Charles Tilghman Junior at Surf Club has a strong, full field

A full field of 96 players will be teeing it up in the 26th Charles Tilghman Junior Championship at the Surf Golf and Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach on Saturday and Sunday, and the tournament once again has a long waiting list.

Residents of the Carolinas ages 13-18 are eligible. Players who are exempt into the tournament include the top five boys and girls on the All-Carolinas Player of the Year Award list on Sept. 1, past champions, the top five finishers in each age division from the 2014 Tilghman Junior, and any child/grandchild of a current Carolinas PGA professional. The tournament is operated by the Carolinas PGA Section.

The boys field includes defending champion Walker Cress of Concord, N.C., and three of the All-Carolinas top players in top-ranked Christian Salzer of Sumter, Jordan Warnock of Roebock and Nicholas Lyerly of Salisbury, N.C., the 2014 Tilghman runner-up.

The girls field includes two All-Carolinas top-five players in Emily Cox of Lancaster and Gracyn Burgess of Lexington, as well as Victoria Huskey of Greenville, the two-time reigning Class AAA S.C. girls golf champion and 2014 Carolinas PGA Junior Girls champion who tied for second at the Surf Club last year, and Jodee Tindal of Rock Hill, the AAA girls runner-up who in July won the Carolinas Parent-Child Championship with her father, Kevin.

Those registered to compete in the overall boys competition from the Grand Strand include Coleman Bess of Murrells Inlet, Jackson Cole and Trey Salley of Pawleys Island, Matthew Griego of North Myrtle Beach, Holden Grigg of Myrtle Beach and McClure Thompson of Little River.

Registered girls include Madison Elliott of North Myrtle Beach, Hannah Fesperman of Georgetown, Rachael Wilkinson of Galivants Ferry, and Steely Hays, Smith Knaffle and Katie Smith of Murrells Inlet.

Online registration began at 8 a.m. on Sept. 11, and the field was full in less than 7 minutes, according to CPGA tournament official Cory Armstrong.

With the exception of the exempt players, the tournament is first come, first served, so it becomes a contest of filling out the online registration the fastest. Armstrong said tournament organizers don’t plan to change the registration process or reserve any more spots for high-ranked players.

“We’re not operating a junior tour, we’re providing playing opportunities,” Armstrong said. “We would love to accommodate everyone, but our business model with this tournament isn’t only to cater to these top players. The more exemptions we create, the more doors we close to others.”

The Surf Club will be set up at approximately 6,680 yards for boys ages 15-18 and 5,655 for all other competitors. Tee times will run from approximately 9-11 a.m. both days and players can have caddies, including parents.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Charles Tilghman Junior at Surf Club has a strong, full field."