Alan Murray had an idea.
It happened on the spur of a moment nine months ago at the annual coaching convention in Las Vegas last December. Murray, the men’s coach at Washington, needed one final team to complete the field for the Huskies’ home opener this weekend at the Sahalee Players Championship outside of Seattle. It’s one of the top men’s tournaments of the fall slate, but this year, there will be a unique twist to it.
Six members of the U.S. Junior National team will compete at Sahalee, five as a team and one as an individual, alongside 11 of the top college golf programs from across the country. Top-10 teams in the field include Texas, Florida and Arizona State, but the final team will be comprised of some of the top juniors in the country, with former USC head coach and Pepperdine assistant Chris Zambri leading them over the 54-hole event.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Zambri said.
The six players on the team will be Ronin Banerjee, Luke Colton, Phillip Dunham, Jessy Huebner, Tyler Mawhinney and Tyler Watts. Mawhinney won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball earlier this summer. Watts captured the Elite Amateur Golf Series title last month, earning the most points over the seven-event summer series. Colton is considered among the best players in junior golf.
Now, the soon-to-be college players will come together and get a chance to take on some of the best teams in college this weekend. The Sahalee Players Championship begins Saturday with a 36-hole day before Sunday’s final round.
Murray got the idea to invite the U.S. Junior National Team after Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas told Murray the Demon Deacons were playing in a different tournament this fall, leaving one slot available in the 12-team field. Within a matter of minutes, he saw Zambri, and the lightbulb went off in his head.
The Taiwan and Swedish National Teams, the latter of which featured a young Ludvig Aberg, had competed previously in Washington’s Husky Invitational. So, why not give the U.S. National Development Program a chance to compete?
“I’m pretty sure this is the first collegiate tournament that’s ever going to have a U.S. National Team playing,” Murray said. “So it was an opportunity for the tournament to set a little bit of history. Everyone that hosts a tournament is trying so hard to put on the best show possible and get the strongest field possible and do something unique. And this was kind of all of those things rolled into one.”
The hardest part of the national team being able to play in the tournament was getting it approved. There is a process for it to happen, though, it’s just a lengthy one.
Murray had to work with his compliance team at Washington. He and Zambri also had conversations with John Baldwin at the NCAA. Eventually, everything was set. The U.S. National Junior Team was officially in the field, and this weekend, they’ll try to take down some of college golf’s best.
“This opportunity has been hugely interesting and exciting to all these kids,” Zambri said. “Like the response was really strong from everybody who’s coming like, ‘How cool is this? Can’t wait to do it.'”
Murray said coaches of other teams in the field have been supportive of the decision, which shouldn’t be surprising. Most of the juniors competing at Sahalee have played alongside the best college players in the field during the summer months, whether it be at the U.S. Amateur or other Elite Amateur Golf Series events.
But now, Banerjee, Colton, Dunham, Huebner, Mawhinney and Watts will all play for one another this weekend and give them a preview of what college golf is like.
“One of the things that I think that we’re always working towards is trying to get the young players to understand what’s required at the higher levels,” Zambri said, “and this will be a really good opportunity to convey some of those points.”
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