Thanks to Babygrande Golf for this interview with Cameron! Scroll down to see all of the videos.
Category: Cameron Champ
MCI for Girls
The Club at Carlton Woods
April 13-15, 2023
Field: 48 Players
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MCI for Boys
Memorial Park Golf Course
March 16-19, 2023
Field: 72 Players
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The Mack Champ Invitational is introducing significant changes in 2023 that will give our junior golfers even more opportunities to shine.
We are creating a separate girls’ event in April that will be played at the site of The Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA Tour season. Our boys’ event is adding a third round, which means players can earn World Amateur Golf Ranking points, a first for the MCI.
Both events will have two age divisions, 13-18 and 12-and-under. The girls will play 36 holes with a field of 48 players, while the boys will play 54 holes with a field of 72. The boys’ event will have a cut after the first two rounds, with the low 50% of the field including ties advancing to the final round.
The girls will play April 13-15 at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, TX. The boys will play March 16-19 at Memorial Park Golf Course, site of the PGA Tour’s Cadence Bank Houston Open.
The MCI, inspired by the memory of Mack Champ, was created not only to provide a competitive experience for junior golfers of diverse backgrounds, but also to serve as a springboard into top-tier tournaments and college scholarships while creating an environment where players and families can build relationships that last a lifetime.
We believe these changes will help us deliver on our objectives and have a positive impact on these junior golfers now and for many years to come.
Nike recently released this video about Cameron’s golf journey and the Mack Champ Invitational as part of its “What Are You Working On” series.
One year after Cameron’s 2021 victory at the 3M Championship, the PGA Tour featured Cameron and the Mack Champ Invitational on “The Cut.” Watch below to learn more about Mack Champ, the tournament named in his honor, and the passion that led us to create it.
Alona Avery and KJ Ofahengaue won the boys and girls titles at the second annual Mack Champ Invitational with steady performances down the stretch under tough, windy conditions.
The wind was howling all day at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, with gusts reaching 45 miles per hour.
Cameron Champ was on hand to watch the final round and was impressed with the juniors’ ability to overcome the conditions.
“It was amazing,” he said. “This is a great golf course. With this wind and these conditions, it can make an easy golf course extremely hard, and a hard golf course even harder. It just showed how good they are.”
Avery, from Riverside, CA, shot 70-78 for a 4-over total and edged Shyla Brown of McKinney, TX, in a one-hole playoff in the girls 13-18 division. Avery’s sister Amari won last year’s MCI and now plays at the University of Southern California.
Brown appeared to have the tournament locked up, but she finished with a double bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18 to fall back into a tie with Avery, who parred the final three holes. Avery then won the playoff on No. 1, making par 5 to Brown’s 7.
Ofahengaue, from Lehi, UT, finished with five straight pars to shoot 73. His 1-over total for the tournament was good enough to beat Trey Rusthoven from St. Peters, MO, by a shot. Roman Solomon, last year’s boys champ, finished five shots back after shooting 79 on Sunday.
Ofahengaue is a cousin of Tony Finau’s and had two brothers playing in this year’s MCI.
Axel Monssoh from Miami, who also won his age division last year, shot 5-over 77 for an 8-over total to win the boys 11-12 division by six shots. Myla Robinson from Eastvale, CA, won the girls 11-12 division with a 10-over total after shooting 75 on Sunday.
The Mack Champ Invitational was created to honor the legacy of PGA Tour pro Cameron Champ’s grandfather, who introduced Cameron to the game. The tournament seeks to identify and boost the prospects of elite junior golfers of diverse backgrounds. This year’s field had players from all over the country as well and England and the Bahamas, and 15 players in the field have commitments to play college golf.
Asked what his grandfather would think if he were alive to see this tournament, Champ said Mack would have been thrilled.
“He’d be laughing, cracking up. He’d be so excited. I don’t think he ever would have dreamed of anything like this happening in his name. For us to continue his legacy and to create a fun environment for the kids to come enjoy and hang out, it’s just awesome to see.”
On Saturday afternoon, our Mack Champ Invitational competitors got the chance to learn from the best.
Cameron Champ was joined by Sean Foley, his coach and one of the prominent teaching pros in golf, and Roger Steele, a major social media presence and the founder of Hipe Media. They fielded questions from the players and offered sage advice on achieving success on and off the course.
During the week of the Houston Open, the PGA Tour took an in-depth look into the Mack Champ Invitational and the impact our tournament has had on diverse junior golfers like Allyn Stephens, a Houston native who will play her college golf for Texas A&M.
In addition to the video above, you can read the article on pgatour.com.
Watch the video below for a look back at the inaugural Mack Champ Invitational, including interviews with Cameron Champ, players, parents, and tournament volunteers.
Roman Solomon, a member of the class of 2025 from Sarasota, FL, won the boys division of the inaugural Mack Champ Invitational at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston with an even-par total.
Solomon was remarkably consistent, shooting 72 both days with three birdies and three bogeys in both rounds. Ian Davis (class of 2022) from Howey in the Hills, FL, and Xavier Bighaus (class of 2021) from McKinney, TX, tied for second at three over par.
One of the most impressive rounds of the tournament came from 10-year-old Axel Monssoh, who won the 9- and 10-year-old division with a final round 68 for a total of two over par. Aadi Parmar from Selma, TX, won the boys 11- and 12-year-old division with a two-day total of seven over par.