Welcome to the The Opening Tee Shot

Thanks for joining us this week! We are back from a whirlwind weekend in Houston, where our son competed in the AJGA Simplify. He didn't have quite the results he was personally hoping for, but it was an amazing experience for him nonetheless. I'm sharing more below.

Despite the rainy cold weather, this week we're bringing you:

🏆  An AJGA Simplify recap.

📰 Junior golf tournaments and news.

💡 A brand new junior golfer spotlight.

-Sara and Chili

Hole #2 at The Club at Carlton Woods, Tom Fazio Championship course, in The Woodlands, Texas.

⌛ Recap of the AJGA Simplify

As I mentioned, this week Hamilton competed in the AJGA Simplify Tournament, which was held at the Carlton Woods Creekside Course, in The Woodlands, Texas.

This was Hammy's first time playing in it, but it was obvious from the start that the tournament is so special for many reasons. One of its standout traditions is that each player honors of one of our country's fallen soldiers. The entire tournament centers around hearing from members of the military and their experiences of overcoming extreme hardships. 

One night they had a particularly powerful guest speaker, Chad Robichaux, who spoke at length about his severe struggles with PTSD. Though he tried many different ways of coping with it, it was finally through his Christian faith he realized he could use his experiences to help others who were also struggling. If you'd really like to hear a deep dive into his story about his struggle with PTSD and other major impacts on his life, then check out this interview on the Sam Ryan Show (though I have to warn you, it's quite a long interview and it does cover some mature themes).

The amazing guest speaker was just one of the many highlights of the tournament. We also want to congratulate Miles Russell on an incredible win!

 📰 Junior golf tournaments and news

• The internet is buzzing around the news that Charlie Woods and Kai Trump will be playing in the Sage Valley Junior Invitational this March.
• Many congratulations to Asterisk Talley too, who won the The Fortinet Stanford Invitational hosted by Rose Zhang.
• This explainer on Process vs. Outcome Goals from the Cal Women’s Golf Coach Sofie Aagaard, might be useful for your junior golfer.  
• Listen to Junior Golf Hub's latest podcast, where they talk college golf recruitment with Brian Sharp, the Head Coach of Virginia Tech men's golf team.

⌛ Junior golfer spotlight

This week's junior spotlight features AJ Salierno, a Class of 2026 standout from Newnan, GA. 

We met AJ a few years ago, when he was paired with our son at an SJGT tournament and we've been keeping up with his progress ever since. He's a big time Auburn fan and he shares great videos on Instagram. Make sure you follow along too!

What is your graduation year? 

2026. 

How did you start playing golf? 

My dad brought me out to play and i kept going with it.

Do you have advice for anyone going through recruiting?

Recruiting is a lot of fun and you just have to stick with it and not stress yourself out.

Do you set yearly goals?

I always set goals.

What is your best achievement in golf? 

I try to achieve record ball speeds and scoring goals.

What part of your game are you working on now?

I am working hard on gaining speed and strength in the weight room and I am also putting a lot of time into putting practice.

Who is your golf instructor?

My swing coach is @bmlovelady

Is there some advice you can give other on getting prepared for tournaments? 

Always have a set plan to practice for tournaments and don't leave the course until you accomplish those plans.

What's your favorite restaurant?  

Favorite restaurant is any Italian restaurant. Not picky with Italian.

What other hobbies do you like? 

When im not golfing I love to fish and I love church summer camp! I also love watching and going to Auburn sports events!

Is there anything else you would like people to know about you?

People should know that I play golf for the Glory of God.

Did you know we post all the videos of our Junior Golf Spotlights on YouTube? Subscribe to our channel and you'll see these amazing juniors in action!

Thank you to UP Consulting for your continued support as a sponsor!

Thank you for reading along with us this week! ⛳

Do you know another junior golf parent who would like this newsletter? You can send this link.

Don't forget, you can always hit reply to this newsletter or email us at sara@juniorgolfplaybook.com.

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