Feb. 21—The Junior Invitational at Sage Valley will soon be returning to Graniteville, bringing with it 60 of the world’s best junior golfers.
The names of those 36 boys and 24 girls competing for the golden jackets will be released closer to the March 19 start date, but two names have been confirmed in the meantime.
In the boys’ field will be Charlie Woods, son of 15-time major champion Tiger Woods. And in in the girls’ field will be Kai Trump, granddaughter of President Donald Trump.
A tournament spokesperson confirmed Friday that both will be competing at Sage Valley Golf Club, which will bring a huge boost of name recognition to an already star-studded championship.
They’ll be competing alongside players like defending champions Asterisk Talley (ranked No. 1 in the American Junior Golf Association’s girls’ rankings) and Giovanni Binaghi (12th in the boys’), plus dozens more of the world’s top-ranked juniors.
Charlie Woods, 16, has played in front of big crowds and TV audiences alongside his dad in the PNC Championship, and recently he’s appeared on television supporting — and sometimes mocking — Tiger as he and his Jupiter Golf Links teammates, including Aiken’s Kevin Kisner, compete in the simulated indoor TGL league.
Kai Trump, 17, recently announced on Instagram, where she has 1.6 million followers, that she’s signed an endorsement deal with TaylorMade, and she played with Rory McIlroy in the pro-am last week at The Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. Last August, she announced her commitment to the University of Miami.
What remains to be seen is if their famous family members will be in attendance. Tiger Woods has been on site before at the Junior Invitational, including serving as an honorary starter in 2016 for the second round.
The Junior Invitational is making a format change for this year’s edition, the 14th boys’ championship and the fourth for the girls, transitioning from a three-day, 54-hole tournament to a four-day, 72-hole championship.
Past boys’ champions include two-time Masters champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and PGA Tour winners Akshay Bhatia, Austin Eckroat and Joaquin Niemann, and on the short list of girls’ champions is former Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis.
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