Junior Golf

The Western Pennsylvania Golf Association has been conducting junior golf championships in the Greater Pittsburgh area since 1921. The Association conducts two stroke play championships open to any junior who resides in Western Pennsylvania: the West Penn Junior Championship and the West Penn Boys Championship. The C.R. Miller Memorial Match Play & WPGA Girls’ Match Play are invitationals selected by the WPGA for the top 16 junior golfers in Western Pennsylvania in a single elimination bracket for the championship.

Each August we choose four juniors as members of the Frank B. Fuhrer Team that represents the Association in the Williamson Cup Matches where the team competes against nine other regional golf associations.

Junior golfers are eligible for other WPGA individual championships such as the West Penn Amateur, West Penn Open, and the Spring Stroke Play. Team Championships that are available are the Father & Son, Brothers, Four-Ball and Fred Brand Foursomes.

The WPGA also conducts sectional and/or local qualifying on behalf of the USGA for the US Junior Amateur, US Amateur and US Open Championships.

The West Penn Junior Championship will be played for the 106th time in 2026 and is the most prestigious and historical junior competition in the area. Widely considered a major of area junior golf, names on the Percy H. Preston Memorial Trophy include future U.S. Open champions Sam Parks, Jr. (1926 Junior, 1935 US Open) and Arnold Palmer (1947 & 48 Junior, 1960 US Open), and notable local golfers Fred Brand, Jr. (1925 & 1927 Juniors), James Simons (1966 Junior), Frank Fuhrer, III (1976 Junior) and William Miller (2003-05 Juniors) to name a few.

Numerous players who have competed in the West Penn Junior Championships have gone on to have great collegiate golf careers and have played at schools such as Arizona, Georgia Tech, James Maddison, LSU, Marquette, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, and Wake Forest.

The Junior Honor Roll tracks players and awards points based on their performance in various WPGA, Pennsylvania, and national competitions. The Honor Roll rankings are also used to select the Frank B. Fuhrer WPGA Williamson Cup Team.

History

The history of the junior golf in Western Pennsylvania is deep and prestigious. Two players who started their careers by winning the West Penn Junior Championship – Sam Parks, Jr. (1926) and Arnold Palmer (1947 & 1949) – went on to win the US Open Championship. Jim Simons won 1966 Junior and was the last amateur to lead the US Open in 1971 at Merion where he entered the final round with a two stroke lead at age 21. Frank Fuhrer, III, won the 1973 Boys Championship and 1976 Junior and went on to win the prestigious 1981 Western Amateur and was selected for the 1981 Walker Cup team. Fred Brand, Jr. (1927, Arnold Palmer (1947) and William Miller (2006) are the only players in Association history to have won the West Penn Amateur Championship as a junior. All three won both championships in the same year.

Winners of the C.R. Miller Memorial Match Play Invitational and the Boys include a four-time US Mid-Amateur champion and two-time Walker Cup team member, Nathan Smith, as well as Arnold Cutrell, John Aber, and Mike VanSickle, winner of the Byron Nelson Award winner from the Golf Coaches Association of America.