The year was 1978, and Denver-based oil executive Jordan “Digger” Smith had a daughter with above-average golf skill. Sensing that Chris Smith was good enough to earn a college golf scholarship, Digger, as he is universally known, tried to figure out what the junior golf landscape looked like at the time.
It was sparse. Junior golf back then consisted mostly of state and local competitions. Nationally, there was the U.S. Junior, operated by the USGA, and the PGA Junior, organized by the PGA of America. After that, there were just a handful of other national events, such as the Future Masters, the North & South Junior, and the Optimist Junior World.
Then there was a fledgling operation called the American Junior Golf Association. It had grown out of an Atlanta-area junior organization, and it ran two events, both in Florida: one at Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, the other at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor. Smith took his daughter to the Inverrary event in 1978, met the founder and offered to help. Later that year, Smith became the first and only chairman of the AJGA and built the first headquarters in suburban Atlanta in 1980.
Smith’s vision was simple: young players could hone their skills by playing in national tournaments all over the country and possibly earn a college scholarship. His daughter did just that, earning a scholarship at the University of New Mexico, where she played for four years and got a degree in business.
Quickly, the AJGA started to become important, particularly in the arena of college recruiting. Back then, pre-internet and pre-junior golf rankings, college recruiting was done by phone and instinct. College coaches didn’t have recruiting budgets, and travel was done by car. Suddenly, coaches had a reason to get out there and actually watch juniors compete. “If it was an AJGA event, it was important,” former Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “And we were all there.”
The AJGA’s Innisbrook event was overseen by Stephen Hamblin, a golf professional. Hamblin caught Smith’s eye, and when the founder left in 1983, Smith told Hamblin that he could run the organization on a trial basis.
At age 90, Smith has decided to retire from the AJGA’s board of directors. He will never get the credit he deserves for his vision about what junior golf could be in America, because he never sought any credit. Instead, he wanted the light to shine on Hamblin and the staff.
The trial run worked out well. A 28-year-old Hamblin signed on in 1984 and has been the executive director ever since.
When Hamblin began his service, the AJGA had a staff of five and ran 15 events. Today, the AJGA has a full-time staff of 80. Membership is approaching 10,000, representing all 50 states and 55 nations. In 2025, the AJGA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, will run 148 tournaments and provide more than 20,000 playing opportunities, including qualifiers.
Virtually every American on the PGA Tour grew up playing AJGA golf, as did the vast majority of Americans on the LPGA Tour. An increasing number of international players have spent time with the AJGA.
Recent AJGA players of the year include some of the brightest stars on TV, notably Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson.
Many professional golfers, so appreciative of their AJGA experience, have teamed with the AJGA to create named tournaments. One of the best of those is the Justin Thomas Junior Championship, played at Harmony Landing, the Louisville, Kentucky-area course where he grew up and his father was the head professional. Thomas doesn’t just write a check; he and his parents are on site and all in for the duration of the event.
Together, over 40 years, Smith and Hamblin built what has become the premier junior golf organization in the world. It is an important cog in the U.S. golf ecosystem, and it has earned the respect and admiration of the industry.
The late Apple founder Steve Jobs implored us all to try and make a small dent in the universe during our time on earth. Digger Smith made a dent on the universe that is golf. It wasn’t small.
Jim Nugent has served on the AJGA board for more than three decades and will succeed Smith as chairman.
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