Big Names Including Charlie Woods, Kai Trump And Asterisk Talley Struggle In Sage Valley Junior Invitational Opening Round

Charlie Woods wearing a white cap and navy sweater .

Charlie Woods made a slow start to his Sage Valley Junior Invitational debut, with Tiger Woods' son carding a six-over-par 78.

The 16-year-old, famous for his five PNC Championship appearances with his father, was one-under-par after six holes but made five bogeys and a double in his last 11 holes to trail the lead by 11 strokes.

The 72-hole tournament is regarded as one of the most prestigious in junior golf and dates back to 2011.

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The event features a 36-player boys field and 24-player girls field, with both competitions held at the stunning, and exclusive, Sage Valley Golf Club - which is just 15 miles north-east of Augusta National across the South Carolina border. It opened in 2001 and was designed by the renowned Tom Fazio.

World No.1 junior Miles Russell, who made the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour last year at the age of 15, is two back of Joshua Bai's lead through 18 holes after carding a three-under 69.

AJGA no.1 Miles Russell is off to a strong start (Image credit: Getty Images)

New Zealand's Bai was runner-up at the US Junior Amateur in 2023 and has verbally committed to the University of Florida.

Logan Reilly, the no.2 in the AJGA boys rankings, is level par while no.3 Luke Colton is tied with Russell at three-under.

Highly rated British amateur Kris Kim, who made the cut at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour last year at the age of 16, is another notable to have struggled in round one after carding a five-over-par 77.

Defending boys champion Giovanni Binaghi is one-over after 18 holes.

Defending girls champion Asterisk Talley shot a 77 to trail the lead by seven after 18 holes (Image credit: Getty Images)

In the girls division, defending champion and AJGA no.1 Asterisk Talley, who made the cut at the US Women's Open last year at the age of 15, struggled to a five-over 77 to sit seven back of the lead held by Pimpisa Rubrong and Aphrodite Deng.

No.2 Gianna Clemente shot a 76, as did no.3 Avery McCrery.

Soomin Oh, the Korean ranked 8th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is one back of the lead after a solid 71 that included two birdies and one dropped shot.

President Trump's granddaughter Kai, who has made a verbal commitment to play collegiate golf at the University of Miami, is bottom of the leaderboard following round one after a 17-over-par round of 89.

View all Sage Valley Junior Invitational scores.