The fourth annual Prospect Valley Junior golf league concluded its successful 2012 edition with a tournament and awards banquet on Tuesday, Juny 26, at the Prospect Valley Golf Course in Rockmart.

“This is something we started in 2009,” league director Leanne Ferguson said. “It’s just something I wanted to do. I think it’s a need, because the youth are the future of golf and we need to nurture them and encourage them.”

The league, which is open to boys and girls ages nine to 15, was held the first three Tuesdays in June and then a tournament was held the fourth Tuesday. Players play nine hole rounds with their cumulative scores being used to determine the boys and girls league champions.

Players are also awarded points for each practice round played during the league, Ferguson added.

For the league tournament, players are flighted from their previous three scores.

The regular season boys league champion was Matthew Thomason and the girls league champion was Hailey Brogdon. The points champion was Dalton Brookshire.

The tournament winner and championship flight winner was Logan Brookshire, who carded a 45.

Second place was Thomason (46) and third place was Payne Guice (50).

The first flight winner was Hunter Smith, who shot a 53. Brandon Ward (54) came in second.

Cody Boazman won the second flight with a score of 47, while Brogdon was next with a 52.

Ronnie Cothran (53) came in third and Dakota McDowell (54) finished fourth.

Dalton Brookshire won the third flight with a 57, while Marcus Hills (58) took second, Audrey Lambert (64) was third, and Haley Farge (71) came in fourth.

Ferguson said that Zach Britt and Caleb Clark played in the league, but were unable to participate in the tournament.

Logan Brookshire was the longest drive winner and Cothran won the closest to the pin competition.

Ferguson also noted that Dylan Guice, the 2010 and 2011 winner, came back this year to volunteer to coach since he was to old too participate.

“Next year we hope to have a nine-to-11-year-old age division, a 12-to-15-year-old age division, and then a 16-to-18-year-old age group,” Ferguson said.

The sponsors for the league were Redmond Regional, Wal-Mart, Danny Shelton, and Sherman Ross.

“Everyone at Prospect Valley thanks the parents and children for participating in the league,” Ferguson said.

“The value of the competition experience gained by the players is proven by the fact that this year eight of the 14 middle school and five of the 13 high school golf team members participated in the league.”

Ferguson added that golf is a sport that every child should consider.