Hall of famer Lorena Ochoa remembers Las Vegas Americas Cup

Lorena Ochoa of Mexico signs autographs for fans at the 9th hole as she plays a practice round ahead of a Hall of Fame exhibition match, at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Mexico Golf Club in Mexico City, Friday, May 5, 2017. The invitational, the tenth of the 2017 LPGA tour, is the tour's first Match Play event since 2012. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Former Coronado High star Bradley Keyer won the Nevada State Match Play, a major tournament on the Nevada State Golf Association schedule. Photo: Courtesy SNGA.

Lorena Ochoa, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, won 27 LPGA Tour events and two majors. She accomplished more than most professionals do during an entire career despite retiring in 2010 after only seven years on the LPGA Tour.

Even with her worldwide dominance, including a dizzying championship pace of 21 wins during one three-year stretch, a junior golf team tournament held at Stallion Mountain two decades ago still holds fond memories for Ochoa.

“I was very fortunate and lucky to win the Girls Junior Americas Cup in Las Vegas in 1999,” Ochoa said. “It was a great experience. The Girls Junior Americas Cup is a great chance (for the girls) to make great friends, have a wonderful time, enjoy the competition and to stay together with their teams and represent their states and countries.”

The 40^th annual Girls Junior Americas Cup returns to Southern Nevada for the first time since Ochoa’s win and is scheduled to be played next Tuesday through Thursday at Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas. It marks the third time this area has been a host site.

Some of the top female junior players from 18 states and countries play in the 54-hole tournament, which officially kicks off with an opening ceremony at Cascata in Boulder City on Monday. Butch Harmon, the world’s top golf instructor, will give the keynote speech.

Representing Southern Nevada will be Hunter Pate, McKenzi Hall, Lani Potter and Kyndall Newman. Pate was a first-time all-state selection last year as a junior at Bishop Gorman. Potter won the Class 3A Nevada state championship in 2016 as a junior at Boulder City High. Newman and Hall are standouts in the class of 2021. The four earned spots on the team by finishing in the top four of two qualifying tournaments organized by the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association.

Ochoa, who played for team Mexico, is the only three-time winner in the event’s history. Other future LPGA Tour players who won the Girls Junior Americas Cup include Pat Hurst, Brandi Burton, Kim Saiki and Lee Lopez.

As a professional, Ochoa won the 2006 Takefuji Classic, an LPGA Tour event played at Las Vegas Country Club.

Ex-Coronado star wins Nevada event

Bradley Keyer defeated Brigham Gibbs 3 & 1 in the finals and won the Nevada State Match Play held at Spanish Trail this week. Keyer was an all-state player at Coronado and recently transferred to Creighton, where he will resume his career as a sophomore after a freshman season at San Jose State. Keyer defeated Daren Johnson and Gibbs defeated Bradley Collet in the semifinals.

Women’s state stroke play

Amy Ruelas won the Nevada State Women’s Golf Association state stroke play tournament this week at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, finishing at 1-over, 145. Ruelas will be a senior at Grand Canyon University in the fall and played in 11 tournaments for the Lopes last season. Ruelas was the 2012 and 2013 MVP of the women’s golf team at Foothill High. Hyun Lee won the net division.

Deal of the week

Buy a ticket to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open now through Sept. 1 and get a free ticket to the final round.

Nevada Open registration

Registration is now available for the Nevada Open, which is scheduled for Nov. 7-9 at CasaBlanca Golf Club and Palms Golf Club in Mesquite. Last year, Kevin Lucas, a University of Nevada alum, won the tournament and first-place check of $28,000.

The Nevada Open features a $140,000 professional purse and prizes are also available for the low amateur and during the pro-am. Interested pros and amateurs can visit NVOpen.com.

Stars on, off course

Poker star Daniel Negreanu is now a spokesperson for the Major Series of Putting, which holds its finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 27-Nov. 5.

The golf notebook appears each Thursday. Freelance writer Brian Hurlburt is a two-time author who has covered golf in Las Vegas for more than two decades. He can be reached at bhurlburt5@gmail.com or @LVGolfInsider on Twitter.