George Holliday Memorial Junior Golf Tournament Enters Second Half-Century of Competition

Gracy Burgess and Connor Burgess

It’s a Thanksgiving week junior golf tradition now more than a half-century in the making, and ready to welcome the next wave of scholastic competitors.

The 51st Annual George Holliday Memorial Junior Golf Tournament is set for Nov. 28-30 at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club, where each of its three Arnold Palmer designs (West Course, SouthCreek and King's North) will host competitive rounds. The event is open to junior golfers who turn 18 years of age on Nov. 28 or later.

Competitive divisions include boys ages 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16-18, with girls divisions in the 10-12, 13-14 and 15-18 age brackets. Champions will be crowned for each division, as well as for the boys’ and girls’ overall champion.

The George Holliday is sanctioned by Golfweek as a Sagarin-Ranked Event and Junior Golf Scoreboard as a ranked tournament, as well as the American Junior Golf Association as an event that allows performance-based entry.

Prominent professionals are among the George Holliday’s past participants, including the PGA TOUR’s Lucas Glover, a three-time TOUR winner and 2009 U.S. Open Champion; two-time TOUR winner D.J. Trahan; and two-time George Holliday champion Matthew NeSmith (2009-2010), who after competing collegiately at South Carolina has earned his PGA TOUR card for the 2020 season. Veteran LPGA Tour pro Kristy McPherson has earned three Top 10 finishes in LPGA major championship events.

Recent competitors include 2016-2017 girls’ champion Gracyn Burgess, who has moved on play collegiately at Clemson after earning back-to-back South Carolina Junior Golf Association Player of the Year honors; and 2016 boys’ overall champion Connor Burgess (no relation to Gracyn), who in two seasons at Virginia Tech has become one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top individual performers who finished T9 at the 2019 ACC Championships.

This year’s field will be capped at 160 competitors, with spots expected to fill quickly. Visit MyrtleBeachJuniorGolf.com or call Myrtle Beach National Golf Club at 843-448-2308 to register.