Myrtle Beach’s Grigg earns significant junior title in Missouri

Holden Grigg had to find some extra space in his luggage for his flight back from Missouri on Thursday night.

The rising junior at Myrtle Beach High needed to make room for his first American Junior Golf Association championship trophy.

Grigg had quite a bit to display this week in the “Show Me” State.

He carded the lowest score in the final round with a 5-under-par 67 to capture the AJGA Junior at The Legends by a stroke with a 2-under 214 total at The Legends Country Club in Eureka, Mo.

The trip was Grigg’s first to Missouri and the tournament was his first this year on the AJGA Tour, considered the most prestigious junior tour in the country.

Grigg finished a stroke ahead of Missourians Colin Stolze and Kevin Wahle, and the players finishing fourth and fifth were from Kentucky and California.

Grigg, who shot rounds of 76 and 71 in the opening two rounds, made six birdies in the final round, including on holes 14, 15 and 17 to pull ahead late.

His previous best AJGA finish was a tie for 12th in the 2016 Greg Norman Champions Golf Academy Junior Championship at Barefoot Resort.

“This win is huge, especially for my confidence,” Grigg told AJGA tournament officials. “I was able to battle back from 7-over par on the first day and come back to show that if I don’t give up, I have a shot at winning.”

Grigg has become a proven winner over the past few months.

The rising junior at Myrtle Beach High set a state record low score with a 14-under 130 in the Class 4A state high school championship in May, and last month he won the Carolinas Junior PGA Championship at the Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina with a 5-under 139.

Grigg said his parents thought it would be fun to combine a golf tournament with a trip to St. Louis, and it was a rare week when he didn’t have a tournament in the Carolinas. Because of his CPGA Junior win, the family will be returning to St. Louis in two weeks for the national Junior PGA Championship at The Country Club of St. Albans from July 31-Aug. 3.

This story was originally published July 14, 2017 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach’s Grigg earns significant junior title in Missouri."