Twelve AJGA alums were among the 26 graduates of the PGA TOUR
Q-School, earning TOUR cards for 2013. The group includes six Rolex Junior
All-Americans and one former Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
Alumni who earned 2013 TOUR cards include:
Erik Compton of
Miami, was named the Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 1997 after finding
success in AJGA tournaments. He posted a pair of third-place finishes in 1997
at the AJGA Boys Junior Championship (present-day HP Boys Championship at
Carlton Woods) and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Junior Classic. Compton attended
the University of Georgia where he was a two-time All-American. He turned
professional in 2001.
Jin Park of
Fullerton, Calif., competed in AJGA events from 1993 to 1997. The Rolex Junior All-American
finished second in his first AJGA showing, the CCA Junior Championship and
ended his junior career with a victory at the 1997 ClubCorp Mission Hills
Desert Junior. Park competed for the Arizona State University Sun Devils before
turning professional in 2001.
Scott Langley of
St. Louis, compiled eight top-10 showings in national junior competition,
including a victory at the 2007 Midwest Junior Players Championship. A two-time
Rolex Junior All-American, Langley was also recognized as an HP Scholastic
Junior All-American. He signed with the University of Illinois and went on to
become the 2010 NCAA Championship Individual Champion.
Bobby Gates of
Gainesville, Fla., closed his AJGA career by winning the 2004 HP Boys
Championship (present-day HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods). With eight
additional top-10 finishes in national competition, Gates was named a Rolex Junior
All-American three times. In 2002, Gates made it to the semifinals of the Polo
Golf Junior Classic, falling to eventual champion Niklas Lemke. He returned to
the tournament in 2003 with a quarterfinal appearance. Gates signed with Texas
A&M and turned pro upon graduation in 2008.
Patrick Reed of
Baton Rouge, La., earned seven top-10 finishes in AJGA competition. He was
victorious at the 2005 True Temper / David Gossett Junior Championship and was
a member of the East Team at the 2006 Wyndham Cup. The biggest win of his
junior career came at the 2006 Junior Open Championship. A semifinalist at the
2009 U.S. Amateur, Reed competed at Augusta State University where he became a
two-time national champion.
Other former AJGA players who graduated from Q-School
include Richard H. Lee of Bellevue,
Wash., Billy Horschel of Grant,
Fla., Eric Meierdierks of Wilmette,
Ill., Aaron Watkins of Mesa, Ariz., Derek Ernst of Clovis, Calif., Tag Ridings of Tulsa, Okla., and Chez Reavie of Mesa, Ariz.