The Jordan Spieth Effect

FRISCO, Texas (September 2) – There’s no denying that North Texas is a hotbed for junior golf.

For the better part of 25 years, there have been countless standout junior and collegiate golfers who have come from this area, and this summer has been a shining example of these golfers showcasing their talents and competitiveness on the national stage. 

Three of the starting five players on the NCAA Men’s national championship team, Oklahoma State, grew up in North Texas. Frisco-native and the fourth-ranked junior golfer in the country, Luke Colton, made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur. Local golfers are excelling on the global stage. Many of these athletes got their start on the Northern Texas PGA’s junior tour, following directly in the footsteps of Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler. 

In 2011, at the age of 6, Ethan Fang of Plano joined the Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour. He played in two 9-hole tournaments that year followed by another two 9-hole tournaments in 2012.  By 2015, when Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open, Fang had already played 50 NTPGA events. That year he dominated—winning 9 of 10 nine-hole tournaments and quickly moving up to 18-hole and then 36-hole events as his game matured. .

A year later, in 2016, Preston Stout of Richardson began playing with the NTPGA, competing in 27 events. That year, Stout won three events and finished in the top three in more than half his tournaments.

“We are seeing the direct impact of Jordan Spieth on golf in North Texas,” said Mark Harrison, CEO of the Northern Texas PGA. “Jordan’s 2015 season was one of the greatest in history — five wins, including the first two legs of the Grand Slam, a missed playoff at The Open by a single shot, and a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship. The collegiate golfers finding success today were our junior golfers a decade ago, inspired by Jordan and learning how to win in the 9-hole, 18-hole, and 36-hole events on the Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour. That’s what I call the Jordan Spieth effect.”

“I have great memories from my time on the NTPGA Junior Tour—those tournaments truly sparked my love for the game,” said Spieth. “Junior golf is a cornerstone of the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, and we’re proud to have supported the work of the NTPGA Foundation for over a decade. It’s really special to help create opportunities for kids following a path similar to mine and a number of other professionals. With so many groups working to make the game accessible and exciting, I’m excited to see what this next generation of North Texas juniors will achieve!”

Fang and Stout, along with Argyle-native Gaven Lane, won the NCAA DI Men’s Golf Championship in late May with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They are all returning to defend their championship this fall, and they will be joined by another former Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour member, Henry Guan. 

“It’s pretty cool growing up playing with guys and competing against them in junior golf, and now teaming up with them in college has been pretty cool and been a special couple of years,” said Stout.

Later this week, Fang, currently the 3rd-ranked amateur player in the world, and Stout, the 4th-ranked amateur in the world, will represent Team USA in the 50th Walker Cup Match taking place at Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, California. Joining them will be two other North Texas locals, Jase Summy of Keller (5th-ranked), and Tommy Morrison of Dallas (6th-ranked). 

“It’s really cool. I played with Tommy, Preston, and Jase growing up. It’s really cool to see all four of us doing well recently, and it shows how much talent there is coming out of the Dallas area,” said Fang.

Summy currently plays men’s golf at the University of Oklahoma. He played in Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour tournaments from 2014 to 2019. In 2016, the year after Spieth’s historic run, Summy played in nine All American Tour events, the highest level of competition that the NTPGA offers. In the 36 and 54 hole events that year, Summy finished first five times and second or tied for second four times. 

“I have some great memories playing the junior tour. It’s where I really started playing tournament golf; it’s pretty cool. I remember winning a few tournaments out there too,” said Summy. “I think the NTPGA runs the best tournaments. I’ve played all the tournaments, and the NTPGA runs the best tournaments.”

Combined, Fang, Stout, and Summy played 201 Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour tournaments. While Morrison was never a member of the NTPGA Junior Tour, one of the driving factors of his family moving to Dallas was the strength of junior golf competition in North Texas. 

“If those numbers sound familiar, they are,” said Harrison. “Jordan, Scottie and Will [Zalatoris] played a combined 263 tournaments on the Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour while growing up in North Texas, and all three represented the United States on the Walker Cup team. Spieth made the team in 2011, and Scheffler and Zalatoris in 2017. Now, with four of the 10 2025 Walker Cup Match team members coming from North Texas, I doubt something like that may ever happen again. We are so excited to see how they play this week representing the United States.”

And Luke Colton? Colton, along with nine other Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour Members, took on Trinity Forest and Brook Hollow in Dallas in the U.S. Junior Amateur in late July. Colton had an impressive run, making it to the semifinal match. The next week, he earned a spot on Team USA for this year’s Junior Ryder Cup Matches in New York. 

For more than 25 years, the Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour has set the standard in junior golf. Its impact is clear: seven of the last 26 U.S. Junior Amateur champions—including Spieth, Scheffler, and Zalatoris—got their start here. By comparison, the next closest state, Georgia, has produced just two U.S. Junior Amateur champions in that span, and the next closest country, South Korea, also has just two victors.

“Fast forward to the run that Scottie has been on the last four years, and you just know that another bumper crop of junior golfers is coming,” said Harrison. “It’s now the Scottie effect.” 

Harrison is often asked why so many great golfers come from the NTPGA Junior Tour. His answer is always the same: “It starts with the incredible PGA of America golf professional coaches we have in our Section. Their dedication, expertise and commitment, combined with our junior tour, a clearly defined player pathway, and the ability to compete year-round—often in tough and challenging conditions—creates the perfect environment for development. Just as important are the remarkable supporters of junior golf in North Texas, like Fin Ewing III, the namesake of our Junior Tour, and Dr. Jerry J. Ransom, whose name graces our Golf House at PGA Frisco as well as so many others who believe in our mission of our Foundation to grow the game. Their passion for junior golf and pride in our kids’ success have helped build something truly special.”

“While we haven’t yet seen the same level of success during this time period from our girls on the Junior Tour, I believe it is only a matter of time before we add to the list of major champions like Angela Stanford and Brittany Lang,” said Kelly Gilley, PGA, Executive Director of the Northern Texas PGA. “Participation among girls on the Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour has more than doubled in the last 15 years. At the introductory level, through programming at The Ronny Golf Park for kids ages 3–13, the girls participating in programs continue to grow year-over-year. These trends make us very excited about the future.”

It has been an incredible summer for these Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour alumni, and we can’t wait to see #WHOSNEXT.