Published: August 07, 2008 10:10 am            

Andy Ogletree

By Rocky Higginbotham

sports editor

Andy Ogletree of Little Rock has competed against some of the best junior golfers across the Southeastern United States during his brief but successful amateur career.

Now, he can say he's competed against the best in the world.

Ogletree just returned from a trip to Pinehurst, N.C., where he finished in a tie for 37th place in the U.S. Kids World Championships.

More than 2,000 junior boys' and girls' golfers age 12-and-under competed in the event, with Ogletree going up against approximately 150 competitors in the 10-and-under boys' age group.

He played on the Little River Course — which has hosted PGA Tour events — at 5,400 yards and like the pros, had to walk the course for all three days of the tourney which was held July 31 through Aug. 2.

"The first day, he was in heavy rain and it was called after eight holes," Andy's father, Jim Ogletree said. "The second day he had to play 28 holes at near 100 degrees, and the last day he teed off at noon and fought the heat."

Despite those conditions, the 10-year-old Ogletree shot 80-74-79, finishing with three other junior golfers in a four-way tie for 37th.

"The winner of the tournament was from Bejing, China and here we are from Little Rock," Jim Ogletree said. "It was a great experience for Andy."

Huachuang Zhang of China won with a 69-68-71 for a total of 208. In fact, the United States placed only three participants in the final Top 10 which included golfers from the China, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Colombia and India.

The World Championships is the largest tournament for U.S. Kids Golf, which started in 1997.

        

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