Guests at Brook Hollow Golf Club stepped out of the shade and got up from their chairs to line the roped-off 10th tee box as Charlie Woods took practice swings to begin his Monday round at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. When his dad, golf legend Tiger Woods, joined the growing crowd, the whispers started.
They continued as the crowd walked behind the 15-time major winner and the course employees who accompanied him as bodyguards.
“He probably stepped where you just stepped,” a woman told a young boy while pointing to the ground and then Tiger Woods, who also is a three-time U.S. Junior Amateur winner.
When the group arrived at the next tee box, the woman had the boy pose as she took a photo of him with Tiger’s back. While other Junior Amateur golfers had crowds of two or three, Charlie Woods had more than a dozen people watching him, and his dad, at each hole.
Charlie Woods is among 264 junior amateur golfers competing at Brook Hollow and Trinity Forest golf clubs Monday through Saturday. The golfers are split between Brook Hollow and Trinity Forest on Monday and Tuesday for stroke play. The field will then be cut to the top 64 competitors, who will compete in match play exclusively at Trinity Forest over the next four days. The champion will be determined by a 36-hole match on Saturday.
The winner will receive an exemption into future U.S. Junior Amateurs, while age-eligible, and the next two U.S. Amateurs. The championship also comes with an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Open if the player is an amateur at that time.
Only three golfers have won the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Open. Tiger Woods and Dallas native Jordan Spieth are two of the three, and they are also the only two competitors to win the U.S. Junior Amateur multiple times. Tiger Woods won it three times (1991-1993) and Spieth twice (2009, 2011).
With a legacy like that, spectators whispered about “the pressure” Charlie Woods might feel in his second U.S. Junior Amateur. In his debut last year, Charlie finished 22-over par and did not make the cut for the Round of 64 match play.
At Brook Hollow on Monday, Charlie Woods finished 11-over par. He was not available for comment after his round.
Charlie Woods is not the only son of a professional golfer in Dallas, but at 16 years old he is the youngest. Jackson Byrd, 18, is the son of Jonathan Byrd, who has won five times on the PGA Tour and was the 2002 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Cameron Kuchar, 17, is the son of Matt Kuchar, a nine-time PGA Tour winner and nine-time Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup participant.
Trevor Gutschewski, the 18-year-old who won the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur, rounds out the group. His dad, Scott Gutschewski, plays in the Korn Ferry Tour, where he has won three times. Trevor shot 3-under par at Trinity Forest on Monday.
This is the second time Dallas has held the U.S. Junior Amateur, with the first being in 1972. Eight of the 17 Texans in the tournament are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with Frisco’s Luke Colton having the strongest first day and finishing even par.
Reese Roberts, who finished his first day at Brook Hollow 4-over par, is a Dallas native who graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas in May, the same high school as three-time major champion Spieth.
“I was stoked to hear it was here, especially Trinity,” Roberts said. “I get to play Trinity quite a bit. I got a couple of my best friends who are members out there.”
Monday was the University of Missouri signee’s first time playing at Brook Hollow.
“I don’t know how I’ve never been out here, but it’s been awesome,” Roberts said. “It was a great time today, and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
After Monday, there are 28 golfers under par. Kailer Stone and Qiyou Wu lead the pack 5-under par.
