Since 1978, Optimist-sponsored golf tournaments have served as a springboard for many of golf’s
greatest players. Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jason Day, Jeff Overton, Billy Horschel, Tiger Woods, Lexi
Thompson, Brittany Lincicome, Michelle McGann and Nancy Lopez are just a few of the elite players
who have started their careers at Optimist Junior Golf events. Currently, Optimist International annually
hosts one of the largest and most prestigious international junior golf tournaments in the world. Known
as “The Optimist”, this event is currently being held in July at the incredible Trump National Doral Resort
and Spa in Miami, Florida, home of the famous “Blue Monster” and 3 other championship courses.
Annually, around 600 of the best junior golfers, representing more than 30 nations, 45 states and six
Canadian provinces, converge for a week of unsurpassed competition and fellowship. What makes us
unique from other tournaments is that participants and their guests are housed, play golf, enjoy group
meals, special events, entertainment and fun all at a world-class resort. College coaches come from all
over the country to scout some of the best junior players in the world. To participate, players must
qualify for this event via one of many local Optimist Club qualifiers held around the world.
The Optimist Club of Reno’s Qualifying Tournament (date of next qualifier: May TBD, 2024)
The Optimist Club of Reno hosts a Qualifying Tournament every May. The current venue for our qualifier
is the Red Hawk Golf Course (Lakes Course) in Sparks, Nevada. Age groups currently supported at our
qualifier (with last year’s qualifying scores in parentheses) are:
Girls 13-14 (93) Boys 12-13 (90)
Girls 15-18 (85) Boys 14-15 (83)
Boys 16-18 (78)
The goal of our Qualifying Tournament is to have junior golfers from each of these age groups meet the
current year’s qualifying score (provided by Optimist International) and represent Northern Nevada by
playing in the “The Optimist” at Doral.
The registration process for our qualifier consists of two steps. It is open to all golfers in any of our 5 age
groups, from anywhere in the country.
The first step is for the junior golfer to submit an application for this year’s tournament. The application
becomes available about mid-February each year. It may be requested by email to ocrgolf@gmail.com, or requested from your local golf coach or instructor.
The second step is for our Junior Golf Committee to review these applications and accept the top
applications (based on our allocation of available slots at Red Hawk) from each age group and invite
these junior golfers to register and compete in our qualifier.
Qualifying for “The Optimist”
Optimist International has currently allocated 2 slots at Doral from the Reno Qualifier for each of the 5
age groups listed above (10 total), providing the junior golfer meets the then current qualifying score. In
the event that more than two players in a given age group meet the qualifying score, the top two (ties
resolved by scorecard) will be invited to Doral, and the other(s) will be alternates in the event that one
of the others cannot go to Doral.
The Board of Directors of the Optimist Club of Reno has currently budgeted for all junior golfers from
our Pacific Central District who qualify for Doral to have their registration fee paid for by our club. This
registration fee includes golfing, room and board, and all special events at “The Optimist”.
Transportation to/from “The Optimist” for the junior golfer is not included. “The Optimist” offers very
attractive rates for parents to attend the event at the Trump National Resort and Spa along with their
junior golfer.
For more information
Contact Rick Frewert, Junior Golf Chair of the Optimist Club of Reno, at OCRGolf@gmail.com