Dallas? Cody Gribble Wins 90th Western Junior

Cody Gribble, 16, of Dallas, Texas, held off a late challenge from LSU-bound Clayton Rotz to claim victory in the 2007 Western Junior held June 18- 22 at Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa. Gribble posted back-to-back birdies to win the 90th Western Junior by two shots, with a 72-hole total of 6-under-par 282. Winning the Western Junior championship adds Gribble?s name to a trophy that includes the names of past champions such as Jim Furyk, who was third in pro golf?s World Rankings. ?It feels great to put my name on that trophy with all of the great professionals who have won the championship,? said Gribble, who has made a verbal commitment to play his college golf at the University of Texas. ?This gives me a lot of confidence. My biggest goal this summer is to make AJGA first-team All-American. This should help.? The Western Junior Championship, conducted by the Western Golf Association, is the oldest national junior tournament in the United States and has been a testing ground for future stars, such as Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Chip Beck, Mark Brooks, 2007 Western Junior champion Cody Gribble tees it up at the Wakonda Club. 133 Hale Irwin, Scott Hoch, Tom Lehman, Jeff Maggert, Rocco Mediate, Corey Pavin, Tom Purtzer, Craig Stadler and Fuzzy Zoeller. The Western Junior consistently has been regarded as one of the premier junior golf tournaments in the nation. Each year the tournament draws the top junior players from around the country and throughout the world. The field of 156 participants is open to boys ages 16-19 with a handicap of three or less. The competition is 72 holes of stroke play, with the champion?s name engraved on the Milt Woodard Trophy. Woodard, WGA executive vice president from 1950-1960, donated the trophy in 1993. Wakonda is rated third among all Iowa courses in Golf Digest?s ranking of top courses by state. Wakonda Club hosted the Western Golf Association?s 1947 Western Amateur, won by Marvin Ward. The club also hosted the 1955 Trans Mississippi Championship, the 1956 Women?s Western Open, and the 1963 U.S. Amateur, won by Deane Beman. This was the Western Junior?s first trip to Iowa since it was held at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1971.

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