Scottish boys champion Eric McIntosh bids to win Junior Orange Bowl in Florida this week

FROM EXILED SCOT

DAVID MACKINTOSH

Junior Orange Bowl International Tournament Press Officer

Welcome to the 53rd Junior Orange Bowl International Golf tournament, once again returning to the famed Donald Ross-designed course at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Florida.

Since 1964 this 72-hole stroke play event for age 18-and-under golfers from around the world has been recognised as one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments in junior golf.

JOBI alumni include major champions Tiger Woods, Nick Price, José María Olazábal, Andy North, Craig Stadler, Mark Calcavecchia, Bob Tway, and many others who went on to notable PGA Tour careers, Hal Sutton, Gary Koch, Willie Wood, Dudley Hart, Billy Mayfair, Ryuji Imada, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Na, Camilo Villegas to name a few.

Scores of JOBI Girls competitors also have become successful LPGA members, such as past-champions Michelle McGann, Christie Kerr, Grace Park, Christina Kim, Julieta Granada, Lexi Thompson, Paula Creamer and Brooke Henderson.

As customary, our field pits young stars from around the world against the some of the best American juniors, top national talent nominated by their respective golf associations from countries as divergent as Zimbabwe, Iceland, Scotland, Switzerland, South Korea, the Netherlands and Australia.

Kristoffer Reitan from Norway returns to defend the title, alongside 2014 winner Joaquin Niemann from Chile, each seeking to become the first Boys repeat champion. Plenty of stern competition awaits, probable challengers including the 2016 Scottish Boys champion Eric McIntosh (pictured at top of article), Kaito Onishi from the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida., France’s Adrien Pendaries, a member of the European Junior Ryder Cup team, and Australia’s Karl Vilips.       

Top girl contenders include Canada’s Chloe Curry, (+2.9), Italy’s double-power of Emilie Paltrinieri (+3.2), the British Girls champion, and Alessia Nobilio (+3.5) and the extraordinarily talented 12-year old Alexa Pano, pictured left, who already plays to a +2.1 handicap, from Lake Worth, Florida.

The 53^nd JOBI starts on Tuesday (Florida time). Join us daily at www.jrorangebowl.com/golf for live scoring and results or log on to www.scottishgolfview.com or www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk wherever you are in the world of golf

David Mackintosh - JOBI Press Officer

Past Winners

BOYS

1964 Richard Spears

1965 Allen Miller

1966 Jim Simon

1967 Tony Haderer

1968 Stacy Russell

1969 Gary Koch

1970 Dennis Sullivan

1971 Jim Haney

1972 Paul Rooker

1973 Jon Feinberg

1974 David Abell

1975 Bill May

1976 Willie Wood

1977 Mark Calcavecchia

1978 Tom Garner

1979 Marco Durante

1980 Adam Armagost

1981 Greg Weber

1982 Marc Pendares

1983 Miles McConnell

1984 Dean Refram

1985 Mangus Rosenback

1986 Eric Anderson

1987 Nicky Goetze

1988 Kevin Hammer

1989 Frederic Duger

1990 Chris Couch

1991 Tiger Woods

1992 Lewis Chitengwa

1993 Grady Girard

1994 Ryuji Imada

1995 Oliver David

1996 Boyd Summerhays

1997 Camilo Benedetti

1998 Yusaku Miyazato

1999 Camilo Villegas

2000 Kevin Na

2001 James Vargas

2002 Benjamin Alvarado

2003 Pablo Martin

2004 Chris Ward

2005 Ben Parker

2006 Sihwan Kim

2007 Sean Einhaus

2008 Mathias Schjoelberg

2009 Romain Wattel

2010 Max Rottlu­ff

2011 Juan Cerda

2012 Patrick Kelly

2013 Renato Paratore

2014 Joaquin Niemann

2015 Kristoffer Reitan

GIRLS

1977 Diane Headings

1978 Amy Benz

1979 Penny Hammel

1980 Kathy Johnston

1981 Tammy Towles

1982 Page Dunlap

1983 Tracy Kerdyk

1984 Catrin Nilsmark

1985 Michelle McGann

1986 Michelle McGann

1987 Vicky Goetze

1988 Sandrine Mendiburu

1989 Estefania Knuth

1990 Akiko Fukushima

1991 Kelle Booth

1992 Kelle Booth

1993 Grace Park

1994 Christie Kerr

1995 Han Hee-Won

1996 Grace Park

1997 Elizabeth Bauer

1998 Jimin Kang

1999 Naree Wongluckiet (Song)

2000 Aree Wongluckiet (Song)

2001 Christina Kim

2002 In-Bee Park

2003 Esther Choe

2004 Julieta Granada

2005 Angela Park

2006 Maude-Aimee LeBlanc

2007 Jung-Eun Han

2008 Victoria Tanco

2009 Alexis Thompson

2010 Ariya Jutanugarn

2011 Hyo Joo Kim

2012 Maria Torres

2013 Brooke Henderson

2014 Juwon Jeong

2015 Albane Valenzuela