.S. Open.

“That’s the thing with these USGA events, they are supposed to test you,” said Blades Brown, 17, of Nashville, Tenn, who shot a 4-under 66 on the North Course on Monday. “You have to be patient. They are supposed to expose the holes in your game. Luckily today, I was able to fill those holes, and play the way I know I can play.”

Brown’s 66 was good enough for T-3 after Round 1, when half the field played the South Course, which will be used for match play beginning Wednesday, and half played the North Course. The Monster, the South Course’s nickname given by 1951 U.S. Open champion Ben Hogan, played 1.6 strokes harder.

Taking advantage of the tamer course, Tyler Watts, 16, of Huntsville, Ala., and Mason Howell, 17, of Thomasville, Ga., fired a 5-under 65 to pace the field. Watts, a member of the USGA’s new U.S. National Junior Team alongside Brown, rebounded from an opening hole bogey to shoot 6-under over his next 12 holes.

“The putter decided to cooperate today,” said Watts. “It hasn’t been working for the past couple of months, so it came out of nowhere. I’ve always loved faster greens [like they have here]. I think when you don’t have to hit the ball as hard it’s a lot easier to get it started on line. So for me, not really having to take a swing at it with my putter helps me have more confidence.”

Howell, who played in the afternoon round through spurts of rain, is a rising junior at Brookwood School in Georgia playing in his third U.S. Junior Amateur. Last month, he finished T-5 at the Western Junior.

“The last two years, I’ve been behind the eight ball after the first round so to get out ahead, it feels great.” said Howell, who birdied his final hole of the day after a remarkable shot to about six feet from the fairway bunker of the North Course’s 9th hole. “I have to give this round to my putter. It definitely saved me a couple of times. The hole felt a little bigger today. Anytime I got into trouble, I just tried to play smart and get myself out.”

On the South Course, the round of the day belonged to 17-year-old Mack Edwards, of Charlotte, N.C., who carded a 4-under 66 with six birdies. The University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill verbal commit is playing in his first U.S. Junior, after waiting around all day during Round 1 of the 2021 U.S. Junior at the Country Club of North Carolina as an onsite alternate, who did not make the field.

“I feel like it was steady golf today,” said Edwards, who attends Woodberry Forest School, a boarding school in central Virginia. “I hit a lot of fairways. I think I missed maybe two, and hitting fairways is so key out here because the rough is so thick. You just don't want to be in there.”

The second and final round of stroke play will take place on Tuesday, beginning at 7 a.m. EDT off the first and 10th tees of both the North and South Courses. Following the round, the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers for match play, which begins on Wednesday. A playoff, if necessary, to decide the final spots is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Match play continues from Wednesday until Saturday’s 36-hole championship match. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend. Fan information, including parking, can be found at usga.org.

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