Tiger Woods visited Oakland Hills Golf Club last month to watch his son, 15-year-old Charlie compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur. Charlie did not advance out of the 36-hole medal play portion of the tournament, but larger than normal crowds turned out to watch the action.
Normally the crowds at a U.S. Junior Amateur are not large, just a few friends and family attend. Young Charlie’s group had such a large following of fans that gallery ropes were placed on each hole as his group made their way around the course.
We have watched Charlie compete with his dad on television in the PNC Father/Child event. We have seen him hit bombs off the tees and be an integral part of the two-man team.
Charlie has won numerous junior events and earlier this year his high school team won the Florida High School State Championship.
The younger Woods found Oakland Hills to be a challenge posting rounds of 82-80 and finishing well outside the top 64 players that went on to the match play portion of the tournament.
The U.S. Junior Amateur includes two rounds of medal play to determine the 64 players that will play match play to decide the winner.
Blades Brown, from Nashville, fired two rounds of 66-68 to finish six-under par besting Huntsville, Alabama’s Tyler Watts by a single shot to claim the top seed heading into match play.
Charlie Woods didn’t prevail this time, but in golf, as in life, we learn much more in defeat than in victory. Plus, he will have two more chances at the U.S. Junior Amateur before he turns 18.
Tiger Woods Sets Record That Will Never Be Broken
If you are hosting a trivia contest and want to stump most people simply ask, How many USGA events did Tiger Woods win before he became a professional golfer?
They say that records are made to be broken, but here is a record that will never come close to being challenged.
From 1991-1996, Tiger won six consecutive USGA National Championships.
In 1991, as a 15-year-old in his first USGA Championship, Tiger defeated Brad Zwetschke at Bay Hill Golf Club.
In 1992, Woods secured his second consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur title at Wollaston Golf Club in Milton, Massachusetts. Woods found himself two-down with just five holes to play, but rallied to win the match on the 18th hole.
The following year, 1993, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur at Waverly Country Club in Oregon. He defeated another future PGA Tour winner Ohio-native, Ryan Armour. Woods had also defeated Armour in the 1992 semi-finals.
Before the age of 18, Tiger had won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles a record that will never be equaled, but he was not finished.
Playing in the U.S. Amateur for the first time in 1994, Woods defeated Trip Kuehne at TPC Sawgrass for his fourth consecutive USGA National title. Kuehne went on to be a three-time All-American and 1995 Ben Hogan Award winner. As an amateur, he was a three-time Walker Cup player and qualified for four U.S. Opens and two Masters.
In 1995, Woods took down Buddy Marucci, an accomplished amateur golfer, 2-up at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island to clinch the title and give him five USGA National championships in a row.
In 1996, at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Amateur title and sixth consecutive USGA National championship.
From 1991 to 1996 Tiger amassed six consecutive USGA National titles. Three U.S. Junior Amateurs and three consecutive U.S. Amateurs.
With the amazing things that Tiger Woods accomplished in his golf career, these six consecutive USGA titles as an amateur are something that will never be repeated.
