Bethpage State Park's Black Course to host Polo Golf Junior Classic in June By Brian Weis

Bethpage State Park's Black Course to host Polo Golf Junior Classic in June

Tradition-rich venue to host 43rd edition of only match play event on AJGA schedule

By Brian Weis

The American Junior Golf Association's Polo Golf Junior Classic will be conducted at the historic Bethpage State Park on the Black Course from June 27 to July 1.

The Polo Golf Junior Classic, now in its 43rd year, is steeped in history from noteworthy past champions to famed host venues. The annual match play event is the only true match play format event on the AJGA schedule. All but two years of the 43-year history have been played as match play. The top-32 boys and top-32 girls compete over four days in a round robin match play tournament styled after the PGA TOUR's World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.

"Bethpage State Park is proud to host the 43rd edition of the Polo Golf Junior Classic at the legendary Bethpage Black, a jewel in our state park system," New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said. "We are excited to showcase these talented young golfers here at our exceptional public golf course and expect that the display of their skills on one of the nation's most difficult courses will inspire more youth to discover the thrill of golf."

Some noteworthy past champions of the Polo Golf Junior Classic include, in the Boys Division, Tiger Woods, Trevor Immelman, Stewart Cink, Brian Harman, Morgan Hoffman, Akshay Bhatia and Matthew NeSmith. On the Girls Division side, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Grace Park, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Ariya Jutanugarn, Heather Farr, Rachel Heck and Sierra Brooks.

2021 champion Nicholas Dunlap of Huntsville, Alabama, went on from the Polo Golf Junior Classic to win the 73rd U.S. Junior Amateur at The Country Club of North Carolina a month later and earn Rolex Junior Player of the Year honors for 2021.

The Polo Golf Junior Classic has occurred annually since 1978, with a variety of host venues over its tenure. Noteworthy past host courses have included Liberty National Golf Club, PGA National Resort and Spa - Champion & Fazio Courses, Sea Island Golf Club, and Innisbrook Resort- Copperhead Course.

The 2022 move of the Polo Golf Junior Classic to Bethpage Black marks the first time the event is being played on a public course. The Black Course is rich in tradition having hosted three major championships, two FedEx Cup playoff events and the upcoming 2025 Ryder Cup.

The course which opened in 1936 as part of the Depression Era public-works project that build Bethpage State Park burst onto the scene in 2002 with its first hosting of the U.S. Open. It was this year that a young Tiger Woods, who won the Polo Golf Junior Classic in 1991, captured his second U.S. Open title. The Black Course again hosted the U.S. Open in 2009 where AJGA alumni Lucas Glover took home the title. The 'extremely difficult course' recommended 'only for highly skilled golfers' also hosted the 2012 and 2016 FedEx Cup playoff event, The Barclays. AJGA alumni Brooks Koepka won the 2019 PGA Championship when the course hosted its first major in ten years.

"We are so excited to bring the longstanding Polo Golf Junior Classic to Bethpage Black," said AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin. "The partnership we have with Polo Ralph Lauren combined with the rich history of Bethpage Black is going to be a special treat for the field in 2022 and we cannot wait to help promote junior golf at such a historic venue as Bethpage State Park."

All proceeds from the 2022 Polo Golf Junior Classic will benefit the Natural Heritage Trust. For over 50 years, the Natural Heritage Trust has worked to preserve New York's public lands and enhance programs at state parks and historic sites. Learn more at https://www.naturalheritagetrust.org/.

This event also seeks to give back and grow the junior golf program at Bethpage State Park. The event will include an opportunity for junior golfers to interact with the top-64 juniors in the country through volunteering.

For more information about the Polo Golf Junior Classic please contact Emma Varela (evarela@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department.

Learn more about the AJGA through Facebook, Twitter or at www.ajga.org.

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Revised: 03/16/2022 - Article Viewed 4,016 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.