I hope this newsletter finds you well and safe as the storm passes through..

As we forge forward into the 2022-2023 junior tournament season inching closer to bringing in the new year, we realize even more now that golf has taken on a new dimension and junior golf is getting tougher to schedule.

We are greatly thankful for the North Florida area clubs who support junior golf and the NFJGTOUR, but in many cases the mighty dollar speaks volumes and club owners have seized the moment, smiling all the way to the bank. In doing so some have overlooked their duty to grow area junior tournament golf for our future generation in golf. Thank you to the club owners who sacrificed one or even two days supporting junior golf.

Where cost once was $20 per walking junior player, it is now ranging from $20-$50. Tee times once started early-to-mid morning to get in as many juniors as possible, but now for clubs who can support the starting times are much later reducing playing time due to available light in the fall and winter months..

Before COVID the NFJGTOUR sponsored by the Northern Chapter PGA once had over 40 area clubs in support of growing the game beyond high school golf (October-August) and now just twenty-five clubs actively host events.

This season several of the supporting clubs will host multiple events to try and make up the difference. Four out of the 31 junior events scheduled (normally 36-40) will head north into southern Georgia, two will head south to the Ormond Beach area and several will reach westward towards Gainesville making our reach farther and of course costlier.

It's my guess, that one day, there will come a decline in this surge, so “Let us not overlook the trees spite the forest”. Our future in golf depends on supporting the current younger generation. Thanks again for doing so.

This season we are proud to welcome back to the NFJGTOUR Timuquana Country Club, Laurel Island Golf Club and Palm Harbor Golf Club to join our outstanding cast of supporting clubs. We will once again partner with the North Florida PGA, Florida Junior Tour, the American Junior Golf Foundation, JAGA and Notah Begay Junior Golf National Championship. Our juniors will compete for higher level golf opportunities as we have in the past and compete to earn their way on the “Florida Coast Ryder Cup” team and represent NFJGF in the Florida Junior Tour Team Championships. The final event will be the “TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS” – present and past.

We will continue to have six age and skill division, three “Tournament Series” (fall, spring, and summer) and host 12 two-day major events called the “North Florida Junior Players Tour”. During the season, our boys 13-18 divisions will compete in the “AJGA Junior Players Cup” to identify the player who will represent the NFJGF in the “Junior PLAYERS Championship” and our girls will compete for rights to the “First Coast Women’s Amateur” and the “St. Augustine Junior”.