By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

It is a goal of many juniors in every section of the PGA as they compete in tournaments to advance to the National Junior PGA Championships.

The Northern Ohio PGA hosted the two-day Junior Section Championship at Alliance Country Club in Alliance on Monday and Tuesday and named the representatives to advance to Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland July 3  to Aug. 2.

The competition was close.

The juniors played great as expected in the Northern Ohio Section that makes junior golf a priority.

BOYS 11-18 DIVISION

Ask James Morgan of North Benton, a junior at Southeast High School this 2024-25 season.

JAMES MORGAN

Morgan easily won the boys 14-15 age division with a two-stroke cushion, posting a 6-over-par for the 36-hole tournament in Alliance.

The boys and girls qualifying to compete in the NOPGA Junior Section Championship know they earn rewards for each age division, but all are competing against everyone at the tournament. That age division is boys 11 to 18.

At the end of the 36 holes, Morgan was tied with Ryan Dinan, of Akron, a recent graduate of Coventry, who is headed for Cleveland State University to play golf this fall.

Dinan and Morgan were both 6-over-par at the end of 36 holes, just shy of the 1-over-par posted by Julian Dugan of Rocky River.

Morgan and Dinan headed to a playoff.

The two golfers tied, taking a par each on the first playoff hole, proceeded to the second hole, where Morgan converted a par and Dinan managed a birdie to earn the second-qualifying spot.

Morgan becomes the first of five alternates from the NOPGA and will still travel to Maryland at the end of July.

It’s a great start to the high-school season for the junior, who was Player of the Year in the Portage Trail Conference as a sophomore.

GIRLS 11-18 DIVISION

BROOKLYN MILLARD

The girls from Portage County golfed extremely well in the NOPGA Section Championship as well.

Champions and national qualifiers were Serena Wu, of Solon, firing a 1-over-par for 36 holes and Cara Heisterkamp of Westlake, shooting her way to an 8-over-par.

The five alternates include Brooklyn Millard of Aurora (11-over), Maddie Kost of Kent (15-over) and Gracyn Vidovic of Aurora (15-over). All may have the opportunity to compete in the National Championship.

It was a solid performance by the local golfers in one of the top tournaments on the NOPGA schedule.