Hannah Wood of Centennial, Colo., won the Kathy Whitworth Invitational on March 12 at Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Wood shot rounds of 70-74 to come from behind and win by one shot for Samantha Wagner. Wood’s first round 2-under 70 tied for the second lowest score of the tournament.

A pair of juniors swept the Championship Division titles March 10 at the San Francisco City Championship at Harding Park Golf Course.

William Brueckner defeated Isaiah Salinda, 3 and 1, to win the men’s title while Casie Cathrea rolled to a 10-and-8 victory over Jayshree Sarathy.

Brueckner, a 16-year-old from Walnut Creek, Calif., advanced to the final match by upsetting third-seeded Alex Franklin, 5 and 4. He was 2 down in his match against Salinda after the first 18 holes and then lost the first afternoon hole before winning three straight holes to return the match to all square.

“My dad and I always joke that I have to give a few back before I get going,” Brueckner said.

He would eventually put away the match thanks to a combination of dry conditions and support in the gallery from his family and friends, some of them making the trip from Olympic Club, Brueckner’s home course.

“My length showed up when I needed it, when the course was more dry,” Brueckner said. “Also my buddies from Olympic Club came over. I love playing in front of an audience.”

Brueckner won the 2011 Junior All-Star at River Ridge, but he ...

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When Hannah Wood stepped up to the first tee for the final round of the Kathy Whitworth Invitational on March 12, she surveyed the headcovers her opponents were carrying and felt a little outmatched.

Wood, a 17-year-old from Centennial, Colo., has only just begun the the college selection process. Samantha Wagner, the first-round leader, had her Florida Gators allegiances prominently displayed. Bailey Tardy already has committed to Georgia. But by the end of the day, Wood was the one holding the trophy.

Wood credits this week’s success to her short game. She didn’t three-putt in Round 1, and did so just twice in the second round.

“I’m from Colorado, we don’t have Bermudagrass,” Wood said. “The Bermuda and the Ryegrass was kind of hard to read, because you’re down grain, into the grain. I really wanted to focus on how to read the greens, and handle just the speed. I kind of focused on that and it paid off.”

After a first-round 2-under 70 at Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, the high school junior returned a 2-over 74. She trailed Wagner by two at the beginning of the first round, but Wagner ...

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Emilia Migliaccio of Cary, N.C., won the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour’s N.C. University Classic on Sunday. She shot rounds of 74-70 to win by one shot over defending champion Jessica Porvasnik. Migliaccio’s 2-under 70 was the low round of the tournament. She will graduate in 2017.

Hey everyone!

I've had a crazy last few weeks between practicing, going to see my sister, Taylor, at Clemson University and trying to keep up with my schoolwork. Time has really flown by. . .

At Clemson, I went to a baseball game in the snow, which is very unusual for Clemson. We froze, but had a blast! It was good to see some of my future teammates, too, Jessica Hoang, Lauren Salazar, Riley Lovorn and Lauren Stephenson. I can't wait to be at Clemson full-time!

Last weekend I took a trip to Sea Island to get a lesson from my coach, Todd Anderson. He worked with me a lot on my wedges and short game. I also went out on the course with him and he helped me with course management and hitting different shots for different situations.

Aside from working on my game, I got to spend some time with Todd's son, Tucker, who was in a horrible car accident in September. He suffered a brain injury, several fractured vertebrae and a broken orbital socket. Even through this entire trauma, Tucker is doing great. He helped me with some drills that Todd gave me to do and ...

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Luiza Altmann of Brazil won the FCWT at Saddlebrook Resort on March 3. She shot rounds of 76-73 to win the title by one over Dylan Kim and capture her first FCWT title. The 14-year-old led the field with 23 pars and co-led with five birdies.

Emmy Martin, of Odessa, Fla., shot a final round 3-under 69, the only under par round of the tournament, to finish seven shots clear of the field during the Florida Junior Tour at Southwood GC. She lead after the first round by two strokes, and then pulled away from the field. This was her first FJT victory.

Lost in the commotion over Lydia Ko’s success Down Under to start 2013 has been the success of two other young Australians. One even owns a USGA trophy.

Reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Minjee Lee also has maintained a busy competition schedule (for an amateur) during Australia and New Zealand’s summer golf season. She owes part of that to her victory at the Australian Women’s Amateur on Jan. 20. It’s a title Ko won in 2012 but was unable to defend.

Lee, a 16-year-old from Western Australia, cruised through the match-play bracket at Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne. She drew the No. 4 seed after stroke-play qualifying and eventually defeated South Africa’s Jenny Lee in the final, 6 and 5. The Australian a spot in the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open – the season-opening event on the LPGA tour.

