LOUISVILLE, KY — The 82nd Junior Falls Cities Championship is set for May 16–17 at Quail Chase Golf Course, continuing one of the longest-running and most storied junior golf traditions in the country.

First held in 1945, the Junior Falls Cities Championship has grown into a landmark event on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour calendar, drawing the region's top junior competitors each spring to one of Louisville's municipal golf courses. Over the decades, the event has produced an impressive roster of champions: major champions Justin Thomas and Bobby Nichols, PGA Tour winners Jodie Mudd and Frank Beard, and a long line of NCAA athletes and PGA professionals. Even Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller and PGA Tour players Ted Schulz and Dave Peege have teed it up in the event. Two-time champions include Parge Fischer, Rich Casabella, Denny Thompson, Patrick Vadden, and Brandon Berry, and the event has produced father-son champion duos in the Baron family and the Mudd family.

Originally operated as a week-long match play event run by the PGA professionals at Louisville Metro Parks courses, the tournament transitioned to stroke play and became an official Kentucky PGA Junior Tour event in 2022. It remains rooted in the Metro Parks tradition, with Quail Chase serving as this year's host.

Players will compete across seven divisions: Boys 16–18, Boys 14–15, Boys 11–13, Boys 10 and Under, Girls 14–18, Girls 13 and Under, and Girls 10 and Under. In keeping with tournament tradition, the overall girls champion earns an exemption into the Ladies Metro Championship, and the overall boys champion earns an exemption into the Men's Metro Championship.

The 2025 edition, held at Seneca Golf Course, produced champions across all seven divisions. Knox Betourne of Floyd Knobs, Indiana, claimed the Boys 16–18 title at 1-over-par, holding off a late charge to win by one stroke. Andrew Perry of Winchester took the Boys 14–15 crown at 2-over-par with five birdies in his final round. Charlton Zhuang of Lexington earned the Boys 11–13 title at 12-over-par, and Hagan Newton of Berea posted a 2-under-par to win the Boys 10 and Under division by a single stroke. On the girls side, Caroline Childers of Bowling Green won the Girls 14–18 division at 7-over-par, finishing four shots clear of the field. Parker Haddix of Nicholasville dominated the Girls 13 and Under division at 9-over-par, and Kourtlyn Suchard of Bowling Green claimed the Girls 10 and Under title at 7-over-par, finishing six shots ahead of the field. You can read last year’s full Junior Fall Cities recap here. 

The 82nd Junior Falls Cities Championship tees off May 16–17 at Quail Chase Golf Course, adding another chapter to one of junior golf's most enduring traditions. For those wondering where the "Falls City" name comes from, the answer goes back to the river. 

The "Falls City" nickname comes from the Falls of the Ohio, the only significant navigation obstacle along the Ohio River between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cairo, Illinois, where the river meets the Mississippi.  For early travelers, the Falls forced them to unload their boats and carry everything around the water on land unless water levels were high enough to pass through. Eventually a canal and lock system were built to bypass them, and today the river runs navigable year-round. However, the name stuck, and Louisville has carried the Falls City identity ever since.

About the KPGA Junior Tour

The Kentucky Golf Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to positively impacting Kentucky’s youth and military heroes by making golf affordable, accessible, and transformative. Through our youth and military programs, we remove barriers to the game while building confidence, character, and lifelong opportunities. The KPGA Junior Tour operates through the KY Golf Foundation and is the most prestigious junior golf tour in Kentucky, providing youth golfers with the opportunity to pursue their dreams of future collegiate and professional golf.