The American Junior Golf Association is holding the Inaugural PGA West Junior Championship this week in La Quinta.

Some of the world’s best junior golfers will be competing on the PGA West Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, one of the three courses that Tour players play for the American Express Golf Tournament. It’s a star-studded field that has seen great talent before and tournament officials are excited to have it right here in our valley.

Tournament Director, Libby Burroughs was ecstatic to have it at PGA West for the first time, saying, “We’re going to have 78 of the world’s best junior golfers plan on the same course as the pros are very excited for the opportunity to be out here there.”

But, Burroughs says it also plays to a bigger goal of the AJGA.

“So our mission is we’re dedicated to the overall growth of men and women that are trying to earn college golf scholarships. So we use these opportunities to come out to different parts of the country, and just let them showcase their game so that they get recognized by different college coaches. So it’s very special for us to be able to come out and host an event at a PGA Tour venue and provide our juniors with the opportunity to challenge their game at this course and prove why they deserve to go to college,” says Burroughs.

SoCal Natives like Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa, and Xander Schauffele have all seen success on the AJGA, before heading to the Tour. And as Burroughs says, it’s all apart of the greater mission by the organization.

“I think that’s something that we pride ourselves on a lot of the PGA Tour pros began their junior golf career with the American Junior Golf Association. So they’ve come through our organization through college, and then are now professionals. So all of our juniors they’ve seen who’s come before them and they just want to follow in their footsteps and continue to be the best golfers in the world,” says Burroughs.

These junior golfers will tee off between 6:30am-8:30am Tuesday morning for their practice round.

The 54-hole event tees off bright and early on Wednesday.

AJGA’s PGA West Junior Championship tees off this week in La Quinta