Lee, who is No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, made the cut at that event after shooting scores of 70-71. She finished 72-76 and was T-55 on the final leaderboard.

It’s not the only professional event Lee entered. She also played the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters (the Ladies European Tour’s season-opening ...

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Hey everyone!

I took a welcomed break from golf after playing 4 tournaments in a row in Florida last month. I went a whole week without touching a club which I don't think I have ever done before. I also got to spend some much needed time with my family and friends.

Last week I received a unexpected call with some big news. I was given a sponsor's exemption to play in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on April 4-7. This was a dream come true for me. I am shocked and honored to have this amazing opportunity to play against my role models that I have looked up to for so long. These

are the best players in women's golf and I will get to play along side them in a LPGA Major Championship. I am proud to have been selected by the sponsors exemption committee.

I have already started getting some tips from family friends for the major championship. My dad grew up playing golf with Nanci Bowen who won the Kraft Nabisco when it was still called the Dinah Shore in 1995. She has already shared some course information that will ...

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Sloan Shanahan won the Bell Division of the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour Players Championship at Chateau Elan Resort on Feb. 17. She shot rounds of 71-76 to finish the tournament at 5-over 147 and five shots ahead of the field. She is No. 41 in the class of 2013 Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and is committed to Clemson.

REUNION, Fla. – Each year, the AJGA’s Annika Invitational introduces the junior golf world to the next top international player. Three of the five winners in the event’s history have hailed from China, Argentina and France.

Spots are always reserved in the Annika for international invitees. This year, that included Annika Europe winner Linnea Strom, a long-hitting, soft-spoken Swede who began her week at Reunion Resort beside Annika Sorenstam at the tournament-opening press conference. It was not only her first time addressing media in such a formal setting, but her first time doing it in English.

“They had given me the questions before, so I was prepared,” Strom said with a big smile mid-week.

Strom relished the opportunity to do the press conference alongside fellow Swede Annika, a “really big” role model for the 16-year-old. She relished the opportunity to play in her tournament even more. Strom was that player who drew a trail of interest from the army of college coaches that annually attend the tournament.

Strom has expressed interest in attending college in the U.S., and her play at Reunion offered coaches many reasons to be excited. Strom played alongside Italian Virginia Elena Carta and Denmark ...

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The trend of juniors graduating early from high school and departing for college seems to be a growing one these days.

Not only are players giving up three full months of college tournaments during the fall portion of the season, but on the flip side, players also are giving up about eight full months of junior tournaments.

There are a limited amount of amateur tournaments during the spring season - January to May - so players must keep their games in top shape by competing with teammates.

Two years ago, Ollie Schniederjans and Anders Albertson, now sophomores at Georgia Tech, attended school in January. Both sat out in the spring season but participated in workouts, team practices and collected college credit.

Three top juniors in the Class of 2013 have followed suit. Beau Hossler (Texas; No. 2 in Golfweek/Sagarin Boys Rankings) and Gavin Hall (UCLA) have enrolled early, while Annie Park (USC; No. 12 in Girls Rankings) has joined the Trojans early.

All three graduated from high school in December and attend classes at their respective universities.

Hossler and Hall are sitting out this spring, but Park is playing for the Trojans.

For Park, it makes sense because she is cracking ...

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Carly Ray Goldstein of Coral Springs, Fla., shot two consecutive rounds of 1-under 71 to win the girls division at the FCWT at Inverrary GC. She led the tournament with 26 pars and six birdies. Goldstein finished 13 strokes ahead of her next competitor.

The Kraft Nabisco Championship has announced the names of nine of the world’s top amateurs, college and junior players that will participate in the 2013 tournament.

“Providing the future stars of women’s golf the chance to play alongside their professional heroes in the first major championship of the year has always been a point of pride for the Kraft Nabisco Championship,” said David Blake-Thomas, executive director and chairman, Kraft Nabisco Championship. “We are proud to be able to provide these great young players from around the world with this important step in their careers, and look forward to joining golf fans in cheering them on.”

Here is some more information about the nine amateurs invited:

• Lydia Ko won two professional tournaments, the Bing Lee/Samsung Women’s NSW Open and the CN Canadian Women’s Open. At the age of 14, she won the Bing Lee, which set a new mark for the youngest player to ever win a professional tournament. Then at 15 at the Canadian Women’s Open, she became the youngest-ever winner on the LGPA. She finished the season as the top-ranked amateur according to the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings.

• Georgia Hall, the ...

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Bethany Wu won the 2013 AJGA Annika Invitational on Jan. 21 at Reunion Resort – Watson course. Wu’s wire-to-wire victory set a tournament record 10-under-par 206 to claim her second AJGA career title. She has given a verbal commitment to play college golf at UCLA in 2015.