By Barbara Palmgren
Every year, junior golfers look forward to this prestigious event. This year, on July 10 and 11, the 45th Marvin DeBolt Daily News Junior Challenge was held at Fort Walton Beach Golf Club. This was a special occasion as Marvin’s sons, Doug and Jeff Debolt, presented the Girls and Boys overall winners with individual trophies and having their names listed with other winners on a large trophy. This impressive trophy had names inscribed from past winners who have gone on to win on the PGA Tour, such as Bubba Watson and Heath Slocum.
The tournament format was stroke play. Boys and girls 8-9 and 10-11 played two days of nine holes each. Older divisions played 18 holes for two days. There were first and second place winners in each division: Boys and Girls 8-9; Boys and Girls 10-11; Girls 12-14; Girls 15-18; Boys 12-13; Boys 14-15; Boys 16-18. In stroke play, shooting a low score wins after two days of 36 holes of golf.
Tournament director, Dennis Attaway (ECJGY) showed me the huge trophy filled with names of the women and men overall winners over the years. Each golfer this year received a tee shirt with all of those names listed on the back of the shirt. Impressive, to say the least!
The tournament began in 1980, started by the Daily News publisher, Marvin DeBolt and sponsored by the newspaper and the City of Fort Walton Beach. This tournament is also part of a golf course summer series where courses in several counties host these young golfers. The next leg of the series in Okaloosa County will be held at Rocky Bayou County Club, July 24 and 25. The title of the series is the “Gulf Coast Summer Slam.”
The overall Girls Champion with a two-day score of 154 was Mckazlyn Payne. The overall Boys Champion was Baylor Touchstone with a two-day score of 144.
Congratulations to all these young golfers as they enjoy the game and continue participating in golf tournaments in our area. Who knows? The next names on the trophy will be winners on the pro tour!
