NATCHEZ — A solid turnout of between 20 and 25 young golfers took their swings in the 2019 Norman Puckett Junior Golf Championship on Monday morning at the Duncan Park Golf Course.

“We had three girls and about 20 boys this year,” Duncan Park golf course superintendent Greg Brooking said. “We had 40 (kids) for the camps. The tournament was a culmination of the camps.”

Each Monday during the month of June, the Norman Puckett Junior Golf Clinic took place for youngsters to learn more about the game of golf. Some of them decided to register for the tournament.

“Not every one at the camps played in the tournament, but over half of them did,” Brooking said.

The two oldest golfers played a nine-hole match — 16-year-old Quade Rushing and 11-year-old Jacob Anders, who Brooking said was one of the more advanced players. Rushing came in first place with a score of 46 while Anders finished with a score of 54.

The younger players played six holes, but this year were put in groups of three or four players and played in a scramble-type format.

As for how much fun they had, Brooking said, “They had a tremendous time. We had pizza and drinks and snacks after they got through playing. They got to play with their friends, so that was fun. And they got to play on the big course. We had the course closed for them. When we do the clinic, we’re on the putting greens and the driving range.”