Top young golfers from all over the world playing in the Valley

The field included players from 23 states, along with Canada, Russia, and China.

“Anytime you can bring in the world’s best juniors, it’s pretty solid, especially here in the Mahoning Valley,” said Brian Tolnar, Director of Golf at Mill Creek Metro Parks. “Your last three U.S. Open champions have won right here on the AGJA, the one that won this past week, Brooks Koepka. He won it in 2005 and won 14 events on the AGJA total.”

This is one of 14 similar tournaments around the country, and the Youngstown area fits the event’s needs.

“It’s a terrific venue. It’s highly ranked, 26th golf course municipal in the United States. It’s overall a great experience for our players, we have great feedback from them, and obviously, it’s mutual between the two of us,” said Ryan Flanigan, Midwest Regional Director of the AGJA.

This year’s field includes two local golfers, including Cardinal Mooney’s Jayne Bernard and Brookfield’s Connor Stevens.

“It means a lot, knowing that kids from the area really want to golf. They don’t think it’s cool,” said Stevens. “Hopefully some younger kids see what our golf team did last year, and they’ll come out and play.”

This is the second year the Metro Parks has hosted this event, and it’s brought in more than $500,000 economically.

“It means to Metro an opportunity to showcase what we got here at Metro Park’s golf course. It means more for the community than it does the golf course,” said Aaron Young, Executive Director of the Metro Parks. “Because the economic impact to the region last year was over $250,000, expect to see the same thing this year. It’s an impact for everyone and an opportunity to showcase the Valley.”

View the full article at wfmj.com