Legends Junior Tour returns to Corpus Christi Country Club for the 2025 James A. Ragan Memorial
The Legends Junior Tour will return to Corpus Christi Country Club for the 2025 edition of the James A. Ragan Memorial. The beloved tournament is set for Oct. 12–13 and will be the first of two LJT events in October.
“We’re excited to be heading back to Corpus Christi for another incredible year of the James A. Ragan Memorial,” said Tournament Coordinator Preston Vinzant. “Enough can’t be said about the Corpus Christi Country Club membership and staff, Triumph Over Kids Cancer, and the tournament as a whole.”
James Ragan was a former Legends Junior Tour player who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer at age 13. He later founded the Triumph Over Kids Cancer Foundation, which has raised more than $3 million for cancer research.
Ragan began competing on the Legends Junior Tour in 2008, recording three top-25 finishes. The Corpus Christi native captured the 2010 Jimmy Demaret Junior Classic title and earned a spot in the prestigious Jackie Burke Cup that same year. He also received the tour’s inaugural Sportsmanship Award, which was renamed in his honor the following year. Ragan passed away in February 2014.
The tournament was held at Corpus Christi Country Club from 2017 to 2021, Ragan’s home course, before temporarily moving to Lozano Golf Center in 2022 during club renovations. The project, championed by member Ham Rogers, began after a 2021 vote approved plans to modernize the course. Chet Williams Design, known for courses such as Whispering Pines, Traditions Club at Texas A&M, Houston Oaks and Royal Oaks Country Club, was selected for the redesign, with Sanders Golf overseeing construction.
For more than a century, Corpus Christi Country Club has been a cornerstone of golf and community life in South Texas. Its first course, a nine-hole layout designed by Fred McLeod, opened on North Beach in 1909, with President William Howard Taft hitting the ceremonial first tee shot. After the 1919 Florida Keys hurricane destroyed the course, the club was reestablished in 1922 on Up River Road with a new nine-hole design by John Bredemus, which later expanded to 18 holes.
Over the years, the club has hosted events on the Texas PGA, LPGA, Ben Hogan and Tight Lies tours, as well as the longtime July 4 Invitational, which ran from 1934 through 1987. In 1965, the club relocated to its current site on Everhart Road, where Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the layout that remains in play today.
In 2022, architect Chet Williams led a renovation to modernize the course while preserving its coastal character, updating greens, bunkers and fairways with Bermuda Tif-Eagle and Tif-Tuf grasses. From its early beginnings to its continued evolution, Corpus Christi Country Club stands as one of Texas’ most enduring golf traditions.
At the 2024 James A. Ragan Memorial, Rhett O’Rear of Plano captured the Boys Division title with rounds of 69–67 for an 8-under total, winning by one stroke. It marked the first victory of 2024 for the now–Wichita State University golfer, who also recorded two additional top-five finishes and represented the North Team in the 2021 Jackie Burke Cup.
In the Girls Division, Stephanie De Marco of Southlake claimed the title after carding rounds of 71–79 for a 6-over total, edging the field by one stroke. The Class of 2027 golfer earned her first win of the 2024 season and went on to be named Girls Division Player of the Year, representing the North Team in the 2024 Jackie Burke Cup.
Evan Hofferkamp of The Woodlands won the Boys 14 & Under Division with rounds of 68–73 for a 3-under total, finishing two strokes ahead of the field. It was Hofferkamp’s second win of the season following his victory at the 2024 Winter Classic. The Class of 2029 golfer also notched two additional top-10 finishes and represented the South Team in the Boys 14 & Under Division at the 2024 Jackie Burke Cup.
To learn more about the 2025 James A. Ragan Memorial, click here. For more information about James’ foundation, Triumph Over Kids Cancer, click here.