This past weekend at the 2023 13u National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship, Team Texas became hometown heroes and won the entire tournament.
During the Championship final at PGA Frisco’s Fields Ranch West, the second-seeded Texas squad defeated the No. 4 seed Utah by a score of 6.5 - 5.5.
“It’s our Super Bowl,” said Team Texas Coach and Brookhaven Country Club Lead Teaching Professional Joey Anders, PGA, to ESPN’s Michael Collins and PGA of America Vice President Don Rea during the trophy presentation on the 18th green. “It’s as good as it gets for us. We’re extremely happy. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.”
Consisting of players from Brookhaven Country Club — located in the northern Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch — the young golf group became the first Texas team to ever hoist the 13u PGA Jr. League Championship trophy.
Team Texas earned their spot in the final after beating the third-ranked Team Illinois 7.5 - 4.5 during the semifinal, which took place earlier in the day. The victory set up an afternoon showdown with Team Utah.
During the Championship match, both teams went down to the wire, with the title coming down to the last match, on the final hole, between Team Utah’s Jordan Ofahengaue and Blake Brown (both 13 years old), and Team Texas’s Chase Roman, 13, and Lincoln Rubis, 11.
“That putt, I knew I had to get it close to finish it,” said Roman of clinching the win. “When I tapped it in, it was the best feeling in the world, especially because it was my last one. I’m at the age limit so I’ll definitely do the older division, but just to finish it out on the last hole was the greatest.”
To view the full results from the tournament, visit the PGA of America website.