By Brian Hurlburt

When Joe Sawaia, Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association tournament director, reflects upon the 2023 tournament season, he sees the results of an ongoing plan coming to fruition. Sawaia is the former state-championship-winning Coronado High men’s and women’s golf coach who jumped in to assist the SNJGA in 2022 with a main goal to increase overall participation in tournaments while also enticing the best local players to stay home and play when possible and appropriate.

“President John Hawk shared the numbers with me about how participation has increased from 2022 to 2023 and it was really good to see our plan getting results,” Sawaia said. “My thanks go out to the families and the kids that played and supported our tour. That is what we are after, and we are dedicated to putting out a good product to give our juniors something they can be proud of and want to play in on a monthly basis from February to November.”

Sawaia and his team, which includes his former Coronado High star Grant McKay, are satisfied, but not resting on past success.

“We are heading in the right direction but now the challenge is to continue to build and plan for where we go from here,” Sawaia said. “We can’t just be happy with the gains we made. We need to get better and make another jump, so there are a few initiatives for next year that we are putting in place in addition to continuing to focus on quality.”

According to Sawaia, a minimum of seven SNJGA events in 2024 will feature AJGA stars being awarded to the top finishers. The stars help golfers earn spots in prestigious American Junior Golf Association events that is key to being recruited by college coaches.

Sawaia expects the 2024 SNJGA schedule to be available by the end of the year and then the first five events will be open for registration in early January.

“The number of events with stars available is an increase from year over year and that is huge for our organization and our players,” Sawaia said. “Our goal is to get even more stars events, and we do that by showing a history of participation and quality. We are doing that thanks to everyone’s efforts.”

New in 2024 will be a competition within a competition to get more golfers playing. A special 4-tournament Spring Series early in the year for boys and girls ages 13-18 will feature a special points list. The winners will earn a customized PING SNJGA bag. More details will follow.

Other highlights for 2024 include a return to Primm Valley Lakes and Reflection Bay Golf Club for events. Also, the SNJGA will host the Nevada State Junior Amateur at Rhodes Ranch and the Men’s State 5A High School championships at Mountain Falls Golf Club. Also, the SNJGA will host a qualifier at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort for the national Notah Begay Foundation event.

As golfers prepare for 2024, Sawaia wants tournament players and parents to make sure they are registered for the SNJGA so they don’t miss out on any opportunities.

Sawaia reiterated his ongoing message that while traveling to play in tournaments should be part of a junior golfer’s plans, playing locally should definitely also be part of that plan. Not only can a player and family save some money, but a high finish in a quality local event can sometimes have more impact than traveling to a national event and finishing in the middle of the pack.

Sawaia also said the SNJGA plans to host town hall-style meeting to discuss junior golf and college golf and continue to offer the best information available.

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