Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship
Invitation-only, four rounds with no cut, and a champions list that includes Tiger Woods
Played January 3–6, 2026
Biltmore Golf Course, Coral Gables, FL
Dates for the next edition: not yet published by the organizer as of September 25, 2026.
- The 2026 championship was the 62nd edition, with entrants from 38 nations.
- Official results: Tomás Restrepo of Manizales, Colombia won the boys' division at 14-under 270, and Charlotte Naughton of Newcastle upon Tyne, England won the girls' division at 10-under 274.
Dates from Junior Orange Bowl: International Golf Tournament, checked September 25, 2026. Confirm entry details with the organizer; Tessaira does not run this event.
The story
The Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship began in 1964, as part of a youth festival that started with the first Junior Orange Bowl Parade through Coral Gables in 1948. Golf is one of nine athletic, artistic and cultural events in that festival today, and the organizer describes the championship as one of the longest-standing invitation-only international junior amateur tournaments in the world. A girls' championship was added in 1977. The field is built by invitation. It includes the top 25 U.S.-based players, national champions from countries across Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, and players who earn a place through the automatic qualifying process. The January 2026 championship, the 62nd edition, drew entrants from 38 nations, and over its history the event has hosted players from more than 112 countries. The format is four rounds of stroke play with no cut, so every invited player gets four rounds. The Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables has hosted for more than 60 consecutive years. The champions list includes Tiger Woods in 1991, whose 14-shot margin is still the largest in the event's history, along with Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson and Joaquin Niemann. The 2026 titles went to Tomás Restrepo of Colombia and Charlotte Naughton of England.
The venue
The Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables has hosted the championship for more than 60 consecutive years, which the organizer credits to the support of the City of Coral Gables. The whole championship is played there, so families who come back from one year to the next come back to the same course.
Course setup: The organizer does not publish yardages or setup details on its championship page. What is fixed is the venue: the Biltmore Golf Course has hosted for more than 60 consecutive years, so returning players already know the course they will face.
Format
Four rounds of stroke play with no cut, which the organizer notes guarantees every player four rounds. Boys and girls play separate divisions; the girls' championship was added in 1977.
Cut: No
Field
Size not published by the organizer · Invitation only, with an automatic qualifying process
Entrants from 38 nations in 2026: the top 25 U.S.-based players, national champions from abroad, and automatic qualifiers.
Coach verdict
The organizer counts coaches from more than 152 colleges across the event's history, and the draw is the field: invited top U.S. juniors alongside national champions from abroad. It publishes no coach count for a single year, so judge the recruiting value by who is in the field rather than by a promised gallery.
Best for: For juniors already competing at the top of the national or international level. The organizer's golf page does not state age limits for entry, so confirm eligibility with the tournament directly.
College scouting: Over 152 colleges across its history, per the organizer
Competitive insight
The no-cut format changes how the week plays. Nobody goes home after two rounds, so a slow start is recoverable and the final leaderboard reflects all 72 holes. It also puts U.S. juniors in four straight rounds against national champions from other countries, a different test from a field where most players already know each other from the domestic circuit.
Scoring context: Winning totals from the official results: 270 (-14) for the boys and 274 (-10) for the girls in 2026, and 277 (-7) and 276 (-8) in 2025.
Application tip
There is no open entry. Places go to invited players: the top 25 U.S.-based players, national champions from abroad, and players who meet the automatic qualifying criteria. The organizer had not published dates for the next edition as of September 25, 2026. Tournament director J.R. Steinbauer is listed at golf@jrorangebowl.org.
What makes it different
Notable alumni
Recent champions
| Year | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Tomás Restrepo | Charlotte Naughton |
| 2025 | Lorenzo Rodriguez | Shauna Liu |
Is it worth the travel?
high valueThe invitation is the hard part. For a player who earns one, four guaranteed rounds against an international field, at a course that has hosted for more than 60 years, is a good return on a January trip to Coral Gables.
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