Winn Challenge
Rewards Ranked Players
The second annual Winn Junior Cup Challenge brought eight of the top golfers in the
AJGA’s Polo Golf Rankings to Rio Secco Golf
Club in Henderson, Nev., for a unique two-day
event, Jan. 7-8, highlighted by LPGA Tour player
Natalie Gulbis and swing coach Butch Harmon.
In the East vs. West battle, two boys and
two girls residing east of the Mississippi River
were paired with Harmon, while their counterparts from the west were teamed with Gulbis.
Competing in multiple team formats, the West
prevailed, 16-13, with the winning points coming from the final day’s singles competition.
The weekend started with a session at the
Butch Harmon School of Golf, where each
junior worked one on one with Harmon.
“The Winn Junior Cup Challenge has been so
much fun for me,” Harmon said. “It’s a joy to see
the quality of players that the AJGA has put out
and the Winn Junior Cup Challenge brings the
cream of the crop out here every year. It’s been
wonderful to watch how good they are and watch
them go off to college and chase their dreams.”
Amidst friendly banter, the East took an ear-
ly 5-0 lead after a 60-64 victory in a nine-hole
scramble. In the afternoon four-ball, the East’s
Cody Proveaux (Leesville, S.C.) and Shun Yat
Hak (Lake Mary, Fla.) were dormie- 2 over the
West’s Brad Dalke (Dallas) and AJ McInerney
(Henderson, Nev.), but Dalke and McInerney
won the final two holes and halved the match,
giving each team 2. 5 points.
On the girls’ side, the West’s Alison Lee (Va-
lencia, Calif.) and Gabriella Then (Rancho Cu-
camonga, Calif.) secured five points with a 1-up
win over the East’s Shannon Aubert (Reunion,
Fla.) and Karen Chung (Livingston, N.J.).
