By Mike May
One of the major focal points of emphasis for Indiana Golf is junior golf. For Indiana’s junior golfers, there will be a multitude of competitive tournament-playing opportunities in 2022. The Howard Bailey Junior Golf Tour features more than 50 tournaments that begin on April 9-10 with the Covered Bridge Junior Spring Series, held at Fuzzy Zoeller’s Covered Bridge Golf Club in Sellersburg. The final event of the year will also be played in southern Indiana, on October 22-23 at the Champions Pointe Golf Club in Henryville.
With this being January, now is a great time to give you sneak preview of three of the major tournament destinations on the Howard Bailey Junior Golf Tour. In some small way, this will give the players an idea of what to expect when they step foot on the first tee at these great venues.
Girls-Indiana Junior PGA Championship
On June 6-7, the Girls-Indiana Junior PGA Championship will be held at the Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel. 
Plum Creek is an impressive 18-hole championship layout, but the golf course truly comes to life on the back nine. From the 10th tee to the 18th green, golfers will find water on six holes. The back nine also features five creatively designed doglegs, plus the two par threes, the 11th and 16th, are terrific one-shot opportunities. These two holes rival any par three’s in Indiana.
Boys-Indiana Junior PGA Championship
From July 14-15, the Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru will host the Boys-Indiana Junior PGA Championship. Rock Hollow has a ‘lamb-and-lion’ aspect to its opening and closing holes. It opens like a mild lamb with a short par-four first hole, only 296 yards from the back tees. Rock Hollow closes like a ferocious lion as the 18th hole is a lengthy par four, which has a lake that borders the left side of the hole from tee to the green. Water is also a major factor at both the 7th and 8th holes. Water actually impacts play on 10 of the 18 holes.
Hoosier Junior Championship
On October 8-9, the Hoosier Junior Championship will be held at the Otter Creek Golf Club in Columbus. This is a 27-hole venue with the North, West and East Courses. 
Otter Creek will reward you with the chance of a good score if you are accurate off the tee. There are no funny bounces or bad hops at Otter Creek, which increases this course’s level of fairness. There are few blind shots at Otter Creek, golfers are able to have a good idea of how every hole should play, when standing on the tee. It’s worth noting that the Indiana State Amateur Golf Tournament was held at Otter Creek from 1965 – 1990. Otter Creek is the ultimate proving ground for any promising Hoosier golfer.
The full 2022 schedule for the Howard Bailey Junior Golf Tour can be found at indianagolf.org.
The Youth Partners supporting junior golf in Indiana include Fluid Waste Services Inc., Gainbridge, Baker Utility Partners, PGA Tour Superstore, Bindley Capital, Golf Galaxy, Goodman Campbell, Howard Bailey Financial, Talk to Tucker, Taft Law, Browning Day, Katz Sapper & Miller, Arni’s Restaurant, Lucas Oil Products Inc., First Bank Richmond, Valparaiso First Insurance, STAR, Indiana State Seniors Golf Association, and Hogan Transfer & Storage.
