High School Golf National Invite headed to Pinehurst in 2020

Last summer, high school players got a new stage on which to test themselves with the creation of the High School Golf National Invitational. The inaugural event, conducted by the National High School Golf Association (NHSGA), a division of Nextgengolf, which was acquired by the PGA of America in 2019, was played at Walt Disney World’s Palm Course near Orlando, Fla.

The NHSGA has now announced that Pinehurst Resort will host both divisions of the High School National Invitational in 2020.

The Girls Invitational, featuring 216 players, will be contested June 24-26, 2020. The Boys will follow, with 324 players, on June 29-July 1, 2020. Both events will be contested in a three-round, 54-hole, stroke-play format.

The High School Golf National Invitational is designed to showcase golf at the highest level on a national scale, bringing together the strongest and most diverse field in high school golf from large, small, public and private high school programs across the United States. In 2019, 300 boys and girls representing 43 states competed. The best high school golf teams and individuals in each state received invites.

The Girls National Invitational will be played over Pinehurst’s Nos. 6, 8 and 1 courses, while the Boys tournament will be held on Pinehurst’s Nos. 6, 8 and 5 courses. Both events will include team and individual competitions. Most recently, Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 4 hosted the U.S. Amateur this summer.

Last year, the Girls Invitational went down to the wire with a two-hole playoff for the top women’s high school teams. South Carolina and California both totaled two-day team scores of 584. The 4 vs. 4 aggregate team playoff was won with birdie on the final hole by tournament medalist Kamille Dimayuga (Buena Park, Calif.), who shot consecutive rounds of 71 to finish at 2-under 142.

Last year in the Boys team division, Virginia won the team title with a two-day score of 518 (291-290). Virginia was led by Charlie Hason, who fired a two-day total of 141 (72-69) and finished fifth individually. Second place went to Arkansas (592), followed by Pennsylvania (598) in third. Aidan Thomas from Bernalillo, N.M., fired his career-best round 65 in day one of the tournament, following with a 70 on day two to win the individual medalist title 9-under 135 total.