Golf’s stars of tomorrow return to Aspen links

ASPEN ” The next Tiger Woods or Michelle Wie could be at the Aspen Golf Course next week.

Starting Monday, Aspen Junior Golf will host its second Junior All-Star at Aspen, a three-day stroke play tournament featuring some of the best junior golfers from the U.S. and Canada, including 21 in-state players.

The event is part of the American Junior Golf Association’s All-Star Series ” a collection of nine events for promising junior golfers between the ages of 12 and 15.

Both Woods, the World No. 1, and PGA Tour rival Phil Mickelson cut their teeth in AJGA tournaments as amateurs, among others.

This year’s 54-hole Junior All-Star at Aspen includes 99 players ” boys and girls ” between the ages of 12-18. Golfers from 18 states and Canada are in the field.

Aspen local Bobby Moyer is among the talented boys field which also includes returning Junior All-Star at Aspen participants Tyler Engel (Castle Rock), Michael Schoolcraft (Englewood) and David Oraee (Greeley).

Engel, a sophomore at Regis High School in Denver, placed 24th in last year’s Aspen tournament.

Other returning players to watch are Alec Ceravolo of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Bennett Lavie of Deerfield, Ill., who finished 10th and 15th, respectively, at last year’s tournament.

The girls division includes promising juniors Michelle Chun (Chino Hills, Calif.), Sara Detlefsen (Eagan, Minn.) and Janie Jackson (Huntsville, Ala.).

Chun began playing AJGA events in 2006 and has since earned five top-10 finishes, included a sixth-place showing last year in Aspen.

Detlefsen finished 11th in Aspen last year and also notched a 10th-place finish at the John Deere Classic Junior All-Star.

The All-Star Series concludes with an invitation-only championship at the end of the summer.