boys and girls conducted each summer have produced future pros as well. Leonard Thompson from nearby Lumberton won the Donald Ross Memorial Junior in 1963 and ’64. Chip Beck from Fayetteville won in 1972 and ’73. Donna Andrews won the 1984 North & South Junior Girls and Beth Bauer won in 1996. Woody Austin won the 1981 Junior Boys and Hunter Mahan was the 1999 champion. The USGA has conducted three U.S. Amateurs and one Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst, with Labron Harris Jr. winning in 1962 and later collecting two PGA Tour wins; Danny Lee prevailing in 2008 and notching one win each on the PGA, European and Nationwide Tours; and Vicki Goetze winning in 1989 before launching a 15year LPGA career. In recent years, the North & South Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Kids Golf have been the notable incubators for future stardom. U.S. Kids Golf, headquartered at Longleaf Golf & Family Club in Southern Pines, runs the U.S. Kids National and World competitions each July and August. Allisen Corpuz, who won the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in July, was medalist in the 2019 North & South, runnermost disappointing loss he’d ever had. He answered that no, finishing second in the U.S. Kids World was more heartbreaking. Indeed, collecting a Putter Boy trophy or other piece of hardware by winning at Pinehurst is a special moment. “Some of my proudest moments were the scores I shot at Pinehurst,” says Curtis Strange, who won the North & South in 1975 and ‘76. “When you go to a place like Pinehurst and do well, it means so much more than winning on a golf course that no one’s ever heard about. My name will be on that plaque in the clubhouse for a long time.” Lee Pace is a freelance golf writer who has written about Sandhills area golf for four decades and is the author of club histories about Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Mid Pines, Pine Needles and Forest Creek. up in 2020 and semifinalist in 2021. She won the U.S. Kids three times in different age brackets. Brittany Lang, Morgan Pressel and Yani Tseng were an impressive triumvirate of North & South winners from 2003-05, with Lang posting two LPGA wins, Pressel four and Tseng 15. Similarly, Danielle Kang (2011 winner with six LPGA wins), Austin Ernst (2012, three wins) and Ally Ewing (2013, three wins) used Pinehurst as resume builders before professional success. Since first conducting its national and international championships in Sandhills area courses in 2006, U.S. Kids has seen a slew of future stars come through, including Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Lexi Thompson. Later as a professional, Thomas barely missed winning a major and was asked if that was the
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