Upper St. Clair Student Wins American Junior Golf Association Event

Thomas Steve, an Upper St. Clair High School soon-to-be-senior, picked up his first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) win earlier this month with a two-stroke victory at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort's Links Course.

Steve shot a 3-over-par 143 on the 6,295-yard space. The Preseason Junior at Nemacolin was a 36-hole stroke play competition that featured 72 boys ages 12 to 18 from 12 states and four countries.

The tournament is one of 12 events held as part of the IMG Academy Preseason Series. The series is designed for members who have had limited acceptances into multi-day AJGA events, and it offers members the opportunity to start building performance-based entry status before application deadlines arrive for summer Open and Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy Junior All-Star Series events.

Steve began Day Two with two birdies on the front nine after an opening round one-over-par 71.

"After (Day One), I knew there was a strong field I was competing against," Steve said in a news release prepared by the AJGA. "Even though my (second) round was up and down, I knew there was a lot of potential for birdies for me to make."