Noble ranked No. 1 boys’ junior golfer in Georgia by GolfWeek
This past spring, Ringgold junior golfer Gavin Noble shot a solid 72 at the Area 6-AAA tournament at Fields Ferry in Calhoun to qualify for state. He followed up by finishing in a tie for third place at the AJGA Rome Junior Classic at the Coosa County Club in early May before the Class 3A state tournament in Hartwell.
He shot a first-round 76 at state, but rebounded in the final round with birdies on five of his first eight holes. The 3-under 69 allowed him to climb from 11th place into a tie for fourth overall.
Noble’s senior season with the Tigers is quickly approaching, but judging by his results since the state tournament ended, his game is already in fine form.
The future Coastal Carolina University golfer, who will enroll in August, began his summer by placing second overall (70-72-69) at the 46th Annual Southern Junior Amateur in Louisiana. That result earned him an invite to the AJGA Polo Junior Classic in New Jersey two weeks later. Then in mid-July, a little closer to home in Evans, Ga., Noble shot rounds of 74, 67 and 71 to finish second at the AJGA E-Z-Go Vaughn Taylor Championships.
The runner-up finish boosted his ranking enough to get him an invite to the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida in late August and he later played in the Ping Invitational at Oklahoma State’s home course of Karsten Creek where the most recent NCAA Championships were held.
He recorded another top five finish in November, placing fourth against a top field at the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions at PGA National in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Noble recently returned home from Texas, where was invited to play in the AJGA Simplify Championship in Houston. He shot rounds of 68, 78 and 74 to end up in 26th place.
Noble has been invited to play in the Dustin Johnson World Junior Invitational at TPC Myrtle Beach - one of his future home courses at Coastal Carolina - which takes place this weekend.
But perhaps his biggest achievement happened recently when he received an invitation to play in the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in Graniteville, S.C. The invitation-only event is limited to the top 54 juniors in the country, who are treated to a week of PGA Tourlike experiences.
That event, to be held in late April, is recognized by GolfWeek as the No. 1 junior event in golf.
Noble also received an invite to play in another major event, the Western Junior, which is the oldest national junior tournament in the United States, dating back in 1914. Past tournaments have featured the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Craig Stadler and Corey Pavin and its winners have included Jim Furyk (1987), Hunter Mahan (1999) and Rickie Fowler (2005). That tournament will be held in Sugar Grove, Ill. in mid-June.
Noble is currently ranked No. 1 among boys’ juniors in the state of Georgia by GolfWeek, 13th in the among the Class of 2019 and No. 32 overall in the nation, while Junior Golf Scoreboard has him ranked No. 2 in Georgia (top-ranked Nicolas Cassidy has already enrolled in college), No. 19 in his class and No. 31 overall nationally.