Rising Golf Talent Headlines 2026 Texas Cup Invitational
The Legends Junior Tour will tee up the first all-boys major of the 2026 season with the Texas Cup Invitational at Willow Brook Country Club from March 16–18. The event has long been considered one of the premier junior tournaments in Texas, attracting elite players looking to make an early statement in the season.
“We are excited to get our first all-boys major of the 2026 season underway,” Tournament Director Adam Schulte said. “This is where everything players have been working on all offseason and in the early tournaments this season really begins to pay off.”
The Texas Cup Invitational enters its 18th edition as one of the premier all-boys junior golf tournaments in Texas and surrounding states. Past champions include PGA Tour professional Chandler Phillips, PGA Tour Americas player Ryan Grider, SMU men’s golfer Andrew Petruzzelli, North Texas men’s golfer Mitchell Maier and Texas A&M freshman Shiv Parmar.
The tradition continues this year as some of the top junior golfers in the country compete for the title. The 2026 Texas Cup Invitational field includes Junior Golf Scoreboard No. 115 player and Oklahoma men’s golf commit Isaiah Igo, Colorado State commit Tripp DePoy, LSU commit Austin Randall, 2025 Boys 14-and-Under Division Player of the Year Austin Anderson, and 99th Texas Junior Amateur Boys 14-and-Under champion Lincoln Rubis, among other elite juniors.
This year’s event will also feature four players from outside Texas, representing Kansas, Louisiana and Georgia.
“It’s exciting to see the juniors go toe-to-toe with each other every year, and to have another highly talented field this year is going to make the event special once again,” Schulte said.
Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler, Texas, will host this year’s Texas Cup Invitational. The East Texas course is known for its scenic landscape and championship-caliber design.
Founded during a period of rapid growth in East Texas, Willow Brook Country Club traces its origins to April 28, 1921, when a group of Tyler civic leaders gathered at the Smith County Courthouse to establish a country club for the community. Two tracts of rolling land west of town — crossed by Willow Creek and the club’s namesake Willow Brook — were acquired for “golf, tennis and other innocent sports.”
The club was officially formed in August 1922, and work soon began on a nine-hole golf course built entirely by hand. Early descriptions praised the layout as a natural and sporting course. In 1937, renowned golf architect A.W. Tillinghast visited the property and recommended improvements that helped shape the course’s future development.
As the club matured, its golf facilities evolved with the growing popularity of the game. In 1953, noted Texas architect Ralph Plummer designed a new 18-hole layout that elevated Willow Brook’s reputation and helped the club attract premier amateur competitions, including the Texas Men’s Amateur and the Texas Women’s Amateur.
Over the decades, the course welcomed notable figures in the sport, including frequent visitors Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. In 1977, respected architect Joe Finger redesigned portions of the course and expanded the layout to the northeast, ensuring the club remained competitive with top courses across Texas.
Continuing its commitment to excellence, Willow Brook began a comprehensive master plan in 2014 under architect Tripp Davis. Completed over several years, the project included a reimagined 18-hole course, a new four-hole par-3 course, expanded practice facilities and improved infrastructure.
Today, as Willow Brook Country Club enters its second century, the golf course remains the centerpiece of the club, honoring its historic roots while providing a modern championship experience recognized among the top courses in Texas.
“It’s exciting to be able to have this event at such an elite venue,” Schulte said. “Willow Brook Country Club has been an incredible member club of the Texas Golf Association. They hosted the 113th Texas Amateur, won by Holden Wisener of Dallas. They have also hosted numerous Texas Amateur qualifiers, Texas Mid-Amateur qualifiers and Texas Junior Amateur qualifiers. It is a course built for major championships, and I think the players are going to love the layout and the challenge it presents.”
At the 2025 Texas Cup Invitational at Rayburn Resort, Parmar of Selma captured the title, capping back-to-back major championship victories after winning the 98th Texas Junior Amateur at White Bluff Resort.
The Texas A&M freshman carded rounds of 67-67-67 to finish 9-under-par for the tournament and win by four strokes.
The 2026 Texas Cup Invitational will be contested over 54 holes of stroke play. The field is limited to 84 players, and after 36 holes the field will be cut to the low 30 players and ties.
The first round of the 2026 Texas Cup Invitational will commence March 16 at 8:30 a.m. off of No.1 and No.10 tee. To learn more about the Texas Cup Invitational, click here. To learn more about Willow Brook Country Club, click here. To view Player of the Year Points presented by Huntington Bank, click here.