Winners include George Cunningham, Doug Ghim, Matthew Perrine, Scottie Scheffler and Austen Truslow
IRVING, TX, May 14, 2014 – Five of the premier junior golfers in the world will be honored at the 2014 HP Byron Nelson Championship. The Salesmanship Club of Dallas announced today that George Cunningham (Tucson, AZ), Doug Ghim (Arlington Heights, IL), Matthew Perrine (Austin, TX), Scottie Scheffler (Dallas, TX) and Austen Truslow (New Smyrna Beach, FL) will receive the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards.
George Cunningham
Cunningham, the No. 13 ranked player by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), earned first-team Rolex Junior All-America honors in 2013. He finished third at the 2014 AJGA Puerto Rico Open, second at the 2013 Junior Players Championship and FootJoy Invitational, and finished in the top 20 in stage two of the 2013 European Tour Q-School. Cunningham has signed a letter of intent to play golf at the University of Arizona.
Doug Ghim
Ghim is currently the No. 9 ranked junior in the Polo AJGA rankings. Doug notched his first AJGA invitational victory at the CB&I Boys Championship in The Woodlands, Texas in February of 2014. He has been named the Illinois Junior Golfer of the Year, was a 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur Semifinalist, a 2011, 2012 and 2013 Rolex All-American, and a 2012 Wyndham Cup Team Member (East). Ghim has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Texas.
Matthew Perrine
Perrine won the individual Texas State Class 5A title competing for Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. He was named a 2013 Honorable Mention Rolex Junior All-American, had four top-10’s in his 2013 AJGA events and a third place finish at the AJGA Ping Invitational at Karsten Creek. Perrine will play golf for Auburn University in the fall.
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler is currently the No. 1 ranked junior in the Golfweek/Sagarin Boys rankings, the AJGA Polo rankings and the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings. He is also ranked No. 8 in the World Amateur Golf rankings. Scheffler was named the 2013 Rolex Junior Player of the Year, a quarterfinalist at the 2013 U.S. Amateur, the champion of the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur and a 3-time Texas UIL 4A Individual Champion. He has signed a letter of intent to play with the University of Texas and will compete as an amateur in the 2014 HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Austen Truslow
Truslow, from New Smyrna Beach, FL, is the No. 2 ranked player in the AJGA Polo rankings. He finished first at the 2014 AJGA Puerto Rico Open, the 2013 AJGA The Players Championship and the 2013 Golf Pride / David Leadbetter Junior Classic. Truslow was also a 2013 U.S. Open Sectional qualifier. He is a 2013 Rolex Junior First Team All-American and recently competed in his first PGA TOUR event, the 2014 Puerto Rico Open. Austen has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Virginia.
Award criteria include not only golfing skill, but academic success and significant community involvement.
The awards recipients will attend the HP Byron Nelson Championship and an Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 17 at TPC Four Seasons.
The awards were created in 2008 to honor the memory of Byron Nelson and his renowned mentoring and support of young golfers.
Past recipients include:
2008
Dylan Frittelli, South Africa
Luciano Garcia, Mexico
Cody Gribble, USA
Cory Whitsett, USA
Patrick Winther, Denmark
2009
Evan Beck, USA
Emiliano Grillo, Argentina
Brinson Paolini, USA
Cameron Peck, USA
2010
Yaroslav Merkulov, USA
Jordan Spieth, USA
Bobby Wyatt, USA
2011
Michael Johnson, USA
Denny McCarthy, USA
Justin Thomas, USA
2012
Wyndham Clark, USA
Ricky Kato, Australia
Matthew NeSmith, USA
Cody Proveaux, USA
2013
Viraat Badhwar, Australia
Jim Liu, USA
Stratton Nolen, USA
Robby Shelton, USA
Guan Tianlang, China
