Davis Wotnosky of Wake Forest, N.C., the second youngest player ever to compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, shot 2-over-par 74 Monday on the Dogwood Course at the Country Club of North Carolina in the first round of stroke play in Pinehurst.
Wotnosky is 12 years, 6 months and 16 days old. The only younger player ever to play in the U.S. Junior Am was Matthew Pierce Jr., who was 12 years, 2 months and 15 days old when he participated in the championship in 2001.
Davis Wotnosky hits his fourth shot on hole 15 during the first round of stroke play at the 2021 U.S. Junior at The Country Club of North in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Monday, July 19, 2021. (Chris Keane/USGA)
With his sister Haeley serving as his caddie, Wotnosky birdied the 13th and 14th holes to offset bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10 and a double bogey at the 465-yard, par-4 15th. Haeley Wotnosky is a rising senior at the University of Virginia and has played in one U.S. Women’s Amateur and three U.S. Girls’ Juniors.
“It’s really fun,” Davis Wotnosky said of having a family member on his bag. “I’ve always been really good friends with my brother and sister. She keeps me loose, and it’s always awesome to have another eye from someone who is a golfer and has played in tournaments.”
It also helped to play the opening round on a familiar golf course.
“I wanted to play in this event, especially here, for a long time,” Wotnosky said. “It is really awesome to have it be my first one. I was pretty nervous on the first tee.
“I usually do not get nervous. I certainly felt it there. It’s been fun. I know this golf course, and I have played it a few times. And to have all the people I know here is great.”