PL P L
On the Green
Home Course Hopes by Helen Ross
I
t’s not often a golfer gets to play in a national championship on his home course. But that’s just the opportunity Jackson Van Paris has when the U.S. Junior Amateur is contested at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst July 19–24. Van Paris, who is one of the game’s top juniors, lives on the sixth hole of the Cardinal Course, one of the two at CCNC. The other is the Dogwood, which will host the match play portion of the championship while the 36-hole qualifying will be held on both courses. “I don’t think weird is the right word, but it’s going to be very different seeing all these kids that I know from junior golf, and that I see when I travel across the country for tournaments,” Van Paris said. “It’s going to be weird rolling out of my bed and looking out my window and seeing them playing my home golf course for basically our national championship. “I can’t wait. It’s obviously something I’m really excited for and it’s going to be fun no matter how I play. But it’ll be more fun if I can do something good in the tournament.” That’s not outside the realm of possibility, either. Van Paris, who will play golf at Vanderbilt in the fall, is competing in his third USGA championship, including the 2018 and ‘20 U.S. Amateurs. In fact, he won a first-round match in 2018—the youngest (at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 21 days) to do so since the great Bobby Jones in 1916. More recently, Van Paris won the 2020 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and successfully defended his title in February at the AJGA’s Simplify Boys Championship at the Club at Carlton Woods at The Woodlands, Texas, just before a crippling snowstorm hit the area. So, Van Paris will certainly be one of the favorites— on paper, as well as with the crowd. But Van Paris, who won his first big event as a 6-year-old at the U.S. Kids World Championship, enjoys playing in front of fans. He’s played all over the world, too—on the victorious U.S. Teams at the
54 ASOUTHERNSOPHISTICATION
Pinehurst native Jackson Van Paris will compete the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Country Club of North Carolina (his home course) in July.
2019 Junior Presidents Cup in Australia and at the 2017 Evian Junior Cup in France where he won the individual medal. So, don’t look for the seasoned 17-year-old to put any extra pressure on himself at CCNC during the Junior Am. “I’m looking at it as an opportunity to do something really cool in front of a bunch of people that I know,” Van Paris said. “It’s just going to be really fun. That’s probably the main thing that I’m kind of taking going into it. It’s just going to be a really fun week. “I’ll be out there playing my home course in a really big golf tournament with a bunch of friends and family out watching. ... So, I don’t view it as pressure or expectations. I’m kind of just viewing it as an opportunity.” The U.S. Junior Am is the third USGA championship to be held at CCNC. Hal Sutton, who went on to capture 14 PGA Tour titles, including the PGA, won the 1980 U.S. Amateur there while Doris Chen won the 2010 U.S. Girls’ Junior. As much as he’s played the Dogwood and Cardinal, Van Paris isn’t sure how much of a home course advantage he’ll have. The USGA will make the courses extremely challenging, and the conditions will be very different from what he sees day-in and day-out.
