Several junior golfers from Savannah and the Coastal Empire will tee it up at the 2023 US Kids Golf World Teen Championship being played on multiple courses in Pinehurst, N.C., July 27-29.
Junior golfers ages 13-18 from around the world compete to qualify for the World Teen Championship played on seven championship courses in the Pinehurst area. Following the three-day championship, the top players compete in the Van Horn, a one-day best ball tournament contested on famed Pinehurst No. 2. Junior Golf Scoreboard, the American Junior Golf Association and the World Amateur Golf Ranking recognize the World Teen Championship as a ranked event.
In the Boys 13 age group, Savannah's Kohki Maeda will compete at Longleaf Golf and Family Club. Maeda is a rising 8th grader at Savannah Country Day School who recenlty won the Savannah Junior Golf Association's Matt Warren Championship at the Savannah Golf Club.
In Boys 14, Benedictine incoming freshman Jack Weeks will compete at Pinehurst #8. Weeks won the 2023 Savannah Middle School Golf Championship and qualified for the 2023 Georgia Junior Amateur played earlier this summer at Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Ga.
In Boys 15-18, Savannah's Braden Schaible will compete on Pinehurst #4 and Pinehurst #2, the site of the 2024 United States Open Championship. Schnaible, a rising high school junior, also qualfiied for the Georgia Junior Amateur and finisdhed T3 at the 2022 Hurricane Junior Golf Tour Boys 16-18 Tournament of Champions played at the Walt Disney World Palms Course.
In Girls 13, Savannah's Maya Lilja will compete at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club. Lilja also recent won the Girls division at the SJGA Matt Warren Championship and has won twice on the Georgia State Golf Association Junior Golf Tour this summer.
In Girls 14, Richmond Hill's Alexa Mohler will play Pinehurst #6. Mohler has won tournaments on the GSGA Junior Tour and Hurricane Junior Golf Tour this summer, and she most recenlty finsihed T2 at the HJGT St. Simon's Junior Open played at the King & Prince Golf Course.
In Girls 15-18, Savannah's Ava Cottis, a rising junior at Savannah Christian Preparatory School, will compete on Pinehurst #5. Cottis has been a member of Savannah Christian's two-time Georgia High School Association Class AAA state championship team in 2022 and 2023, and she earned a Top 20 finish at the AJGA Mizuno/Keith MItchell Junior Championship played in July at the Sea Island Resort Plantation Course.
Follow the results from all age group at World Teen Championship Leaderboard beginning July 27.
Prep Sports Report golf coverage is presented by Bacon Park Golf Course, Savannah's only true municipal golf course! Located in the Heart of Midtown and and designed by legendary golf architect Donald Ross in 1926, Bacon Park Golf Course is Savannah's favorite golf destination. It's always a beautiful day to play at Bacon Park!
