Just a few holes into his round on Memorial Day, a friend of Luke Clanton’s was already envisioning the magical number: 59. The wind was blowing up to 25 mph at Streamsong Blue in Bowling Green, Florida, that afternoon for the American Junior Golf Association’s inaugural Team TaylorMade Invitational, but it was “one of those days when I was hitting it perfect,” Clanton said.
Putting it perfect, too.
Alas, as soon as his buddy – playing in the group behind – mentioned the possibility, Clanton lipped out a four-footer for birdie at No. 6. Then he made his only bogey of the day on No. 7, a long downhill par 3.
After nine birdies and an eagle on the par-5 14th, Clanton signed for a 10-under 62, a new course record on the Blue. Mark it down next to course records he owns at his home club, Lago Mar Country Club, and at Emerald Hills – both in South Florida.
“It’s great to have that one round where everything went well,” Clanton said. “But I think the biggest thing for me is I kind of got to look back and I kind of have to fix a couple things because it wasn’t too well the first couple days.”
Clanton finished the 54-hole tournament at 9 under and in fourth. His final-round score was the lowest in the field by six shots.
So after a round like that, what’s left to address? Clanton was zeroed in on his short game. As good as it was in the final round, it was frustratingly off for the first 36 holes. He didn’t miss a fairway and missed only two greens in the first two rounds but was 1 over for the tournament.
“I’m tied for 40th and this doesn’t feel right. I’m hitting the ball amazing, hitting everything great just can’t really make a putt,” he said. “I didn’t make a putt outside 10 feet the first couple days, not one.”
Luke Clanton sets the new course record @streamsong with a 62 (-10).
The @FSUGolf commit started his final round 5 under par on his first five holes with an eagle on No. 14. #TeamTaylorMadeInv pic.twitter.com/zzLShZrIuu
— AJGA (@AJGAGolf) May 31, 2021
Despite work that Clanton knows needs to be done, there’s an art to balancing tournaments, practice and rest when you’re a top junior, as Clanton is. The summer is packed with competition, and next week he’ll compete at the AJGA’s Wyndham Invitational at Sedgefield, site of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship.
Clanton is also exempt into the U.S. Junior, will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Amateur (he made that field in 2019 and competed at Pinehurst), the Western Junior and the AJGA’s Polo Invitational.
At least one question about his future is cleared up, and that’s the college question. Clanton committed to Florida State last summer after completing his sophomore year.
“It’s just a great team and almost a great family over there,” Clanton said. “They have great facilities. Coach has known me for awhile so I’m excited to go over there.”
A college commitment can be a weight off a junior’s shoulders. As his high school career winds down, Jackson Norwich is still looking to check that box.
For Norwich, college golf – and eventually, the PGA Tour – has always been the dream. But for now?
“Just trying to win AJGAs, junior golf tournaments,” he said, “and trying to get a college spot at a school that I would enjoy.”
Norwich has considered Texas-El Paso as well as West Coast schools like Pepperdine, the recent national champion, and the University of Arizona.
“We’ll see what happens after this week,” Norwich said. “Hopefully I’ll get some calls.”
If Clanton turned in the best performance of the final round, then Norwich was the star on Day 2. Despite never having seen Streamsong before, the El Paso, Texas, native went bogey free for a 7-under 65.
“For some reason, I know the fairways are wide, but I still feel like getting off the tee is a struggle for me because you can put yourself in some really bad positions out there.
“There’s little bunkers you can easily plug in. . . . Just trying to put yourself in good positions and playing safe shots is kind of how I played today and made a few putts and hit a couple good shots toward the end and turned out to be 65.”
It was his lowest round in an AJGA tournament. Norwich bookended the 65 with rounds of 72 and 77 to finish T-19 at 2 under.
The Team TaylorMade Invitational was his third AJGA Invitational start, after having qualified for the Rolex Tournament of Champions and Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods in the past six months.
Norwich first picked up a club when he was 8 years old and started playing competitively as a freshman in high school. Since November 2019, Norwich has worked with Ross Prachar out of the Golf Club of Houston, making the short flight from West Texas each month. Prachar has helped Norwich take his game to new heights, as evidenced by his performance at Streamsong.
With a long summer season ahead, Norwich and Clanton are names to know.