Curtis Thompson

The tournament is continuing to attract national and international attention and, as a result, the field has been increased to 75 players from 57 in 2009.

This year, the event will have one of the best fields in the tournament’s history. The Nos. 3, 4 and 6 ranked Juniors, Matthew Nesmith, Cody Proveaux and Jonathan Garrick, respectively, will all be vying for the crown.

Nesmith won the 2012 Carolinas Georgia Junior, and in 2011 he won the Jones Cup Junior, Polo Junior Classic and the Heritage Junior Championship. Cody Proveaux, who played last year, won the 2011 Gate American Junior, PGA Junior National Championship and the 2010 Polo Junior Classic. Jonathan Garrick was 2nd at the 2012 HP Junior and advanced to the round of 32 in the 2011 US Amateur and was 2nd in the Junior Players Championship.

The event has a good representation of Naples players highlighted by Ed Figueroa, who won the 2012 AJGA Puerto Rico Junior Open, which won him an exemption into the PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open. He played well and missed the cut by only two shots. He is being mentored by Chi Chi Rodriguez.

Also from Naples, Ben Balter, Ryan Celano, Spencer Ciesla, and Tee McCabe, who is a reinstated amateur, will all be in the field.

Jim Liu from Smithtown, NY who won the USGA Junior Amateur in 2010 at the age of 14 will be returning this year after posting eight Top 10’s in his last nine tournaments.

The 2009 Terra Cotta champion Matt Ceravolo and our 1998 champion, Gene Elliott will also be playing, returning to try to become a two-time Terra Cotta Champions.

The Terra Cotta is a “rankings” event in both the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings and the USGA/R&A World Amateur Rankings and has risen to become one of the Top 100 ranked amateur events in the world. With over 3,000 ranked events, this is a notable achievement.

The field will be truly international with players from, Australia, Ireland, Columbia, Chile, Bermuda, England, Korea, Germany, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Martinique, Venezuela, Mexico, and Paraguay.

Competition will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and will be played in threesomes.

The tournament record is 12-under par, which was shot by last year’s champion, Emiliano Grillo. Grillo has secured his European Tour card on his first attempt at tour school and is currently playing on that tour.

Net proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Naples Neighborhood Health Clinic. Public is encouraged to attend. There is no admission fee.