Junior golf tourney set for Bullard

Butler Publishing President Nelson Clyde IV said last week that a new golf tournament is coming Bullard.

The Tyler Rose Junior Invitational is slated for May 17-18 at Eagle's Bluff Country Club.

The event was put together by SPORTyler, and will be run by the Texas Junior Golf Tour.

The Saturday-Sunday tournament will be 36 holes.

A practice round will be available on May 16.

The invitational field of about 100 junior golfers, from Texas and beyond, will range in age from 12-18.

The age divisions will be 12-15 and 16-18 for boys and girls.

The tournament is free to the public.

Lynn Monzingo, vice president and director of operations for the Texas Junior Golf Tour, said the TJGT intends to sign a long-term contract to keep the tournament in the Tyler area.

"We're excited to get our foot in the door out here in East Texas, and we're going to start with Eagle's Bluff and go from there," Monzingo, a former University of Oklahoma men's assistant golf coach. "We would love the community to come out and watch a professionally run junior tour and tournament at Eagle's Bluff."

The Eagle's Bluff golf course, known for its length and challenging greens, will be a good fit for this tournament. Organizers said it's also a recruiting tool for college coaches.

"We really have a lot of collegiate golf coaches that are going to be here, and we'll set up the course very difficult," said Monzingo, adding that the scores may be higher than expected, even with a talented field. "I would expect 15 (coaches) or more. They like it because of the difficulty of the golf course. We'll play it at a very long yardage, more college style yardage. Ninety-five percent of our kids will sign some type of financial aid (with colleges)."

Other features of the tournament include announcing each golfer's name, etc., on the tee boxes at the beginning of their rounds, and a question/answer session with a college coach, Monzingo said.