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WEST POINT, Miss. — The Junior River Cup is not just a competition between young stars of two neighboring states. It’s a celebration of what amateur golf is and what it should be—fun!

Mississippi welcomed 20 of the best junior players from across Louisiana to Mossy Oak Golf Club in hopes of taking back the Junior River Cup for the first time since 2022.

Play began Saturday morning with four-ball matches where Mississippi struggled early. Falling 7 to 1, through the first 8 matches, Mississippi was able to claw their way back into the fight with 2.5 points to close out the morning.

Wins from Lucy Cook/Eliza Yelverton (5&4), Aubrey Jones/Landry Williamson (3&2), Jack Morris/Cal Wier (2&1), and a halve from George Bryan III/Walker Gary gave Mississippi momentum heading into the afternoon session.

Despite being down 6.5 to 3.5, things slowly began to sway back into Mississippi’s favor. They got out to a quick start, with Travis Cater and Sanders Harwell securing the first match of the afternoon alternate-shot session with a 2&1 victory. Dropping the next two matches, Mississippi got back on the board thanks to Tendekai Nyandoro and Bryant Yelverton teaming up for a 4&3 win.

What followed was nothing short of pure dominance.

Mississippi would sweep the last five matches of the afternoon with three matches going all the way to the 18th hole. As matches closed out, players and parents both encircled the greens to encourage and cheer on their teammates as Mississippi looked to take the lead ahead of Sunday’s singles matches.

Securing points on 18, Natalie Bryant/Ramsey Milling, Jones/Williamson and Morris/Wier were all fired up en route to giving Mississippi an 11.5 to 8.5 advantage. Needing 20.5 to win back the Cup, all eyes were now on the weather forecast.

Heavy showers rolled into the West Point area around 7:45 am on Sunday morning. Both the Mississippi and Louisiana Golf Associations agreed to terms ahead of the first tee shot at 8:00 am. So long as the course could handle the rains and no lightning was present, play would continue.

Six groups made it onto the course before play was stopped around 9:00 am due to ponding on the greens. As everyone did their best to dry off over the next two-plus hours, it was mutually decided to cancel play as conditions worsened.

Mississippi was crowned champions in the rain-shortened event with an official tally of 11.5 to 8.5.

The win is not only the first since 2022 but the state’s third win over the past 10 Cup matches. Since the JRC’s inception in 2011, Mississippi’s all-time record is now 7-7-0.

Next year’s JRC will be hosted by Louisiana at a course and date yet to be determined.