Junior golf tourney features field of 270 in Ripon

Long before Bryson DeChambeau became the 2015 NCAA individual champion, he was a kid taking his first swings at Ripon’s Spring Creek Golf and Country Club.

DeChambeau, who later moved to Clovis with his parents and graduated from Clovis East High School, became a star at Southern Methodist and – today – is the hottest name in collegiate golf.

One of his building blocks was his victory in 2010 as a 16-year-old in the Junior Golf Association of Northern California Match Play Championship, when he took advantage of his familiarity with Spring Creek.

That tournament, the premier event each year on the JGANC calendar, begins its four-day run on Monday at the Ripon club. Judging by past results, another prominent future champion probably will tee it up.

“Bryson still says the JGANC is his home,” tournament director Ken Miller said. “And this tournament is our U.S. Open. Our whole board is here to run it.”

A capacity field of 270 begins Monday with 18 holes of medal play. From those scores, the top 32 boys and 16 girls will qualify for the championship flights in match play, and the rest will enter the nine age-group flights. The title matches will be contested on Thursday morning.

A special feature is a coaches seminar on Monday at 4 p.m. at the Spring Creek clubhouse. All parents and children are invited, as college coaches will discuss how parents can prepare their sons and daughters for scholarships. Scheduled to be there are Kari Williams of Rutgers, Meghan Thomason of Cal State Bakersfield, Jon Reehoorn of Oregon State, Michael Wilson of Washington, Emily Milberger of Fresno State, Cy Williams of UC Davis, Brad Lanning of Loyola Marymount and Ron Gross of Modesto Junior College.

This story was originally published June 5, 2015 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Junior golf tourney features field of 270 in Ripon."