Charlie Woods Faces Uphill Task To Make Cut At US Junior Amateur After Difficult Start

After the opening round of the prestigious US Junior amateur, Charlie Woods faces an uphill battle to reach the knockout stages after carding an 11 over 81 at Brook Hollow Golf Club in Texas.

The 16-year-old’s legendary dad Tiger, who is recovering from Achilles surgery, was in attendance, but he witnessed his son make a slow start.

Beginning on the 10^th, Charlie made successive bogeys on his opening two holes, before his first par of the day came at the 484-yard par 4 12^th.

However, rather than marking the start of better things to come, Woods’ fortunes went the other way with a costly double bogey on his fourth of the day, the par 4 13^th.

After his opening six holes, Woods found himself five over for his round with his third bogey of the day coming at the 615-yard par 5 15^th.

Unfortunately for Woods, that wasn’t the end of his problems. Successive double bogeys followed at the par 3 16^th and par 4 17^th, before he finally found some relief with his first birdie of the tournament at the 432-yard par 4 18^th, his ninth hole of the day.

Even with that glimmer of hope, by that point, Woods was eight over, with his chances of making it into the top 64 and ties at the 36-hole stage to progress already looking in doubt.

As he made the turn, Woods was languishing in T228 of the 264-player field, 10 adrift of the position he would need to continue after Tuesday’s second round at Trinity Forest Golf Club.

Still, the birdie at least gave him a foothold, and with 27 holes to play, all was not lost. Sadly for Woods, another bogey came on his 10th of the day with his fourth double bogey of his round on his 12th.

Finally, he then found some consistency with four successive pars between his 13th and 16th of the day, before he closed out his round with his fifth bogey of the day and his second birdie at the 18th. That leaves him on 11 over, and, as it stands, nine adrift of the position he needs to progress in T242.

Woods is not the only son of a current or former PGA Tour star in the field. The defending champion is Trevor Gutschewski, son of Scott, and he finished the day very handily placed at three under, just two back of the lead, which is held by Kailer Stone and Qiyou Wu.

Jonathan Byrd’s son Jackson is also in the field and is on even par after his first round, while Matt Kuchar’s son Cameron is playing, too, and heads into Tuesday’s action on three over.

Another notable name in the field is Tyler Watts, who Gutschewski beat a year ago. He heads to the second round on four under.

Miles Russell, who last year, aged 15, became the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event and has gone on to make PGA Tour appearances, is just one off the lead in a tie for third at four under.

Woods qualified for the US Junior Amateur, which his dad famously won three times in succession between 1991 and 1993, in June. That guaranteed his second appearance at the event after competing in 2024.

Back then, he finished the first round 12 over at Oakland Hills, and that proved too much for him to claw back, eventually missing the cut after finishing 22 over for the tournament in T240.

After his struggles on day one, his prospects aren't much brighter heading into the second round of this year's tournament.