Winner of the boys’ Junior Amateur Championship is Argyle Downes of Charles Town, the first golfer of color to win the Junior Amateur Championship in West Virginia. He said, “I’m very happy to win and really excited I get to play in the Amateur (WV Amateur) with the win.” He’s holding trophies for winning his age division and the overall boys’ championship.

The West Virginia Junior Amateur Championship, for players under 18 and conducted by the West Virginia Golf Association (WVGA), was won by two 15-year-old golfers today at Bridgeport Country Club.

Winner of the girls’ Junior Amateur Championship is Kerri-Anne Cook of Oceana. Cook defeated the tournament’s defending girls’ champion, Savannah Hawkins of Hurricane, in a sudden-death playoff. She said, “It was a fun day and I’m very happy to win.”

Winners of the Championship were Argyle Downes of Charles Town, in the boys’ championship division, and Kerri-Anne Cook of Oceana, in the girls’ championship division.  Downes is the first golfer of color to win the Junior Amateur Championship in West Virginia.

Cook defeated the tournament’s defending girls’ champion, Savannah Hawkins of Hurricane, in a sudden-death playoff.  Downes is the second First Tee-West Virginia participant to win a boys’ Junior Amateur Championship.  The first First-Tee boys’ Junior Amateur Championship winner was Isaiah Zaccheo in 2016; the first to win the girls’ Junior Amateur Championship was Mary Denny in 2019.

WVGA President Phil Reale said, ‘‘Today represents a watershed event for golf in West Virginia and especially the Callaway Junior Tour, formally the Top-Flite Junior Tour.  For the first time in the 37-year history of our junior tour, we have a young man of color as our champion.  He is Argyle Downes.  He is representative of our First Tee program in Jefferson County where he not only learned how to play the game, he learned the character qualities that make him an outstanding young man that we expect to see grow and mature as a golfer and a person.

“While we congratulate all of the division winners, the achievement by Argyle on this day encourages the WVGA to fully develop the First Tee-West Virginia program statewide.  It is a tremendous tool to not only introduce youngsters from all backgrounds to the game of golf but to provide tremendous character education and life skills at the same time.”  Reale went on to say, “The partnership between the WVGA and Bridgeport Country Club continues to set high standards for the game of golf in West Virginia. Without partners like Bridgeport Country Club, the WVGA would not be able to achieve all that it does and we thank them so much.”

Other division winners were:

  • Boys 12 and Under- Carson Higginbotham of Clarksburg (his second victory in this division);
  • Boys 13-14: Andrew Johnson of Fraziers Bottom;
  • Boys 15-16: Argyle Downes;
  • Boys 17-18: Bryson Beaver of Elkview and Anderson Goldman of Charleston (tie); and
  • Girls 10-14: Margaret Mildren of Vienna.

Click here for a complete list of today’s final scores.

For more information, please visit wvga.org.

Carson Higginbotham of Clarksburg won the boys’ 12 and under division, his second victory in this division.

Margaret Mildren of Vienna won the girls’ 10-14 division.

Andrew Johnson of Fraziers Bottom took top honors in the boys’ 13-14 division.

Bryson Beaver of Elkview and Anderson Goldman of Charleston tied in the boys’ 17-18 division.