While the pros are on the greens in Paris for the Olympics, hundreds of young golfers are teeing off in Bethesda, Maryland, for the 2024 Junior PGA Championships. Some D.C.-area golfers are vying for the trophy at Congressional Country Club.
Madison Rizzo, of Leesburg, Virginia, made a hole-in-one in the first round of play Tuesday.
“It was a shock because I didn’t realize that it happened until after the fact. But it was definitely a cool experience,” she told WTOP as she was grasping the flag from the third hole, where it happened.
She said she whacked her ball with a hybrid 5-iron on the 183-yard par 3.
“It’s exciting because it’s such a big event and you’re playing against such high competition that you just, you get so much experience from it,” she said after her first round.
She is one of 312, 156 girls and 156 boys, who are trying to win the championship.
Helen Yeung from nearby Clarksville, Maryland, has never played Congressional even though it is just 30 minutes from her home. She had a good day, but admitted it’s a hard course, where even PGA pros struggle.
“The conditions here are pretty amazing. Obviously, it’s a tough course. But you learn a lot. And especially as a junior, you still have a lot of time to grow. And it’s cool to look up to pros that played here and kind of see where your game is at compared to them,” Yeung said.
The Women’s PGA Championship was played at Congressional in 2022.
“As my last junior tournament before I head to college, it just means a lot to see my friends and have fun,” said Yeung, who’s heading to the University of North Carolina to play golf in just two weeks.
Rizzo has committed to play at Eastern Carolina University after finishing high school.
And as the pros represent their country in the Olympics, both Yeung and Rizzo said they hope to get there one day.
“That would be such a cool experience to represent the country and play with such amazing players out there,” Yeung said.
“Maybe, if I can get there. That’d be really cool,” added Rizzo.
Several Olympians, including Rose Zhang, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas, have played in the Junior PGA Championships before joining the pros.
The final round of the tournament at Congressional takes place Friday.